scraping a car

um my dad wrecked the car and i get to scrap it. i dont know anything about them i just know i probly need to take out the starter,radiator,alternator,battery and copper wiring anything else? my mom says shes just gona have our junk yard take the car. i dont have a wench to get engine out. can i still get the alternator and starter out without taking the engine out? about how much copper does a 2004 chevy have? i think its a chevy not sure. how many rows of copper tubes does the radiator have and is it big? is it dangerous to take the radiator out? does the car have any extruded aluminum/brass parts on it? what about the door jams? im trying to think of what else im missing here any ideas?

thanks 4 all your help=)

Judging from the questions you're asking, I'd say to call someone who'll buy the car from you as it sits.

You don't know what kind of car it is.
You don't have any tools.
You don't know how to get to the alternator and starter.
How do you know the radiator even has any copper "tubes" in it?
(HINT) Even if you had tools to get the engine loose, you'd still need a hoist.
(HINT) The catalytic convertor is worth more than any of that stuff.

Yep, just call somebody to come and get it.

Use the search feature to see what kind of tools you will need.

Use the search feature to see what find of metal you can expect from a car.


I have scraped a lot of vehicles, from motorcycles up to school buses and my favorite tool is a sawzaw.

If you have the wrenches, you can take as much aluminum out of the engine compartment as you can but be aware that the more you take off of it, the less somebody will give you to take the shell. If you take all the good stuff off of it like the cat, aluminum heads, wheels, wire harness, radiator, and stuff like that the person who will come for the shell may have to charge you to take it away, because running their vehicles aren't cheep and they are not going to do it for nothing.

Unless you plan to cut the car up into pieces and take it into the scrap yard yourself, I would call somebody to get the whole thing.

I'm with these guys. It sounds like you know very little about cars and unless you have a buddy or someone who can be there to tell you everything about them, you are probably in over your head. My suggestion is to find out exactly what the vehicle is, figure out what is still good on the vehicle (Does it still run and drive? Is there body panels that are still straight? Is the interior still in decent shape?) and call up salvage yards that deal with parting out vehicles. Tell them what you have and ask what it's worth to them. Depending on what the vehicle is and it's total condition, it may be worth more this way then scrapping it out.

Sell it whole. A 2004 car would be worth more than scrap value to a junkyard that would sell parts off of it.

How bad is the damage? The insurance company may have totalled it but it could be repaired by the right person and registered under a salvage title.

thanks guys so about the cat do i just take a hack saw and cut it off? when you take it to a scrap yard do you need the title of the car to sell it? would it be better to just rip the platinum/pallatium out and take it to a pawn shop or can you not get the precious metal out of the cat? how do i know if its a good one or not does the year of the car make a difference? heres what the title says year 2004 make che model JC5F body style 4s. i have wrenches and a sawzall but no blades lol,sledge hammer,screw drivers i dont think tools are gona be an issue my mom says that i mite need a crowbar to get the hood open i guess the damage is pretty bad and on top of that we didnt have insurance. i guess the passenger side door is bashed in like 2 feeet good thing nobody was in that side. a lady slamed into the car going like 70 id guessat least he wasnt hurt bruses thats all. the frame of the car is crooked my mom says the axels are broken i think. im gona look at it monday and see how it looks. can i throw steel in the trunk or will they not like that?

Is your dad mechanical at all? I would think this would be a great father/son activity.

Had to Google that code. Looks like a 4 door Cavalier.

It sounds like it's at a yard now. What is your plan to get it from there, to your house to dismantle it? Sounds liek it folded like a horse shoe so I doubt flat towing is an option. Prolly looking at $100 to have to delivered.

Are you in the country? City? Live under a HOA?

You're not going to be able to just "pull the platinum out". Get some blades for your saw, (I like 14 TPI) and cut it off and start gutting the rest of the car.

How far do you want to take this? If it has electric windows, you can pull the window motors for one. There is a sizable amount of wire running under the dash. Kind of a bear to get it out though. Not necessary but makes life easier if you have a way of rolling it onto its side. Then you can cut the cat, drain any fuel that is remaining, etc.

You can do all of that, or call some yards (scrap and salvage) and ask what they would give for it. Or part it yourself if you have the space and no whiny neighbors.

At bare minimum I would keep the cat...and maybe a few other parts.

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Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

Is your dad mechanical at all? I would think this would be a great father/son activity.

Had to Google that code. Looks like a 4 door Cavalier.

It sounds like it's at a yard now. What is your plan to get it from there, to your house to dismantle it? Sounds liek it folded like a horse shoe so I doubt flat towing is an option. Prolly looking at $100 to have to delivered.

Are you in the country? City? Live under a HOA?

You're not going to be able to just "pull the platinum out". Get some blades for your saw, (I like 14 TPI) and cut it off and start gutting the rest of the car.

How far do you want to take this? If it has electric windows, you can pull the window motors for one. There is a sizable amount of wire running under the dash. Kind of a bear to get it out though. Not necessary but makes life easier if you have a way of rolling it onto its side. Then you can cut the cat, drain any fuel that is remaining, etc.

You can do all of that, or call some yards (scrap and salvage) and ask what they would give for it. Or part it yourself if you have the space and no whiny neighbors.

At bare minimum I would keep the cat...and maybe a few other parts.

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im looking to get all the good things out like all aluminum and copper parts. i want to get more than 300 dollars out of it because its gona cost that much for them to bring it back to the house=( how do i get the alternator and starter out will they shock me? what kind of aluminum is on a engine extrueded? how much copper is in a car weight wise? if i have 15 pounds of insulated #2 would it be better to strip it would i get more? what parts would you keep?

You wont get 300 worth of copper and alluminum out of the car.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

You wont get 300 worth of copper and alluminum out of the car.

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well how much will i get for the copper and aluminum? how many pounds of copper are in the car i heard that there is like 80 pounds of copper in a car is that not true?

I don't think there is ANY extruded aluminum in that car - none. I doubt you'll get anywhere NEAR 80 pounds of copper - even getting every bit of copper which you won't, trust me. There's a lot more to maximizing potential from scrapping a car than just getting the aluminum and copper. For instance, the motor will bring more if separated. And the rims bring #1 Iron, but the tires need to be removed. The transmission can be stripped if aluminum and would be Cast Aluminum. You may need to drain all the fluids. There's a lot more.

Mike1 You say you don't have a wrench to take the motor out.

To scrap a car you are going to need much more in your tool box then a simple wrench. You need sockets ,ratchets, extensions, screw drivers, cutters, a engine hoist, a jack, a lug wrench, sawzall, and a lot more!

Just sell the car as is to someone with experience. I mean the TV has you puzzled the car will take you a life time to disassemble.

$300.00 to have it brought to you? Are they flying it in? Seems pretty expensive, perhaps you should look into a job towing cars by the sound of it.

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Originally Posted by injunjoe

Mike1 You say you don't have a wrench to take the motor out.

To scrap a car you are going to need much more in your tool box then a simple wrench. You need sockets ,ratchets, extensions, screw drivers, cutters, a engine hoist, a jack, a lug wrench, sawzall, and a lot more!

Just sell the car as is to someone with experience. I mean the TV has you puzzled the car will take you a life time to disassemble.

$300.00 to have it brought to you? Are they flying it in? Seems pretty expensive, perhaps you should look into a job towing cars by the sound of it.

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lol yeah thats what i was thinking it seems to me that they over charge people to bring things to you from a short distance away. im just trying to get the easy things out thats all ill just put on some safety glasses and see what i can take out with what i got and leave the rest in there. my dads got some tools i can use but no engine hoist im sure i can get some things out of it without a hoist just not a lot of things.

You'll find the cast alum. on the car and other stuff with a good magnet. I have a small one I carry with me all the time on my keychain.

And here I thought I was dealing with a 12 year old...


Hey, if you get a wench to lift that out, take pics of her.

$300 is kinda steep.

Who was at fault in this collision? If it was the other driver and they have insurance, I would be nailing them to to wall to fix it or pay out to get another comparable vehicle.

My brother in laws truck was rear ended a few months ago when he had it parked curbside. Some drunk sob. He totaled his car too. Took off and made the police look for him. Amazingly enough he had insurance.

BILs truck was an early 80s S10. Total heap. Barely ran. Insurance totaled it out for $2,200. I offered to buyback the truck, until they wanted $900, because "that's what scrap is going for". Right.

If they are going to give you $300 for that car I say go for it. That car only weighs 2700 lbs, that means if you get $10 per hundred for it you will get about $270 in scrap for it. If you take the aluminum, copper and brass, you may get maybe another $75 to $100 but you will be taking weight off of the car, so you may get $200 for the car in scrap, another $100 in aluminum, copper and such. So your not making any extra. In fact you will be loosing money, your time invested, your gas burned, your consumable tools ( blades, gasses, ect.). My original advise stands, Sell it whole and don't worry about stripping it down.


Now that I got that off my chest, you do what you want to do. You need to read this forum more, all the questions you have been asking has been answered numerous times in the past. The experienced scrappers on here have been giving you the advise on just selling it whole and you insist to tear it apart.

Nothing beats experience, so if you insist on taking it apart, do it and learn from it. As for us telling you how much you will be making from stuff, its hard to tell but that's where the experience comes in, just do it and see what happens. After you do one, you will know what to expect from the next. The more you do the better you get and the more you will know, aka experience.

Sorry if this rubs anybody the wrong way, its getting late and I'm getting tired.

i totally get where your all r comming from. and they want my dad to pay 300 from the body shop to get it to our drive way. so if its 2700lbs 2 tons if its 200 for iron does that mean ill get 400 something? or do they not count a car for iron? from a junk yard or is there a difference from a scrap yard and junk yard or are they the same?

I give up!!!!!

2700 X $0.10 = $270
$270 - $300 = -$30

your local prices may vary
leave it at the body shop.
if the accident was the other persons fault, let their insurance buy the car from your dad.

2 tons?


1 ton = 2000 lbs
2 tons = 4000 lbs

Your car is 2700 lbs, that is not 2 tons.

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Originally Posted by CMHN

2 tons?


1 ton = 2000 lbs
2 tons = 4000 lbs

Your car is 2700 lbs, that is not 2 tons.

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yeah i dont know what i was thinking your rite for some reason i was thinking it was 1000lbs in a ton im half asleep.

He thinks 1,000 lbs equals 1 ton, hence the $400 something comment.

Mike, a scrap yard usually means it's a recycling facility that takes your material and sends it off to be remade into something new. A junk/salvage yard or "pick a part" is where a vehicle sits till the end of time and people can come get various parts off it.


If you send the car to a scrap yard, it will probably be classified as tin, or auto bodies.

Here is your assignment.

Grab a phone book.

Open it to A, look for auto salvage. Call everyone, ask what they will pay. I would almost believe they would pay more, since it's a newer car, but who knows. You can find that out.

Then flip over to R, for recycling and call every one there. BTW, not all recycling facilities will take cars.

Ask for the price of complete cars. And incomplete cars. Some yards will call a car incomplete if so much as the cat is removed.

You will then have an idea of what it is worth.

Another option is selling whole/parting out on Craiglist.

Do all of that come Monday.

And I am off to find a drink...and I don't even drink!

From the info i have gathered from the above posts you are not equipped to scrap a car.For your own personal safety i would recommend you find somebody that will buy it as is.

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And I am off to find a drink...and I don't even drink!

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A good reason to start.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...INGACOKE14.gif

well aparently my stupid father is getting someone to look at it at the house=( i wanted to take things off of it=( he said he wont take less than 300 wish he would wait then i could stick my steel in the trunk to add weight.

i guess its not all bad dad said he would give me 30 dollars for the radiator is that good?

Saturday night the car was at the body shop and sunday morning the car is at home?

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Originally Posted by freonjoe

Saturday night the car was at the body shop and sunday morning the car is at home?

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no sry i meant to say that it was there wednesday i think is when it happend they charged 198 just for towing it away from the crash. then they charged 75 dollars and then for storage they charged 35 or something a day. and he couldnt pay to get the car back till friday. my bad. but anyway how much does a radiator weigh if it has copper tubes by chance?

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Originally Posted by mike1

no sry i meant to say that it was there wednesday i think is when it happend they charged 198 just for towing it away from the crash. then they charged 75 dollars and then for storage they charged 35 or something a day. and he couldnt pay to get the car back till friday. my bad. but anyway how much does a radiator weigh if it has copper tubes by chance?

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Strongly doubt it will be brass copper. Most likely aluminum with plastic tanks.

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Originally Posted by sabicp

Strongly doubt it will be brass copper. Most likely aluminum with plastic tanks.

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i c thanks.

Mike, please take some time to research your options. They have all been covered here before. Unfortunately for you im afraid, you can get severly hurt doing this alone without any prior experience. You should take the advice of everyone and call someone to come get the car.

He's not playing with a full deck

um where is the car...i will grab it for 300......:> And yes i dont play with a full deck, probaly not worth that. But love smashing things. Remeber the commercial. We pick things up and put them down......