Finally - Score at the Pull-A-Part!

I check my local Pull-A-Part's inventory almost daily on the web. Even in the winter I visit at least every few weeks. When the weather's nice you'll find me there every other weekend at minimum.

I'm always looking for some elusive part that I know will show up one day if I'm vigilant. One day that 8" Trac-Lock differential with 3.55 gears will show up, or that Maverick with a 302 and a manual transmission. A Grabber hood, dare I dream? A Lincoln Versailles with a good 9" disc brake rear? I know these things are unlikely, but you know, you've got to play the game to win it. I missed my chance on the 8" Trac-Lock when a Mustang II came in and I wasn't fast enough. Not long ago a Versailles came in but the rearend was gone the next day. By the time the website shows a new car has arrived, it's already been there for a day or more and it's too late. I'm not looking to profit, although I did once sell a pair of Granada spindles for a modest amount, I just want to find cool stuff for my car.

I read all the time on this forum where other people have found a little piece of treasure in the boneyard, why not me? Well today my turn finally came.

I was at work, I get a text message from a friend:

"Fresh '71 Mustang meat."

...Now, this just doesn't happen. When a Mustang shows up at Pull-A-Part, maybe it will be a Fox, occasionally a crumpled up SN95, maybe even a bare-bones Mustang II, but never a real, proper classic Mustang.

Then, the picture comes in:




I call him immediately. He doesn't answer. I then proceed to fire off a volley of text messages:

"Don't you send me that and not answer your phone..."

"Need the rear axle code before some jackass gets it."

"I will leave work if I have to."

"Differential, on one of the bolts, stamped metal tag."


...Then he finally calls me, laughing. We determine the rear is a 3.00, open diff. Bummer. But then he says, "Hey this thing has an interesting gas gap" right about the time I say, "Hey, body code says this is a Mach..."

...

"Dude, get it! Don't let it out of your sight, I'm on my way!"

I leave work, head straight over, and sure enough there are people swarming this car like bees, but thanks to the diligence of a dear friend, I claim my prize:






Gonna clean this up and mount it tonight, pics soon.

 

Congrats!

im also a junkyard dog...but i haven't really scored anything good...yet.

Our junkyards never have classic mustangs, they separate them in a different are and sell the whole thing.

 

cool. Would they have sold the whole car?
that looks like a pretty solid one

 

Nice find Drew! Should look good on your ride. Are you going back?Theres a lot of money sitting on that stang!

 

shoulda got the mirrors,front brakes and seats also

 

...and the taillights. They look pretty wild on a Maverick.

 

Great job! How much for the cap an was it a cleveland?

 

congrats. i ve always wanted to get one of those caps.

 

That is awesome!! I've seen many cool cars in there, but never such a complete classic Mustang like that. There was a '66 fastback Mustang at the south Atlanta Pull-A-Part one time a couple of years ago, but it was just a stripped out body (including the VIN being gone), and the roof was crushed and it looked like it had spent 30 years a the bottom of a lake.

Not complete. If you want to take it apart and carry it out one piece at a time, then sure. I seriously considered doing that with a Sprint I found in there one time.

I've had a few decent scores lately at Pull-A-Part, nothing Maverick related though. Back in the spring of '06, I had a ridiculous string of scores for a few months. Maverick and Comet small bumpers, V8 stuff, valances, bucket seat tracks, clutch pedals, you name it. Now, I'm lucky to just find a picked over big bumper car every now and then.

 

Buy the whole car. Then clean it up and flip it or part it out on a Mustang forum. What a shame to waste that car.

 

Score on the gas cap!

 

DAMN Nice! Whenever a 3rd Gen(lol@ Chevy terms) Mustang shows up in the junkyards around here, everything good is already gone. I think the guys who work the yards scalp the parts before it even touches the field.

 

I am definitely going back, and with a truck if I can find one in time. There aren't as many good parts there as you might think, but there are quite a few. The mirrors are smashed although the housings are good, front brakes are drum (?!?) and the seats are completely ruined. Wheels are junk. But there are a few good interior parts I intend to get, and I'll get those taillights if they're still there. I'm happy with my taillights, but I'm sure I can find these a good home for a very, very reasonable deal...

I paid a whopping $3 for the gas cap and the horse off the grille. (It's going on my toolbox, which is covered already in various car emblems.) (And no, the grille is junk or else I'd have kept it all intact.) Engine, which is still there, is a 351C.

I wish, man. Even if I could, they won't sell it. Once a car goes out on that lot it's done. Pull-A-Part is the crusher's waiting room, nothing can save it unless you carry it off in bits. Lot of tragedies come and go in that yard... There's a '55 Ford pickup in there right now with a perfect body, no rot, minor surface rust, big block, missing only the doors and the interior. Nothing can save it from its sad fate.

 

Really?? We dont have wreckers like that around here. They'll sell anything whole or not for cash. Hell we had a small version of your cash for clunkers up here but no government control over the trade ins. They were sold to wreckers for scrap who in turn sold them for parts and even whole cars with good titles.