Car questions.

Ok, so I was sorta forced to scrap a car for the first time with out knowing much of what to do, let alone the time to get much out of it. I went through and cut as many wires as I could and pulled the stereo. Was going to get starter and alternator out but by bro in law lost my socket set.

I found a guy and said he would haul the cars that I get if I wanted to go that route in scrapping. $50 for time and gas and he is cool with it...every once in awhile give him a tip. LoL...works for me. I just make sure to be there with the title in "MY Hand".

So here is what I have questions on doing the cars..

1. Other than starter, alternator, cats, and wires....what else is worth the time to tear out.
2. Do the yards normally require the fluids to be empty. The guy who helped me take the car in is a friend of one of the main guys in the yard and said not to worry about them now beings we HAD to get it off the property.
3. $238 for a 2500 pound car decent? (includes $20 fee for tire processing taken off.)
4. With titles, I just need to have it in hand or do I have to transfer title to my name?.

Thanks in advance.

Some places will remove the title of a car if there is no motor/axles under it an it looks crushed. (We take cars that have been in accidents every now and then an we will pull the block an axles). Some times the block will be Al and the heater core could be solid copper.

I would pill the radiator out as well....The last time that I did a car, which was a lot of years ago, I took off anything aluminum that I could find...The one that I did had aluminum heads and an aluminum intake manifold as well. If the car had air conditioning it will have a second radiator like unit on it as well. I believe that the carb, if it has one, should be pulled off as well.

Each yard that I have dealt with has been different when it comes to the title. Most of them ask for the title to be open but signed off by the seller....I have not heard of any that would require that you transfer it to your name.

Starter, alternator, radiator, transmission, Cat, and rims if they're aluminum. The rims depend on your towing set up. I have a family member I pay 40 bucks to and he uses a tow dolly. Now if you have a flat bed and winch, take the tires. Check the block for aluminum and do a good sweep with a magnet before you take it in.

rip the seats out...you could be shocked at what you find under them/taped to them at times.

As others have mentioned, parts that are good to pull for extra $$ are catalytic converters, radiators, starters, alternators, the battery, and any aluminum rims. There is usually a lot more you can pull off, it all depends on how much time you can/want to spend on each car. There are usually aluminum engine parts like cyl heads, intake manifolds, mounting brackets for the alternator, etc. If a car is a 4 cylinder econo-box, there is a better chance of items like cyl heads and intakes being aluminum compared to an older big heavy v8 vehicle. Something I do as well is when I'm prepping a car for hauling, I grab any loose steel from inside the car such as the tire jack/handle, and loose steel inside, any spare parts from an interrupted/given-up-on repair, loose brake drums/rotors, etc. This is because if I separate that material out, I'll get #1 prepared steel for it, which is worth about $80 more per ton than car bodies where I am. For myself, it's worth the extra handling of piling it up till I have a batch, and then hauling it in.

As for fluids being drained, you'll have to check with the yard you're going to be hauling to. Where I am, the engine and transmission oils need to be drained, and the freon out of the AC. For removing freon, you can either buy some kind of unit that drains/filters/recycles it, but that's a fairly large expense. You might check with shops that do air conditioning; here we have a couple that will drain vehicles of refrigerant for you. If you have 5 or more, they'll send out a truck to do it (at no charge, as they keep the refrigerant as their fee). If it's only 1 or 2 vehicles, you have to drag the vehicle to their shop, and they charge $15.00. Lots of the time, older vehicles being scrapped out or accident vehicles won't have any refrigerant left, which is good as it's a hassle. As well, the gas tank needs to be drained, and then either removed from the vehicle and dropped off separately, or at least have a 8" diameter hole cut into it to ensure there's not more than a few drops of fuel still inside. If you are going to get into scrapping cars in any major kind of way, you'll want to invest in a fuel siphon/filter system of some kind. Not having to buy gas can be a nice bonus. I use the electric pumps from fuel injected vehicles (my personal favourite is the frame-mounted "booster" fuel pump that some late-80's Ford trucks used in addition to the in-tank pumps. They're mounted along the inside of the LH frame rail just behind the front wheel). You can also use the in-tank pumps from most vehicles once you remove them from the fuel tank sending unit and rig up hoses and a filter to them.

Lastly, on catalytic converters. Lots of vehicles have a system that uses multiple converters, so don't forget to check right at the exhaust manifolds for a "pre" converter, as well as the usual spot under the car. Some of them are worth quite a bit, especially the imports.

If the yard you're hauling to does not require the coolant to be drained, then you might want to consider leaving aluminum radiators intact in the vehicle. Up here, for the $0.23 you get for dirty aluminum rads, considering average weight for me was around 6-7 lbs, I would rather lose the $1.50 or $2.00 and not have to clean up and dispose of a few gallons of antifreeze, and go through however much floor-dry to clean up spills.

Also mentioned have been heater cores. If it's a vehicle that the heater core is mounted inside under the dash, it's an awful lot of work for a small brass/copper or alum rad. If it's mounted outside the firewall in a plastic housing, usually a sledgehammer is a quick way to get it out and make a couple bucks. Some cars (especially RWD GMs) also have an AC evaporator core mounted outside the dash in a fairly flimsy plastic housing that you can also whack a couple times with a sledge and have a nice chunk of aluminum rad

Something else you should consider are the mercury switches on a vehicle. They are used on most hood and trunk lights, as well as some ABS systems. Where I am, these need to be removed before you haul a vehicle in. The same yard that buys the cars also buys the switches for $1.00 each. I'm not sure if they buy them for recycling the mercury, or for an environmental program. It's not much money, but it's better than having to remove them anyways, and then having to pay to have them disposed of as hazardous waste. In case you don't know, the mercury switches are the small cylinders that are screwed or mounted on hoods and trunks that when they are opened, the mercury inside the cylinder sloshes around until the right angle of the hood/trunk is reached, and then it covers a pair of contacts in the switch, completing the circuit and turning on the light. As for the ones used in ABS systems, to be honest, I don't have a clue. An awful lot of vehicles made in the last 20 or so years have ABS, yet I don't think I've found more than a few double handfuls of ABS mercury switches after prepping god knows how many vehicles at a wrecking yard. If anyone knows more about them, I'd love to hear it. Even if your yard doesn't require the switches to be removed, you should anyways as mercury is really toxic, and the switches only take a couple seconds to remove.

edit- I forgot to add. If you scrap a lot of cars, keep the keys. They're zinc-coated brass (other than a few older Fords I've seen that used aluminum keys). While it takes a while to fill up a 5-gallon pail, it's nice getting $150 for some scrap that you would have gotten $10 for if you left it in the car

Very nice and helpful information. Much appreciated. I wouldn't mind doing a car here and there. Would of loved to be able to rip fully into this car but had a narrow window by the time the decision was made to try and get some of the stuff out.

Here is what I follow Everything can be recycled on the car. Below are the biggest money makers that can be
taken off the car before taking it to be recycled.

Catalytic Converters
Aluminum Rims
Batteries
Starters
Alternators
Radiators
Stereos
Wiring Harnesses
Wheel Weights
Wiper Motors
Blower Motors

Most junkyards will low ball you on catalytic converters so you may want to find a core
Buyer in your area who will pay top dollar for your cores

A few cores I didn't see mentioned

Brake boosters & masters
Steering gears and racks
Brake calipers
PS pumps
AC pumps

and a few others

We are looking for a junk car now to "practice" with. Will have some time now to go through the entire thing. Thanks for feedback.

I find junk cars on Craigslist quite a bit. Do a search using words like head gasket/gaskets, wrecked, accident, junk, scrap, etc.

Is a tow dolly a good way to start?

I have a friend that had a flat bed that I tow with but a lot of times I can't get a hold of him and we loose the deal. My little 6 cycl. truck won't pull the trailer so I was thinking of getting a tow dolly to help fill the void.

Any thoughts?

And is there something special I should know about tow dolly's like is there a certain way you have to tow w/ them or what not to tow?

Thanks!

The problem with a dolly is if the car is not complete or the tires are not inflated/can't hold air. Also check your state laws regarding need for lighting (brake, turn and taillight). With a smaller truck, you're limited on what it'll safely tow.

The down sides to a tow dolly......... the cars you pick up will have to be able to hold wheels & you will have to start saving them. You might be surprised at how many junkers come without wheels, with trashed tires, or without the ability to even hold 4 wheels. There are no trailer brakes. The front wheels on the cars you pick up will need to be able to steer, which means the cars will need keys, or you will have to get good at breaking steering locks...or cutting tie rods. Some steering locks break easily, some are a real bear. If the car won't steer, you will be dragging the dolly sideways when you turn. That's hell on tires, spindles and bearings.

But if you are slow and careful, your 6 cyl will do the job. You won't be able to depend on someone else's equipment for very long and a dolly is at least an independant starting point.

Mick beat me to it.

Also, when you decide to upgrade, the dolly will be easy to re-sell.

Well, I may be upgrading sooner then I think. The transmission started pooping out on me on Friday :(

I have pick ups to make and can't make them. I'll be putting it in the shop on Monday but if it's too much I'm off to look for a new truck.

Good luck Junky. I hope the repair is minimal.