My wife has no earthly idea what is so attractive to me about going to Pick n Pull. But I LOVE to go. I don’t just LIKE it, I LOVE IT!

It costs a dollar a person to get in. I joke with her about it being a cheap date because there are many couples scrounging thru the wrecks. The guy, tool box in one hand and the other intertwined with a significant other of some type. Maybe she’s his mechanic. I don’t know, but she’s there. I think if I were a girl, I’d REALLY have to be interested in cars (or the guy) to have a date in a junk yard. It would be a little like ME spending time at a knitting circle or a crocheting convention. It just wouldn’t happen.

And even tho there are VERY few Fieros or Studebakers or even Corvairs, these days, I still go almost every week. I do have a Chrysler van that needs a necessity or 3 every so often. But it isn’t the necessities I look for. It’s just that overpowering EVERYTHING-NESS of the junk yard. The dreams of ‘what if’.

Would those sparkly Chrysler mag wheels fit something I have (or might get?) Would that lovely white Cadillac leather interior make my Land Cruiser look spiffy? Could I maybe rebuild that BIIIG Lincoln town sedan and drive it like a king? I just let the dreams roll while I’m walking around there. Many times, since I’m not really scouting for anything, I’ll take only a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. Why carry a tool box if I’m not gonna ‘Pick n Pull’ anything? And, heck, if I find something I can’t live without, my 100 lb. tool box is in the car, waiting to be hauled on a wheel barrow (also rents for a buck)

But I think the thing that REALLY draws me to PNP is the cars themselves, those bashed-in, torn-up, crunched cars, waiting their turn for the inevitable crusher. It's "The Last Picture Show" of 'car-dom'. The 'PNP Car Show' is the last car show they'll ever be in. Somebody (actually MANY somebodies), never thinking of PNP, designed every panel, every wire, every emblem, every carpet, every piece of glass—even the special screws and bolts that ARE cars. When you think about it, it’s kinda overwhelming. Truly, not one man could do it alone. I’ll bet even Henry Ford, when he finally got his biz on the road, didn’t design everything by himself. I’m sure he had others who designed SOME parts of his ‘auto-mo-bile’. And that’s what GETS me. There they are. The sweat and tears of sooo many people, sitting in rows. Those endless piles of dreams, waiting to be ‘plucked’ like chickens.

I can see them in the showroom, I can see them on the road and I can see them in the PNP graveyard. In a way, I guess they’re just like people. They’re born, they live and they die. And just as doctors ‘harvest’ our innards after our demise, WE harvest the pieces of dreams that are the PNP wrecks. But in spite of the sadness, I LOVE going to PNP!

Or maybe I JUST LOVE CARS!

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John

Nice post! I cant pay my wife enough to come along, but she's a car girl, too. She just happens to be a new car girl.

Cheers,
Rich

I relate a lot to what you are saying.
I too like to hang out at the local PNP's...even if I dont need anything specific.
I often scan other cars just to see if there is something from that car that I can
adapt to my Fiero. Such as, strut tower braces, interior trim pieces, hood vents,
exhaust tips, etc....

It's a real positive experience.
Well, at least until it's time to go and you have to pay on the way out for your parts.
Then I piss and moan about their stupid prices all the way home.

Kit

great post... reads like a car article.

I too enjoy a day in the yards... Every car had a story. Each one of them had a proud owner (at least once!). Each one of them logged miles and saw country that I never have seen. You can tell a bit about the owner from what remains...
"Oh, this guy like Mountain Dew...
"This guy liked beer... that might explain the wreck...
A leftover paycheck stub, some kid clothes, maybe a forgotten socket...

All stories. All makes for a fascinating day in the yards.

--edit
I often wonder where my old cars wind up... what stories did they have after they left my care... where did their pieces go?

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<---- did you buy Cliff a beer?

[This message has been edited by blakeinspace (edited 12-07-2010).]

Haha yes that would be a cheap date. I also find myself thinking about the next kind of car I'm going to buy. Sort of a really dirty showroom.

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Alan Frazier

'84 2m4 Northstar 5 speed
'84 3800SCII sold
'86 GT-'92 3.4 TDC 5 speed(sold)

Along those same lines, here's a little something I wrote a while back...

Have you ever looked at cars in a junk yard? I mean really LOOKED at them? If you have, you know it's hard to imagine that at some time in the distant (or maybe NOT so distant) past, each was someone's pride and joy. Someone paid money down and made monthly payments for years. Thousands of dollars.

Someone washed it, waxed it, pampered it, changed the oil on schedule, checked the tire pressure. Showed it off to friends. Cursed the 1st little parking lot ding. Bought little knick-knacks for its dash or fenders. Maybe even gave it a pet name—Flash! Or Betsy! Or in the case of a Land Cruiser, maybe Elsie (LC). They drove it on trips and to work. Maybe even did things in the back seat that shouldn’t be talked of in mixed company.

Then, eventually, it wound up there, in the graveyard of old dreams.

When it was new, I'm sure that the original owner had no inkling of what was to come. Who thinks, “Hey, this’ll be a twisted, rusty piece of junk, someday”? Or, “If someone doesn’t wear a seatbelt there’ll be a bloody hole in this windshield….” For the most part, they were probably happy with their decisions and, if it's possible with an appliance, maybe even "loved" what is now a decrepit shadow of its former self.

So with all that loving attention, how did they end up there? Accident? Just wore out? Someone just got tired of it and said, "Come and get it"?

I have often wondered how many stories each could tell if their rusted throats could speak. Frankly, I'd be afraid to go out there at night. I'd be afraid I'd HEAR them...chattering away, like a bunch of old sick people…..

"Hey, a little paint and a few turns of a wrench and I'd be back on the road."

"Sure and I could fly if I could flap my vent windows!"

"Hey, will you guys stop complaining. At least you don't have wind whistling thru the rust-out on your fenders!"

"No, and you don't have a hood that looks like a Salvador Dali sculpture, either!"

"YOU and your Salvador Dali hood. At least YOU have a carb! Yesterday, those vultures took mine. AND my heater! AND my water pump. And I heard them say if it wasn't so dark, they'd have taken my whole AC system! Will it never END? First thing you know, I'll be just a hulk, like that one over there with the tree growing up thru it."

“Ha! You’re worried about your AC. Today, those vultures took my whole drivetrain. ‘J ever have your HEART ripped out?”

“I did!”

“I did”

“I did!”

“Hey, I still got my tranny!”

“Yeah—hangin’ by one bolt! Don’t worry, they’ll get THAT soon enough!”

“Well, at least I still have my wire wheel. I’ll bet someone would give a pretty penny for THAT beauty.”

“Yeah, if they have a car with only one wheel!

“Or they can get thru the dents and rust!”

“AND wasps!”

A new voice, “I helped a couple of guys rob a bank.”

“What? The west bank of the Mississippi?

“Nope, First National Bank of Chicago. It was in 1933. These two crooks stole me, then went in to rob the bank. Next thing I knew, they were runnin’ outta the bank, shooting back at the guards. Then the police began following us, shooting at us. You can see where they fixed the holes in my trunk lid. But I can still feel ‘em.”

“Didja get away?”

“Nope. Went around a corner too fast and ran off the road into a ditch. The two guys jumped out and began running across a field. The cops shot one of ‘em dead and the other gave up. They towed me to the dealer to be repaired but before they could fix anything, a carnival owner saw me there and bought me. Put me into a side show with a big sign, ‘See the bank robber’s car’. They charged a dime to look at me. Eventually people forgot about the bank robbers, so the carny guy sold me to one of the other carnies.”

“And you all lived happily ever after?”

“No. This guy didn’t take care of me, except to get the bullet holes fixed. Just drove me hard, never changed my oil or greased me. Never even WASHED me. Finally one day on the way to St. Louis, my engine seized and he sold me for $50 to a used car guy. At least that guy fixed my engine and put me on his lot for $200. A nice lady bought me and drove me back and forth to work. At least she DID wash me and grease me and have my oil changed. But one day, another car ran a red light, crashing into my left side, killing the lady and the insurance company sent me here.

“Now I’m just a rusty hulk. And I got this tree growin’ up thru my floor. I’ll never be on the road again.

“Hey, at least your hood doesn’t look like a Savidor Dali sculp…

A hoarse chorus of “SHUT UP!!”

Another voice, “I once carried a President.”

“Really? Who? George Washington?”

“No, Dwight David Eisenhower. It was in a parade in South Bend. My top was down. I remember very well. He rode in the back seat and waved to the crowd. Everyone loved him.”

“I’ll bet he farted in that back seat.”

“Did he bring his English girl friend with him?”

“No, just Mamie. But she was smiling the whole time.”

“With a wife that LOOKED like Mamie, I’ll bet he was THINKING of his English girl friend.”

“I heard him say, ‘Hey Honey, they love us’.”

“Yeah? And what did Mamie say?”

She said, ‘Don’t smoke, it’ll ruin your image’”.

“And did he smoke?”

“Yeah but he’d take a drag then throw the butt on the floor. Kept it hidden pretty well. Burned a spot on my carpet, tho.”

“President or no, look at you now—no windshield, no doors, rusty as sin and NO back seat. Won’t be carrying many presidents in that get-up.”

“No, but I have my memories of Ike and Mamie.”

“And farts in your back seat?”

“Wait! I think I hear the gate opening. Here come the vultures again! Good luck, guys!”

Then silence.

As I said, I never go into a junk, er--recycling yard after dark. Too many spirits in there. Too many "lives" that might clash with mine. Too many sad stories that might make me sad, too.

Nope, I know what's good for me. I get MY parts in the morning. When those guys are too tired and talked out to get me.

Think of that, next time YOU are in a junk yard.


-30-

I share your sentiment. I often go on my day off just to browse. My wife does not understand. I always tell her that they are not junkyards to me, but fields of broken dreams. That is especially true when I see half completed project cars, ricers, or anything that is clearly modded from original.

So when I plan on going, and she asks where I am headed I always tell her "to my field of dreams"

man that second post brought a tear to my eye, its so true. now on a funny note the one time i took my girl to the local pick and pull i started to pull a trans and apperentley she sat down in the back of a conversion van next to me and fell asleep. i thought she just went back to the truck. it wasent untill i got back to the truck that i realized what had happened.

I can't go unless I have at least $200 I can waste. Because the list of things I need is such that I'm guaranteed of finding something.
And the last time I went, 2 months ago, I actually pre-wrote a mini-list, and once there wrote prices on it.
Here are a few examples, starting with my highest priority and working down. The first thing on the list is the first thing I hunt for. If I find it, I instantly start pulling it if I don't have a helper to guard it while I hunt a better-condition example.
1) '88-'92 V8 F-car T5 transmission, $120 incl. core charge
2) '87-'88 Fiero front bumper cover, $43
3) '94-'95 Mustang spindles, $30 ea incl. core
4) '73-'90 GM dually axle, $167 with drums, incl. core
5) '87-'?? LSC axle, $93 incl. core, plus brakes
6) '89-'93 5.0 'stang T5 transmission, $120 incl. core
7) ??-?? 4.3 S-10 2WD NV3500 transmission, $120 incl. core
8) '96-?? Vortec 454 engine, $165 complete with 2 accessories, incl. core

I could go on for hours, but I'm so addicted that in order to fund it, I no longer spend extra to eat at restaurants, I no longer pay for satellite or cable TV, I no longer buy my clothes new unless my church clothes get shabby, et cetera.

[This message has been edited by Isolde (edited 12-07-2010).]

Every Sunday morning, my Wife asks me if I'm going to Church! And she means the Mega U Pull! It is my favorite thing to do early Sunday morning. I have not missed a Sunday in months. You just never know what treasure you are going to come across. I always come home with some little doo dad.

Years ago I used to make a run to a PNP near by. At that time I was looking for parts for my 1947 Chevy coupe. This was in the late 70s and finding 30 year old cars was hard, but there was one PNP that had bunches of cars of that vintage way out back. These cars had been sitting for 15 or more years, but had usable interior parts, like steering wheels and some chrome parts, lenses A few years later I went back and all those real old cars were gone. That part of the yard was cleared and mowed.

Prior to that adventure it was 1965 and I had a 59 Plymouth and went to a PNP yard and was told that they had already scrapped cars that old.

It's the thrill of the hunt! In my case, I'm looking for a v-6 bell housing off a getrag equipped X-car or a Firebird or camaro. Don't really care. I have a Getrag, but it is for a four cylinder car and Tom(Myers) says it won't work. But I really don't care. I just like to go and roam, and imagine my next project.

[This message has been edited by J-Holland (edited 12-07-2010).]

I love roaming the acres of yards we have here in wisconsin. Our favorite areas are the Conversion vans as many were being lived in at some point and the things we find are rather surprising. once we found a full pool ball set with a collapsable que that i use quite frequently, another time, a brand new in box Vibrator XD

I was going quite a lot to the PNP, have one person that I have gotten to know and they have no problem playing the price game, the rest point at the board where it's posted. Then I have the local officers that know there's only two ways out of salvage yard lane. I've been stopped close to ten times leaving there with the No front license plate excuse, but more of a "to check you out and WTF is this car" conversation. Hopefully soon I'll be returning there for more parts, but I need to get some more done. I usually want to take a helper of some sort which is more of a "hand me...." or "watch my tools I think I see something" person. When hauling close to $200 in tools the last thing I want is them walking off.

quote Originally posted by J-Holland: It's the thrill of the hunt! In my case, I'm looking for a v-6 bell housing off a getrag equipped X-car or a Firebird or camaro. Don't really care. I have a Getrag, but it is for a four cylinder car and Tom(Myers) says it won't work. But I really don't care. I just like to go and roam, and imagine my next project.

There never were any Getrag-equipped 6-cylinder Camaros or Firebirds. The '67-'79 straight 6 Camaros use the same bellhousings as the V8s, whether Muncie, Saginaw, or Borg-Warner transmission. Same for '70-'76 Firebirds, which shared the Chevy straight 6. The '67-'69 Firebird straight 6 used the same bellhousing as the Pontiac V8, with a Saginaw transmission.
The '77-'81 Firebirds and the California-emissions '80-'81 Camaros used the Buick 3.8L, with Saginaw or Borg-Warner for manuals. The '80-'81 49-state V6 camaros used a 3/4 305 that was also a 3.8L, but being the predecessor of the 4.3, used the same bellhousing as the 305 V8. Again, with Saginaw or Borg-Warner for manuals.
'82 2.8L F-cars, I'm not 100% sure on those. '83-'02 V6 F-cars were ALL Borg-Warner T5, no other manuals were installed.
So no need to hunt for what doesn't even exist.

Yeah, I'm pretty much the hand me or watch the tools helper when Max goes to the PNP... I go just to keep an eye on him, because he usually gets stuff that involves some sort of jacking up the vehicle to get it... so I'm kinda there in case something goes wrong and I can call for help! lol.. Although the last time we were there, I think I was the one who fell... well, almost fell... don't know how I managed to remain on one foot and not drop my other knee to the ground... paid for that for a few days with very sore muscles in my thighs!! lol.. Did find a couple of games (game boy and 2 GBA ones) underneath the seat of a car!

I personally don't like the feel of the junkyard... I pick up too much of the pain and suffering and sometimes death that went along with a lot of the torn up cars... So I try very hard not to think about it too much!!

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Always reminds me of when I was growing up and going to a junkyard to get parts for our cars with my dad. It's plain fun...the chance of discovering a hidden treasure. Seeing really cool stuff...and always looking sadly on the cars that should be saved.

I always love going to PNP. Don't really go during the winter season like right now, but I always go if I need something on the cheap.

Love the thread. I too love to go to PNP. I've gone when I didn't even need anything, because its the idea that I may find some kind of "automotive treasure". I don't check the Ford, Mopar or Foreign stuff as much any longer, but the GM section is huge, so I can make morning out of it.

Rob

I have never been to a pick and pull. I don't beleive any junk yards in my area have them. It seems when I go to the yard They want to know the specific part you are looking for. And then they might let you go with them to find it. It's like they think you are going to steal something. But a pnp sounds like alot of fun...

I steal stuff: small bolts. They get into the bottom of my toolbox, where they kind of blend in with the sockets and allen wrenches and torx bits. They must know, why else would they charge a dollar to get in?
For example, pulling an intake manifold. The bolts that hold it to the heads, those get tossed into the tool box.

[This message has been edited by Isolde (edited 12-08-2010).]

I am like a kid in a candy store when I go to the u-pull-it yards. Even when there are no Fieros, it is still my favorite place to go. I find myself looking at parts of other cars, wondering to myself, "I wonder if I could make that work in the GT?". After all, the u-pull-it yard is how I bought my '86 GT anyway. I would endlessly do research on Ebay to see what was selling for a decent profit, then hit the u-pull-it yard every weekend to find some of those treasures. Within a few months, I had made the $800 I needed to purchase my GT.

I spend most of my time in junk yards more for R&D than finding actual parts.

It is fun to see and learn about all the different designs and configurations of water pumps, accessory drives, suspensions, chassis... and almost anything else. I do this on ebay as well (sort parts by nearest first) and look for individual sales with actual part pictures. I can spend hrs looking for nothing in particular.

there is a pnp i go to that really makes you sad, the cars still have wheels and batterys, some look like they are in good shape, last time there was a labaron convertible that looked like someone just parked it, even the top worked. the cars there are in better shape then my winter car.

and i always get that feeling of how proud the new owner was when they got there car, especially the nice firebirds, caddys and convertibles, and now they are just waiting to be crushed. scrap in the eyes of most people. but i still like taking the parts off of the cars, i think at least the car didnt go to waist, it lost its life but it helped others live

It's refreshing to know that others have the same thoughts I do. I usually hear that girl from Fight Club "Somebody loved it intensely for one day". Each car was someone's pride and joy, washed, waxed, and cared for. Now they sit, broken, dented, and beat. The wheels no longer turn, the engine has felt it's last heat. I do, on occasion, look through the stuff inside, just to see who owned it last, and maybe see what they left behind. One thing I'd like to do is bring a female and visit the interior of a few conversion vans...

quote Originally posted by 86_fiero_gt_92: there is a pnp i go to that really makes you sad, the cars still have wheels and batterys, some look like they are in good shape, last time there was a labaron convertible that looked like someone just parked it, even the top worked. the cars there are in better shape then my winter car. and i always get that feeling of how proud the new owner was when they got there car, especially the nice firebirds, caddys and convertibles, and now they are just waiting to be crushed. scrap in the eyes of most people. but i still like taking the parts off of the cars, i think at least the car didnt go to waist, it lost its life but it helped others live

So true. I have seen some great cars and wondered, "WHY". I once found a perfect shape 87 GT. Nothing wrong with it. I can only assume the PO moved on, (military town) and it was scrapped. It was perfect. I took what I could, sold some, kept some. It had a new engine in it. I mean NEW. I think someone in my local club got that. I took off the V6 intake and small parts. Perfect GT rear clip, good ground effects etx... I really just stood there looking at it forever. Still wonder why.

Rob

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/054417.html

quote Originally posted by THE REAL Fieronut: I joke with her about it being a cheap date because there are many couples scrounging thru the wrecks.

well you can come here and get cured.

Admission costs $2.00 for the "regular" yard and another $2.00 for "yard within the yard" which contains the late models.

Prices are high. A fiero hard top roof section (fiberglass shell) will cost you $60.

EVERYTHING gets charged seperately. Try to buy the inner door panel and you will get charged for the panel and again for the armrest.

When you checkout, be prepared to pay about another 10% in taxes and "fees" + an Admission tax (which only applies if you buy something.

... and Forget about trying to get stuff like BMW switches. They are all picked clean and sold on eBay ....

Once at PNP I saw an '81 Trans Am. I recognized it. A week before, it was sitting on my street, for sale, $900. I didn't have but $400, so I didn't investigate. But since PNP wasn't paying $400, I guess I should have offered. But by then it was too late. Because I assumed. Damn! Live and learn.