I dont think that car has anything I need anymore.


However I did notice 2 Red First Gens in rather deicent condition. One even have the aluminum rims on it, Complete set! The other was an 84-85 with a complete engine in it.

 

I agree - I live in Riverbend, so I'm 10 minutes from my door to browsing the aisles there - and I used to be in there every couple of weeks, picking up large and small items purely on opportunity. Now I rarely go, and only after I've checked out Navajo's yard. Canadian Tire and Future Shop manage not to charge me admission - but at least if I'm going there I can check online or on the phone to find out if they have what I'm looking for. Stupid business decision - I've spent $2.00 there since they started with admission - and bought nothing. B4, I probably averaged $150 a year.

 

I've not been to the local pick-a-part here for a while, but they probably started charging the $1 to offset the # of people who swipe stuff off the wrecks or damage 6 pieces taking out the 1 piece they want

We've a boneyard called 'Amigos' - the cool thing is you tell them what you want and one of their staff hops on an ATV and goes and pulls it off the car for you. No extra damage, no theft, and you don't even have to bring tools. It's a nice system that saves both sides from headaches.

 

We have a place like that here, but it sucks because you might need like a little trim peice off the dash and they will only sell you the dash.

 

I've got no problem paying a buck to get into a place that can save you sooo much money.
On Saturday I pulled 5 pieces but only paid for 3, even tho I showed them all 5. Who could possibly complain about the policy...I mean we've all had nuts and bolts in our pockets when we've left....sometimes more.

 

Fair enough. But the issue isn't so much the admission rate as the "no-refund-if-we-don't-have-what-you-need" scam and the fact that it shouldn't cost money to enter the place for the purpose for providing business for them. Nuts and bolts used to mount the purchase should be considered part of the item considering they weigh next to nothing and are directly associated with the part. I've never known of a wrecking yard that was sleazy enough to charge for nuts and bolts.

True, some people do smuggle (ie: steal) small, easily hidden parts when they leave. Most businesses compensate for shoplifting losses by adjusting their prices accordingly. This of course is not fair to the rest of us but understandable since the purpose of any business is to turn a reasonable profit, and nobody should hold that against the proprietor. This is the approach that Pick 'n Pull should have adopted in the first place. After all, even a $2 price increase across the board would net them more than their sleazy admission fee while a) still maintaining reasonable prices and b) insuring that the customer gets fair value rather than losing out when they don't have the required part available.

 

Yup, It's called A-1 Auto Recyclers. The lady that runs it won't sell anything that's less than $20, and she has mastered the fine art of "service with a snarl." The one time I dropped by there to find this out I bought nothing and even considered smashing the windshield of a just-delivered junker that had not yet been towed inside the gates of her yard. But my philosophy that two wrongs don't make a right got the better of me. So instead I tell everyone who will listen about her business practices.

 

I save money when I shop at Walmart too, but I don't pay a buck to go in and see if they have anything I need!
It's not that its a big amount, but it simply grates - like I said, I have spent a good amount of money at Pick-n-Pull/Pick-Your-Part over the years - often just because I popped in to look and found something of interest - now I don't go there except when I need to and I've checked elsewhere first.
I hardly think theft of crap that could fit in peoples pockets is the real reason for the admission charge (and I say this as one who has paid for switchgear, map sensors, and other stuff I could have snuck out - so its not that I'm defending my own petty theft). I worked at Future Shop for a couple years (I know, probably cooler to say I'm a petty thief )- so I know theft is a huge issue in retail - but charging the customer admission isn't how you deal with it - especially since it suggests you think all the customers are thieves. Wrong answer - the customer is why you have a business. And petty irritants aren't how you win, or keep a customer. Pick-your-Part was a locally owned business that provided a model emulated across North America for how to run a profitable salvage business. The new American owners don't seem to be quite as in touch with what made it a success worth buying out in the first place.

 

I know a little bit of background on it. A friend of mine deals with them quite a bit. Unfortunatly its owned by Americans now who don't really give a rats *** about the actual parts part of the business - almost all their focus is on the recycled steel. My friend used to get first shot at "interesting" old cars before they were crushed or put into the yard. Now they just crush them as a Renault 4 or an Austin Cambridge have little parts value.

 

I suppose in that regard their business strategy might be considered a success - fewer customers driving away with steel auto parts - although I'm pretty sure a pound of steel in the form of a door or hood or engine - etc.- pays a lot more per pound than recycled steel in the form of rebar or ingots.
This might be less of a disappointment if PYP hadn't been simply the best run, best-priced, best selection of self-serve parts in southern Alberta.

 

Was at Buck's yesterday - they have an '83 up near the front - body looked very good on it. Interior was pretty trashed. Charcoal grey metallic - fenders and doors were dent and rust free, except for some damage to the lower rear portion of the front left fender likely caused by the fork lift. Hood, headlights, and bumpers looked good too. Looked like someone had started picking over the engine bay, but not much missing there either. Looked like the start of a good road race car - interior gutted, but a better body than some of the ones I see at the track
BTW, they didn't charge me for the electric fan I picked up for my chronically problem-prone Jetta either - just a donation of change to the coffee fund.

 

Yeah, that's got some good parts on it. I scored the tail lights and combination switch, then posted somewhere on here that it was there. Too bad it ended up in the scrap yard--- that car was definitely in decent shape and worth swapping in another engine or transmission or whatever was cratered on it.

 

Ya I was going to buy it out of the yard and 'restore' it, but its alot of work to get the title re-instated. Instead I ended up getting my FC for a few hundred $$$.

Anyone remember if any of those have a distributor?

 

That one did the last time I saw it. But if you're still looking for ignitors for your friend's car I have a couple laying around that you can have. Not sure how good they are but it's likely that at least one of them will work if you clean the corrosion off the connectors. She pm'd me yesterday with the news about her car, and I sent her a message that these ignitors were available. Is she able to drive it yet?

 

Its all fixed. We used an ignitor off an 1980 from the junk yard. Its a little larger, but awesome none the less. Car has some other idle issues.

 

Other idle issues? The idle was fine when she had it here last month. What exactly is it doing now?

 

It stumbles when you push the gas at low low end. Loss of power. And the exhaust leaks.

Alls I did was change the ignitor and make sure everything was plugged properly around the carb.

We SO need to make block of plates and get rid of all the california ****. I think thats part of it.

 

Sean, funny how everything runs worse after "you" open the hood. Make sure the only person opening the hood of your new Miata (eh he, girls car) is the guy at the gas station checking your dipstick. (ps, make sure his head is under the hood of "your car" when he's looking at your dipstick).

 

Was at Pick-N-Pull yesterday - a red 87 gx is new to the yard in the last week - body pretty rough, but the nose, hood, hatch, and rear bumper cap were in good shape. Lot of interior trim still there. Had the phone dialer rims. I snagged the little interior mirror covers, although the right one was cracked - just like mine Also a black GSL-SE - hood and nose already gone, engine still in but missing the intake. Good, rust free doors.
Don't waste your time going over to Buck's - they're down to about 3 dozen cars in the front corner of what used to be the yard. All that was there were several Escorts, Tauri, Crapoliers, Regals, and the like - nothing much in the line of imports at all.

 

did it happen to have two blue sunvisors? or those 2 little thingies that hold the back carpet up?

 

Just got back from Pick 'n Pull. Items I scored:

two 12A OMPs
one GSL-SE right rear brake caliper
one GSL-SE oil cooler c/w hoses
one 12A Nikki carb
one GSL/ GSL-SE washer fluid reservior
two oil filter pedastals (for converting from bee-hive oil cooler to under-rad unit)
one lens for 1st gen dome light
several fusible links
one wingnut for my air cleaner housing

As for RX7s now available, besides the above-mentioned red 2nd gen (automatic trans, red interior) and black '84 GSL-SE (red interior, no oil cooler or transmission, but seats in pretty good shape and the diff is still there minus the rear brakes) there is also a silver '84 base model and a silver '82 GSL.

None of these cars still had ignitors--- those were scored by someone before me, likely within minutes of their arrival into the yard.

the '82 GSL has the engine core remaining (spark plugs were worn but not oily or wet with coolant) and the 5-spd transmission, but the intake, seats, oil cooler and LSD diff are gone. The dash (red) is in good shape with no cracks.

The '84 base (silver with grey uphoulstry) has the engine and complete drive train but no carb. The seats (grey) are in good condition with no tears but need a good shampooing. This car also has the factory lip spoiler on the rear deck.

None of the radiators in any of these cars are in the best of shape, and the spark plugs for the front rotor on the GSL-SE engine were wet with water. (coolant?). This engine was probably over-heated. The '84 base had oily front spark plugs. Of the three 1st gens, only the SE had decent doors.

 

He he he, me got'm ignitors. LOL

 

Guess the rest of us will know who to stalk when our ignitors crap out.

 

i yoinked the K&N Filter out of a 1st gen a week or 2 ago....

hehehehe, anyone want a K&N?, cheap?... i'll clean it too!...

 

Interior was grey, I didn't notice if the visors were in, however. The carpet covering the spare was not in place, although I didn't notice if it was lying around in the car. So you can thank me for no useful information at all! lol