Junkyard Memories
 

In a different thread Tom Wesenberg mentioned French Lake Auto Parts in Minnesota. That brought back memories from when I was working on my first A, which I still own. I looked up a receipt that I had for two rear drums which also included the hubs. I remember getting home with my treasure and realizing that my bottle jack was still under the car that I had removed the drums from. I called the yard and they assured me that my jack would still be there when I could get back to retrieve it. I bet you we can't go to a junkyard today and get two drums with hubs for $5.00. I did a google search for French Lake Auto Parts and from what I can see on aerial views and from pictures on there website all of the A's are gone.

Re: Junkyard Memories
 

Early one Saturday Morning during HS , me and my bud Showed up at one of the Junk Yards in Cross keys, NJ. the owner, Jessie was no where to be found,. Soon we heard moan and found him pinned under a 51 Merc. Jack had slipped. We rescued him and there after prices seamed much less for us... All part of the growing up we had that kids don't have any more.

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According to the all-knowing internet, that $5.00 equals about $40.00 today. A local self-serve yard gets $16.00 for a Ford drum, plus $1.00 to get in. So in effect you would get change back from that $5!

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One yard I went to way back to get parts for my 46 I noticed that there was a large pile of empty bottles in the corner of the "office "--- next time I went I brought a bottle, that day I got waved out without paying, afttthat I was allowed into the do not go areas, and always got better prices
Another yard had a dog on a chain, there was a arc of area worn to dirt that looked to be the limit of the chain--- the dog purposefully walked 3 foot short of the limit of the chain

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This was our yard of choice when I was young.

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This picture hung at Lawrence Auto Wreckers,Islip NY,they did the towing for the demolition derby at Islip Speedway in the 60's..Did they use a Hollander at that yard? nah,they were walking cross references..

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Wot's a Hollander?

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It was the go-to interchange manual back in the day Every junkyard had one. It told what parts interchanged between years, and what parts interchanged between makes. It also described what to do to make an "almost fits" part into an "it fits" part (swap a bracket, drill a hole here, grind a little there).

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Wow. That was my go to place, along with another near there on San Fernando road. Use to be able to see the body,s stacked on top of each other from the street.

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gonna say i got 2 like new rotors off a s10 for $5 a piece. Unless its 1/2 price wednesdays...Then i coulda got em for $5...

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they still do that here in IL - i hate it though. Makes getting anything off either car extremely sketchy...(yes you sign the waiver and they let you bring your own tools in...)

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Railcarmover,


I remember seeing that Model-A in the demolition derby.:eek: It was on the ABC Wide World of Sports. The ABC announcer could not believe that somebody would do that to the nice old car.:mad:


Bob-A:D

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That was Islip NY's claim to fame,the demo derby on Wide World of Sports..

The Hollander was published yearly,its the junkyard bible..the master interchange.I remember telex too,if you wanted something the junkie didn't have he would put it 'on the wire' ..a telex 'web' between yards in the area..

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Skip and his guys have always treated me well from French Lake Auto...

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I have fond memories of Horter's junk yard, in Harvard, Illinois in the early 60's. There were many 20's and 30's cars sitting in the grass to pick pats from. Today it would be a gold mine. Long gone now, replaced by a Loyal Order of the Moose lodge.

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Railcarmover,


Spent many a night at Islip in the late 50s and 60s. Crewed on Ted & Freddy Harbacks modified team from Huntington.. Those were the says...

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Today Islip Speedway is residental and industrial with a cookie factory I think. It was famous for the demolition derby race, last car moving wins. Also, the figure eight race and a separate drag strip (1/8 mile). I was lucky enough to attend all the events at one time or another. All gone now.

It was an air port before it was a racetrack. The name at that time was Islip Airport but no relation to the Islip Airport of today which during WW II was named after Gen. Douglas McArthur. The airport was for only Military use at the time and latter used privately before it became what it is today (Commercial, Southwest Airlines). There is still military use there for Helicopters (rescue) and Army Reserves.

http://www.speedwayandroadracehistor...-speedway.html

Lawrence Auto Wreckers is now vacant land, still owned by the original Lawrence family of record. Over 28,000 owed in back taxes and the EPA closing in the last I heard a few years back.

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Cant imagine the EPA getting involved :),used oil was recycled the correct way,bury it. Summer nights I could hear the modifieds running in my backyard..can remember being in the stands,getting pelted by tire scuff on the first lap.All gone now,Islip was a working class town its been 'gentrified'.

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Like this?

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Burying used oil was recommended years ago as a the proper way to dispose of it. The microorganisms in the soil would ear it.

In Kansas they sprayed waste crude oil from the sludge pits on the sandy country roads to keep the dust down. On a hot day my 48 Ford coupe would drop oil saturated sand from under the fenders when parked on the paved streets.