>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> . All 4
> cars looked like they had just been pulled out of
> someone's garage after sitting for years, ie. rat's
> nests, musty smell, and since 99% of the people who go
> to this yard wouldn't have a clue what any of this
> stuff is, very soon they will all be crushed and sold
> for their weight only ($ 25.00 per ton I think).
Ah, yes, the smell of rotting automobiles. I know it well. A
friend of mine doesn't like to go to junk yards because he
always sees such a waste of what usually look like OK cars all stacked
on top of one another with doors and windows all left open so
the interiors rot out within days.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> My friend here at work with the 17 cars says that Pick-Your-Part
> actually has a place in the valley where they stash old cars with
> the potential of being collectible; even parts cars appreciate.
> So what isn't picked is packed for later.
> Of course, I doubt very few Pintos make it past the crusher.
Down here in South Florida, space is at a premium. I've heard that
commercial land sells for over a million dollars an arce. Nothing
seems to escape the crusher here. I went looking for parts for
my 69 MGB about two years ago in a local wrecking yard. They let
you go pull parts yourself, as long as you sign a release form first.
I found 2 MGB's, a midget, and two Triumphs out in the yard. I wrote
the serial numbers down in a small notebook that had my want list.
I asked if the guy would sell me one of the MGB's whole. "No way",
the guy said, but he wouldn't say why. I pulled what I needed at the time.
Six months later I needed a vent window. No problem, I know where there's
four of them, I figured. I called this place. Nope, both those MGB's
had been crushed. I looked in the phone book and found an ad for a
place that specialized in British Cars. Their ad said MG, Triumph,
Jaguar, Rover, and all that. When I called them the woman on the
other end of the line said "All the British Cars have been crushed."
I was a little crushed myself at that! I called an auto glass shop,
but the girl there said she never even heard of a car company called
MG! I evently found a vent window at another junk yard.
> All these junkers are now hooked up on their own network.
They had something like this many years ago when I first started working
on cars. It was sort of an audio loop. Any of a number of yards
could get on the loop and start hollering about a particular part.
If someone on the loop had the part he was supposed to holler back.
Some of these guys got kinda carried away with this hollering.
--
Andy Haber (andyh@hdw.csd.harris.com)
Harris Computer Systems Division, Ft Lauderdale, FL
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