flambeed car at junkyard

I've seen a couple cars at the junkyard before that are totally cooked from the top of the headliner to the bottom of the wheels. Is there any parts you could use on a car that burned to that extent? Why would a junkyard put a flambeed car out in precious space if there is nothing to sell off of it? Just curious.

Depends on just how cooked the car is. Some of the sheetmetal could still be ok, floorpan, etc. There's also a lot of stuff under the car that might be alright, driveshaft/axles and whatnot.

I would be hesitant to take parts off of a burnt car. Even seemingly undamaged bodyparts are suspect as the heat of the fire can (and will) affect the temper of the metal, making it more prone to denting

I have seen some that were burned to the point the wheels were in a puddle stuck to the bottom of the brake rotor, and the cylinder heads were dripping down the side of the block, for some reason they still put them out in the yard. Actually a few times 30-40 of them at once, almost all gm trucks with the 4.8/5.3/6.0 engine.

I don't know why a yard wouldn't just stick it in the crusher pile. The only reason those even show up at yards is most of the big buyers are contractually obligated to take X number of worthless cars from the salvage sales for a flat fee. They typically sign up for this simply for the scrap weight. They may "win" on old K cars that have some weight to them but they lose a bit on stuff like the burnt hulk. It's the only way the insurance and salvage auction has found to get rid of these things.

Yeah, I'd never buy anything from a burned car due to the tempering of the metal changing. But maybe they put them out there just in case a sucker comes along and wants to buy something off of it before it's crushed.

Wait for steel prices to come up?

I bought an engine from a burnt car once because it was cheap and I didn't have high expectations. It was a Buick 455 that I got for $50. The only issue I had was that the high heat had coked the oil in many of the passages, but a solvent and a bottle brush set took care of that. The long block was OK. The intake was questionable but I didn't plan on using it anyway.

So a contractual obligation sound about right. There was a toasted E36 without an engine so I guess burnt to shreds cars are worth something. A core is a core right?

Thanks for the response folks.

I got a neat "handling by lotus" emblem off a toasted geo once.

Garbage. The heat of the fire affects the metal and weakens it.

I'm a career firefighter and I got dispatched for a fully involved Jeep fire late one night.

Fast forward about 6 months. I bought a Jeep and was in a junkyard looking for a skid plate. I stumbled upon the same torched Jeep. I bought the skid plate off of that one just because I thought it would be cool.

I wouldn't have bought any thing other than a thick piece of steel at the very bottom of the Jeep, though. Car fires get pretty hot.

Ive noticed that the online listing of cars for pull-a-part in my area has C4C by some of the listings. Are they selling parts from them?

Remember: there are guys who buy used brake pads from the JY, I can only speculate what they might buy off a burnt car.

I've personally seen Mexicans in houston dissassemble the drivetrain in a junkyard and purchase a used clutch disc.

I guess when your time isn't worth anything its somehow worth it to spend a few hours in the hot sun to save a few dollars.

I think the owner gave it to them for $5 though. Probably should have been free considering they pulled the engine and transmission for him at no cost (though I think they were using bolt cutters for the majority of the removal).

you do what you gotta do man