JUNKYARD G- BODY FINDS

[newmexguy]

Transport's not the problem, the problem is that people don't want to pay for it. For reasons that escape my logic, so many will patch together a rusty mess, but are not willing to pay for transportation, and often wind up spending more on a rustbucket

Agreed on that. Being from New Mexico, for over twenty years, most consider this to be "off the end of the earth" and many don't even know where it is, or if it's even part of the country.
According to a good friend of mine (from Ft. Wayne IN) originally, midwesterners are notoriously skeptical of clean parts, and will spend a quarter to "save a dime". Have seen this with own experience, was at a Super Chevy in Norwalk, OH, in the early 00's. Hauled a trailer up with a bunch of sheetmetal, and a project '78 Malibu. Sold the car (frame off, powder coated frame, ford rear and hotckis suspension in place), at very little margin, and most of the sheetmetal went back down south. A lot of Looky-Loos and tire kickers. Had figured before hand, that everything would have sold. And there was no recession at that time. 2003, to be exact, before the demise of Super Chevy.
A local yard, near las Cruces finally closed and crushed out a couple of years ago. Owner died and there was no succession plan in place, the dismantler license died with the owner. Place had been run on "the fly"' for decades, with no clear business plan, to process, sort, store, or market desirable parts, either classic or late model. Most the A/G body cars, went to circle track people, who came to expect the cars, and or their parts for nearly free. Towards the end, the owner began to simply crush the cars, as they came in, out of spite. Clean, low rust bodies, without frame rot, scale, or hanging rotten rear bumpers. Clean floor pans and trunk floors, intact drop offs and lower rear quarters. "Flash" type rust only.
Could have hauled out seven or eight clean frames, and up to three '78 - '83 Cutlass bodies, at the end of the yard's existence, for perhaps as little as $1500, for everything, but where in the heck could one find the buyers to actually make money on the stuff, being so far away from a market base, that is somewhat skinflint to begin with??

 

[scoti]

Agreed on that. Being from New Mexico, for over twenty years, most consider this to be "off the end of the earth" and many don't even know where it is, or if it's even part of the country.
According to a good friend of mine (from Ft. Wayne IN) originally, midwesterners are notoriously skeptical of clean parts, and will spend a quarter to "save a dime". Have seen this with own experience, was at a Super Chevy in Norwalk, OH, in the early 00's. Hauled a trailer up with a bunch of sheetmetal, and a project '78 Malibu. Sold the car (frame off, powder coated frame, ford rear and hotckis suspension in place), at very little margin, and most of the sheetmetal went back down south. A lot of Looky-Loos and tire kickers. Had figured before hand, that everything would have sold. And there was no recession at that time. 2003, to be exact, before the demise of Super Chevy.
A local yard, near las Cruces finally closed and crushed out a couple of years ago. Owner died and there was no succession plan in place, the dismantler license died with the owner. Place had been run on "the fly"' for decades, with no clear business plan, to process, sort, store, or market desirable parts, either classic or late model. Most the A/G body cars, went to circle track people, who came to expect the cars, and or their parts for nearly free. Towards the end, the owner began to simply crush the cars, as they came in, out of spite. Clean, low rust bodies, without frame rot, scale, or hanging rotten rear bumpers. Clean floor pans and trunk floors, intact drop offs and lower rear quarters. "Flash" type rust only.
Could have hauled out seven or eight clean frames, and up to three '78 - '83 Cutlass bodies, at the end of the yard's existence, for perhaps as little as $1500, for everything, but where in the heck could one find the buyers to actually make money on the stuff, being so far away from a market base, that is somewhat skinflint to begin with??

I get this. You would almost require as much 'space' as a parts yard to stage & store parts so that you can sit on them until the right buyer that understands the concept of value comes along. Heck.... I looked @ your parts ads for the front clip pieces I wanted for the Malibu. I'm in North TX & it would have been cost prohibitive to get them there to here but that's only because I live in a similar area where rust isn't the common foe.

Guys up North/East should have been gobbling that good Southwest sheet metal up when you were in Ohio.... Clean/dry steel; in-person inspection so you know what you're getting, & basically dropped off in your lap.

 

[86LK]

Agreed on that. Being from New Mexico, for over twenty years, most consider this to be "off the end of the earth" and many don't even know where it is, or if it's even part of the country.
but where in the heck could one find the buyers to actually make money on the stuff, being so far away from a market base, that is somewhat skinflint to begin with??

I get this. You would almost require as much 'space' as a parts yard to stage & store parts so that you can sit on them until the right buyer that understands the concept of value comes along. Heck.... I looked @ your parts ads for the front clip pieces I wanted for the Malibu. I'm in North TX & it would have been cost prohibitive to get them there to here but that's only because I live in a similar area where rust isn't the common foe.

Guys up North/East should have been gobbling that good Southwest sheet metal up when you were in Ohio.... Clean/dry steel; in-person inspection so you know what you're getting, & basically dropped off in your lap.

yeah, I know that area of swNM and I even found a load of desirable parts for my late 60's Impala, but as you said it's out in the middle of nowhere and cost-prohibitive to ship and I live 500-600 miles away in Austin, a straight shot down ih-10. that's a solid 2 days of driving and loading/unloading parts.
unfortunately it's all about location. the only way I see any money being made is have someone like CTC in Denton buy the place and run it remotely until everything is gone, but it's not worth it to them.

 

[PBGBodyFan]

There are plenty of guys who are buying and willing to ship or go pick up cars based on all the FB group posts I see but it always surprised/surprises me at how many guys in the rust belt rather try to fix rotted or rusty cars than just go look down south for a clean body to start with or swap parts over to. Prices in the south seem generally favorable too if anything.

Agreed on that. Being from New Mexico, for over twenty years, most consider this to be "off the end of the earth" and many don't even know where it is, or if it's even part of the country.
According to a good friend of mine (from Ft. Wayne IN) originally, midwesterners are notoriously skeptical of clean parts, and will spend a quarter to "save a dime". Have seen this with own experience, was at a Super Chevy in Norwalk, OH, in the early 00's. Hauled a trailer up with a bunch of sheetmetal, and a project '78 Malibu. Sold the car (frame off, powder coated frame, ford rear and hotckis suspension in place), at very little margin, and most of the sheetmetal went back down south. A lot of Looky-Loos and tire kickers. Had figured before hand, that everything would have sold. And there was no recession at that time. 2003, to be exact, before the demise of Super Chevy.
A local yard, near las Cruces finally closed and crushed out a couple of years ago. Owner died and there was no succession plan in place, the dismantler license died with the owner. Place had been run on "the fly"' for decades, with no clear business plan, to process, sort, store, or market desirable parts, either classic or late model. Most the A/G body cars, went to circle track people, who came to expect the cars, and or their parts for nearly free. Towards the end, the owner began to simply crush the cars, as they came in, out of spite. Clean, low rust bodies, without frame rot, scale, or hanging rotten rear bumpers. Clean floor pans and trunk floors, intact drop offs and lower rear quarters. "Flash" type rust only.
Could have hauled out seven or eight clean frames, and up to three '78 - '83 Cutlass bodies, at the end of the yard's existence, for perhaps as little as $1500, for everything, but where in the heck could one find the buyers to actually make money on the stuff, being so far away from a market base, that is somewhat skinflint to begin with??

Half the time when I tell people my LS is from New Mexico they reply with "Mexico?". Not sure if I don't emphasize the New enough or people don't realize it's a state.

How the market was 15-20 years ago I wouldn't expect too many to be willing to buy them but think in the last few years with prices and demand on g-bodies, coupes at least, if those clean cheap cars exist and are made available online people would travel or just pay to have them transported, as long as it can roll.

 

[oldsofb]

Yards on the East Coast (at least MD) are going to internet sales. You can't even walk the yard any more for some. If you can, it's just a sea of jelly bean cars from the 2000's.

 

[JD1964]

LKQ pick your part is across the country in many states. Go to their website which I linked below. Click find your part and see the drop down list of all the states and towns. If you register on the site you can enter the make, model and years of vehicles you are looking for. Then when they get something that matches your criteria they send you an email. I use this feature and it works good. G body cars pop up now and then. If you like getting stuff at junkyards and there happens to be an LKQ or multiple LKQ's within your range, I recommend you register and enter the stuff your looking for. The emails they send you include links to the vehicle descriptions and usually include several pictures of the actual vehicle being put out into the yard. Descriptions also include the position within the yard where the vehicle is located such as row 11 space 4

Quality Discount Auto Parts | Salvage Yards | LKQ Pick Your Part

Pick Your Part is North America’s largest recycler of used cars and trucks. With the largest selection of OEM used auto parts at a low price.

www.lkqpickyourpart.com

 

[86LK]

LKQ pick your part is across the country in many states. Go to their website which I linked below. Click find your part and see the drop down list of all the states and towns. If you register on the site you can enter the make, model and years of vehicles you are looking for. Then when they get something that matches your criteria they send you an email. I use this feature and it works good. G body cars pop up now and then. If you like getting stuff at junkyards and there happens to be an LKQ or multiple LKQ's within your range, I recommend you register and enter the stuff your looking for. The emails they send you include links to the vehicle descriptions and usually include several pictures of the actual vehicle being put out into the yard. Descriptions also include the position within the yard where the vehicle is located such as row 11 space 4

Quality Discount Auto Parts | Salvage Yards | LKQ Pick Your Part

Pick Your Part is North America’s largest recycler of used cars and trucks. With the largest selection of OEM used auto parts at a low price.

www.lkqpickyourpart.com

that being said, I know that some auto parts stores do source parts from LKQ if otherwise unavailable. what I also know is that some of our commercial customers have said "nothing from LKQ!". apparently, being sent several replacement parts over time that don't work is enough for them to say NoMo, even if it is substantially cheaper

 

[JD1964]

that being said, I know that some auto parts stores do source parts from LKQ if otherwise unavailable. what I also know is that some of our commercial customers have said "nothing from LKQ!". apparently, being sent several replacement parts over time that don't work is enough for them to say NoMo, even if it is substantially cheaper

I’ve had good luck at LKQ. Saved a ton of money and also stocked up on some rare stuff. Stuff that you can’t just get around the corner on demand.

 

[86LK]

I’ve had good luck at LKQ. Saved a ton of money and also stocked up on some rare stuff. Stuff that you can’t just get around the corner on demand.

no doubt, I was referring more to stuff like 4wd transfer cases, etc, where the dealership parts dept wants a pound of flesh AND a gallon of blood while LKQ asks for about 1/4 of the price.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Here's the truth that nobody wants to say out loud

People buy G bodies (certain models excepted) because they are (were?) cheap, and still were a familiar platform layout. People that buy cheap cars usually do so because money is an issue. That said, apparently for some/many it is easier to ease into fixing a rustbucket than spending more up-front.

A wise man once told me, "buy THE BEST car you can afford" when picking a project.

If these were 68-72 GM A bodies, nobody'd be crying about the cost of shipping a good shell/roller in.

I have a PERFECT Malibu coupe/sedan frame here....best offer I can get is $100 (roundy-round guy) ..... guess it'll sit in the North pasture "just in case"