Undervalued Junkyard Finds

So I'm sure just about everyone on this board has a mental inventory of goodies that are cheap at the junkyard but can be "flipped" for more money online - the kind of things that lead you to search EVERY aisle, even if you've already found what you came for.

Some of mine:

Miata rear trim panel - 8-10 bucks at the yard, 100+ on ebay

E30 dash - cheap at the yard, uncracked versions sell for 150+

E30 18 button OBC

Miata Frankenstein bolts

Various special-edition steering wheels and shift knobs for Miata, E30, etc.

Old Mercedes headlights

That's my list, and I'm sure I'm missing all kinds of stuff. Most of these items I've found are expensive by buying a car and being amazed at how much new stuff costs online. Nice to have an excuse to troll the local yard though.

most clear and unfogged lights will at least net you double what you pay for them.

1G CRX corner lenses, i used to raid the local lot back when they had a good number of CRX's.

Bought them for $5 and they'd sell for around $30. One of them got me $48, which was funny since the local Honda dealer had them for $45 at the time.

Don't the back plastic pieces on the MR2s that reflect Toyota in the rear window go well too? I can never remember.

Any Del Sol seats, especially if in good condition.

I buy E30 dash pads regularly.

The XR4ti fog lamps were a colossal Ebay disappointment, however.

I also carted around some really mint early 70s 230(?) M-B bumpers for several years before finally getting them sold. I made money, but it wasn't worth the storage and transport for the 3 years I had them. Seems like every time I try to make money on parts that I have no personal interest in, I am lucky to break even.

I got a list a mile long... but I ain't tellin'

speedblind wrote: Old Mercedes headlights

On a related note, who else has noticed that plastic headlight surrounds that were in good condition on nearly every old Mercedes and many late E30's in the JY are destroyed by someone in a hurry to get the neato yellow foglights or eliptical headlights?

Old Jag sedans can have some nice bits - people generally grab the rear end, fuel caps, and leaper, and the rest sets. I've made a few bucks off non DOT approved Cibies found on several Jags. Also check the fusebox- if cleaned and well listed, people will pay surprising money for a baggie of used but intact original Lucas fuses on eBay.

Older Japanese vehicles sometimes show up in the JY with a Weber DGV conversion. In some cases, a mechanic modified the factory air cleaner to fit the DGV, and nobody bothered to remove it and notice/grab the carb - used DGV's in need of a rebuild brought a premium for a while. Even when people grab the Weber, they often don't grab the spacer/adapter for it off the intake manifold. They cost $3-4, clean them up, list them, and enjoy an easy profit. I found one that apparently was a sought after high-rise adapter for a Datsun L Series, someone paid over $50 for it.

Aftermarket steering wheel hubs, esp. on late model German and Japanese cars- it seems like at least half the time when one ends up in the JY with an aftermarket steering wheel, people grab the wheel and leave the hub- depending on the cost/availability of new hubs for a particular model, used hubs can make a tidy profit. I bought a nasty old yellow Grant wheel with hub attached for $5 from a MkII Jetta, sold the hub for $35, and tossed the wheel.

Foam trunklid spoilers from E30's that do not have gouges in them or badly corroded mounting studs are a fairly uncommon find. Check the trunks of BMW's- usually the tool kits have been raided, but sometimes there are new factory parts sitting in the trunk- more so in BMW's than other brands in my experience.

85 MR2 floor mats found in frunk- $2.50

Any 4age engine or G13b is going to be a steal.

87-88 Chevy Monte Carlo SS 120 MPH speedometers. Use to pick them up for $5-10 and the most I've sold one for is $167.00 This was a few years ago. Not sure what they go for now.

Late 80's Jeep Cherokee/Comanche Dana 44 rear axles. I use to get $300-500 for a used one

460-500cc RX7 injectors get good money from turbo Miata guys.

Old Becker radios from Mercedes. I think these must also be Porsche radios. I bought one once, couldn't prove it worked, but still got $$$ on Ebay for it.

Intact tool kits from sports cars are good too.

I grabbed a Weber DGV and Pierce manifold off a free MGB and sold them each for over $100.

The old red Saab DI's are $20 and usually sell for $80 - $100.

Just about anything from a Contour SVT since most of the parts are not made anymore and a bunch of them are still on the road.

mostly complete 323 GTX(the yard thought that it was kinda like a Subaru) I picked it apart and sold most of the parts to the guys from Corksport in the Northwest. I recall that it had either the highly desirable analog or digital dash so I got out the entire dash and wiring harness. You just have to be in the right place at the right time. Back when I was racing RX-3's I recall finding the non-rotary version and got to strip most of that car but when I went back for some final pieces, the car had been crushed????

dimeadozen wrote: Check the trunks of BMW's- usually the tool kits have been raided, but sometimes there are new factory parts sitting in the trunk- more so in BMW's than other brands in my experience.

I resemble that - I'm currently driving parts around in my E30...

dimeadozen wrote: Check the trunks of BMW's- usually the tool kits have been raided, but sometimes there are new factory parts sitting in the trunk- more so in BMW's than other brands in my experience.

What kind of tools are in BMW tool kits?

and don't say "Metric"...

Pretty much any flat-rate pick-a-part is a bonus. I'm more knowledgable about older american cars, but nothing beats the back corner of a late-model car lot. They usually have all the "old junk" in the back, but its a treasure for me.

Any big block that isn't a chevy usually goes for $150, but a tested, running Buick 455 will bring me $1000 easy. Many of them have aftermarket distributors, intakes, carbs, and I've even scored BBF Edelbrock heads for $100. I found an MSD billet distributor that had been stuck in the mud for probably 5 years, people had driven over it and made it a permanent addition to the now-hardened dirt. I used a flathead to chisel it out, they gave it to me free, and all it took was a quick cleanup, a new rotor and cap, and it powered my buddy's Camaro to mid 10s for years.

One of the best "junkyards" ever was Summit Racing's retail outlet. I've been to both the Tallmadge and Sparks facility. The Tallmadge store used to have that huge section of clearance items, but the new store kinda sucks. Anyway, they are loaded with good stuff like returns, scratch and dent, most of it brand new selling for 75% off. I scoop up bargains there and sell them on Ebay.

I really want to get out in a junkyard again after reading through this stuff. My price vs. satisfaction quotient hasn't always been the best but its still fun to go look around. Too bad 15 of the last 20 days have been rained out in the mid-atlantic region.

I need to find a worthless crown vic with a 5.0 and steal its accessory drive for my fairlane.

I was at Crazy Ray's on Saturday - lots of fun at the junk yard in the rain.

Pulled up to the Baltimore one at 8:05 and there was a guy in a Miata on his way in - wouldtya know it, he parked out under the only nice Miata in the lot - including a set of Bilsteins. Crap.

Still came away with some good stuff - couple Mtech steering wheels for the E30 and a nice trunk carpet to replace my oil-soaked piece. There were a couple crack-free dashes, but I didn't feel like kneeling in mud to pull 'em out. Maybe next time.

I didn't realize the Miata Frankenstein bolts were worth much. Gotta look into that. A local yard has a Miata with the Mazda factory hartop latches on the side, but I looked it up and they don't go for all that much. My two local yards tend to charge too much for some of the small stuff to make much money. I grabbed a Miata TPS thinking it would have to be pretty cheap and the guy wanted $35! For a SENSOR! I told him I would pass and he wanted me to walk it all the way back out there and put it back in the car. I sure do prefer the more professional Upullit places with a pricelist up front I can check. Instead I get Bubba giving me the "what is he willing to pay" glance up and down before they throw out a price.

Woody wrote:What kind of tools are in BMW tool kits?

Heyco, generally.

Woody wrote: What kind of tools are in BMW tool kits? and don't say "Metric"...

Generally by the time they hit the lot at U-Pull-It, the invisible kind. The good old boy yards seem to leave them intact, and they're usually pretty cheap.

The contents vary by model, with 5,6, and 7 series having much more complete kits than 3 series. They include open ended wrenches, spark plug socket, water pump pliers, philips screwdriver, tow hook, and sometimes an emergency sunroof crank. More expensive models include more wrenches, and an additional set of pliers.

The wrenches/pliers are made by Heyco or Hazet, and because they were meant to spend their life in the trunk of a car, the finish/materials is not the best. Unfortunately, cars with leaky trunk seals allowed water into the blow molded water tight tool kit tray, where it sat and rusted the tools very badly.

speedblind wrote: I was at Crazy Ray's on Saturday - lots of fun at the junk yard in the rain. Pulled up to the Baltimore one at 8:05 and there was a guy in a Miata on his way in - wouldtya know it, he parked out under the only nice Miata in the lot - including a set of Bilsteins. Crap. Still came away with some good stuff - couple Mtech steering wheels for the E30 and a nice trunk carpet to replace my oil-soaked piece. There were a couple crack-free dashes, but I didn't feel like kneeling in mud to pull 'em out. Maybe next time.

If it makes you feel better, he's using the whole rear end (at least) to build a Locost...

(It took me a second when this was the second time this morning I saw the miata at Crazy Ray's in Baltimore mentioned...)

I wonder if he took the shocks?

It was a pretty impressive junk yard setup - nice little tarp acting as a tent. My strategy involved jumping into cars anytime it really started to pour. Not nearly as effective.

What are Miata Frankenstein bolts?

I've found a lot of nice stuff in our local yards but the cars are crushed pretty quickly.