Junkyard money parts and Honda wheel question.

I just got back from the local Pull-a-part and remember seeing an article in the local paper about a couple who put their daughters through college pulling parts and selling them on ebay.

So, I wanted to try to start a list/ thread of stock parts/ assemblies that are worth decent money to enthusiasts, so I can keep an eye out.

BTW, I saw a nice set of the old Honda 4 hole aluminum rims, any idea of what they're worth?

-James

Successfull people dont want company, wont be sharing MY secrets...

The old CRX Si phone dials?

I don't think they're worth anything really.

93gsxturbo wrote: Successfull people dont want company, wont be sharing MY secrets...

LOL

Every car has it's rare & hard to find parts... or parts that other people want to use on different cars.

I never went wrong picking up any intercooler or oil cooler I could find. When I was into old mopars I'd pick up suspensions from every 73-76 A body I could as you could pick up $250+ for them online.

Amazing what happens when you have kids... I haven't been to the JY for a $$$ making trip in years

Skill, good eye and knowledge are required. Rapport with the counter guy is a plus.

My brother is a master at this. While we were at our PnP I was looking for an Escort trans and other stuff, buddy was looking for S10 T5 for his V8 ranger and brother went along. Brother ended up getting an offy 4 bbl. setup for his big ford 6 cyl, aftermarket headlights for his wifes 95 Mustang and a gas cap that had a Mercury head emblem on it. Paid 75 bucks..sold the cap alone for 75 bucks!!

Have a hookup with the scrap yard too. These are the guys who buy the cars and crush them. This recently netted a 60 Bugeye sprite for a friend lately.

Search wanted posts to see what parts are popular. Keep an eye out for aftermarket parts. Prepare for hot and cold and wet and critters.

Bruce

bastomatic wrote: The old CRX Si phone dials? I don't think they're worth anything really.

Yea, those. Haven't seen any for a while and I thought I recalled someone wanting some...

I think the Nissan Z31 guys want the TB from a 240sx, but I'm not sure.

I do know the Z31 Turbo Engine crossmember is worth some money. I sold mine for around $100 off my $500 challenge donor.

Of course, most of the time it's a bunch of work to get to one.

The hood vents from a Lumina z34 and Pontiac GTP are worth some money, too.

I'm not looking to spend my days in a junkyard looking for obscure parts, but I always browse and take the low hanging fruit.

-James

Izzy's Cages wrote: Every car has it's rare & hard to find parts... or parts that other people want to use on different cars. I never went wrong picking up any intercooler or oil cooler I could find. When I was into old mopars I'd pick up suspensions from every 73-76 A body I could as you could pick up $250+ for them online. Amazing what happens when you have kids... I haven't been to the JY for a $$$ making trip in years

Seems that the cheap eBay intercoolers have diminished the market for junkyard intercoolers now that you can pick up a much larger cooler than most cars ever had stock, for under $100. JY intercoolers used to fetch a bit more money than they do now.

'73-'76 A-body suspension stuff is even more valuable these days, though. At least the upper control arms. There have been more people experimenting with M-body steering knuckles now.

Here in the north that bodies and exterior parts were rusted and I would not bother with mechanical parts that might result in an unhappy buyer if they did not work.

What I did find is that the interiors of northern cars do not see the wear from sun and high temps that they see in the south. My specialty became interior trim pieces. No questions to their working properly. Easy to remove. Small enough to ship. Once I got them home, some cleaning or Armour All before pictures made a big difference.

Pictures are definitely the key. As many as you can reasonably post, even for a small part.

Pick a few marques and learn what is hot.

This old collection of Mk1 MR2 parts brought in about $500 for a $100 investment. http://rides.webshots.com/album/55526977HTlcYk?start=0

For the JY that i went to, the secret was to never go to the counter with just one part. I would head up with about 10 parts and they would basically look at the largest part and price the whole lot from there and sort of overlook the small stuff. It was the small stuff that brought the big dollars. I was paying about $5 per part that way. A MR2 ashtray would bring $25. A radio surround $50. A strut bar $50, Rear window trim with speaker grills $50 a pair.

bastomatic wrote: The old CRX Si phone dials? I don't think they're worth anything really.

+1. I've sold sets for $30. IMO, if you're looking to "flip" stuff, pull-a-part is going to run you waaaaay too much in "overhead." Put one of those "I'll pay $100 for your junk car" ads in the newspaper and on CL; keeping in mind that your target market is the computer illiterate person who has no idea how high scrap steel prices are right now. Buy a 3,500lb. car for $100, sell the cat. for $100-$200, try to get at least another $100 or so ebay-ing stuff. If it hasn't been sitting too long, siphon the gas into your tow vehicle so the trip is free, drop the tank and sell it for $140 scrap.