The Junk Yard

When I was younger, we had a salvage yard out of town on one highway. It had a lot of military surplus - Fird M151 MUTTs (vietnam era Jeep style vehicle), Jeep 4X4 trucks (militarised Gladiator truck), an old Piaseki tandem rotor helicopter, and a pile of turbos from big trucks. It was great fun just walking through it looking at stuff.
Sadly it's all gone now.

 

I was passing thru Alabama maybe about 12 years or so ago , and passed by a junk yard that from looking from the road seemed to have mostly cars and trucks from the 60s and earlier. I've always wanted to go back there , but haven't made it yet. Not even sure it's still there. That's been one of my missed opportunities of life.

 

We used to have a Yard that was ONLY Studebaker cars and trucks, that's where I got my 1950 Commander bullet nose! A RAT Chevy motor and lots of tire smoke made for a fun summer, sold it for a ton of cash and went looking for more projects! I have had to cut WAY back on the car projects, only 4 now, and who knows if I will ever get any of them finished, but it's the journey that's the real fun part! Picked up a VERY rare French sports car and will really be looking forward to actually finishing that one! Parts on this side of the pond simply do not exist, so it's going to be fun! It has an Ultra Rare Chevy 4.3 4 cam motor out of a very rare hot rod Lumina, and the transaxle os a 6 speed from a Pontiac Solstice, as are the suspension and brakes, should be a real screamer when its up and running!
Teaser picture! 1972 Alpine 110 Rally!


What is should look like when done! THIS is what trolling wrecking yards is all about, this was tucked in the very back of a storage building at the very back of the yard, owner didn't know what it was or any thing about it, only that it was French and thus, he had no use for it! Payed a chit ton of cash for it, but its worth 5 times as much just as it sits! These were Renault's answer to the new German Upstart Porsche 911's and were actually a better car! Sadly, very very few ever came here to the states, and I got super lucky to have found it!

 

Sweet looking car there.

 

It's all Fiberglass like a Lotus Elan, so it's easy to fix/repair and or modify! It's also pretty rotted! LOL
I did manage to score some vintage speed parts and all the stuff I needed or wanted to make it like I want it, including a full set of fender flares!

 

Those rims, on the finished car, look like twins to the ones on the 356 Porsche sitting in deep storage in the shop.

 

The Porsche is full flared and allows some really wide tyres.

 

A friend of mine has a mechanic shop , and he had a car similar to that one , except no dual headlights . I wonder now if it was the same type of car . Last time I was there I didn't see it . For some reason , I seemed to be drawn to that car , not that I really wanted it , but just had some kind of mental curiosity about it , but never asked him about it .Your car just reminded me of that car .

 

The stock wheels are pretty small, but the fenders will allow a pretty wide set to fit with out modification, only problem is the unique 3 lug bolt pattern, so your stuck with Renault wheels unless you swap the hubs out to something else! Then you can run any thing you can get to fit! With the aftermarket flared fenders, I can fit Vette size rubber under it, which is totally boy racer, but on the 60's and 70's cars, just right!

 

Motomom, HVAC fans are cheap for condensing (outdoor) units and a dealer may give you one from an old unit. I once made a 7 blade windmill (think turbine) with salvaged fans.

 

Or you might look for some cooling tower fans>

 

Thank you so much for the offer but I need to salvage them myself. This is something I have been wanting to do, make gear or things from a car. The junk yard will give me the knowledge at little cost.

 

Bus seat covers make great bags

 

If you ask you might be able to practice some good-to-know-when-it-matters skills like what it takes to break car side windows, and how tough it is to drain gas out of a car without setting yourself and the neighborhood on fire.

 

Two views of a deployed passenger airbag with the hardware removed.
Bag material is kevlar and the basic shape and size seems to have pack potential. Two smaller holes on each side, and larger rectangular and round holes where the bag was bolted to the module. Nothing to the disassembly, but please be careful if you deploy them yourself.

I've been working with these things for years, and have used them for bar stool covers and for cornhole bags. They seem to come in white, light gray and blue, ... and pink. They can be painted. The stuff is tough to cut, but you will really have to drag it around to wear a hole in it.

There appears to be plenty of excess material in this shape to allow for a substantial flap to cover the pack opening and some already reinforced holes for the beginnings of a draw string closure. It just needs some creativity, a good pair of shears, a hot poker, some seat belt webbing and cordage.

twelve ounce can provided for scale.

I need to take a couple smaller ones and fill them with sand or Airsoft BB's for rifle rests. Would be more durable than the old socks I use now. (rear bag full of Airsoft BB's makes for quick and precise elevation adjustments with just a squeeze.)

 

I've never thought about making my own pack out of scrounged bits and pieces, but I woke up with this idea.

In some sort of junk yard wars competition with access to fiberglass resin, the potential for construction of custom internal frame packs made from airbag material is HUGE! They already have a basic pack shape, reinforced stitching and tough-as-nails cloth.
Stiffening, thickening, and reinforcing attachments in critical areas with fiberglass resin would add a whole new dimension of construction possibilities.

 

Many cars now come with side airbags. I have never seen them after they have deployed but those maybe the size you are looking for.
Have you ever harvested a side airbag?

 

Side airbags are about right for ready-made shooting bag size, but I have a shoe-maker friend who can sew the stuff, so larger pieces sewn into shape are easier. (His machines are so old they could be adapted to pedal power)

Side curtain airbags are the ones that intrigue me. They inflate into a long oblong shape like an air mattress. I had a guy who thought it was a good idea to jump on one of these right after I had deployed it. He didn't stay on it long... with all that energy used to pop the bag from its folded state... they get HOT!

I was wondering if these long bags could be used as simple over the shoulder bags with little work required. Or as super durable sand bags for steps.

 

Sad here as the Junk Yard here closed a couple years ago and it was the last one in the area. It had been open for many many decades.