Please stop parting out cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jdpolzin]

I dont know what it is lately but everywhere I turn, someones always wanting to part cars out. I dont know what happened the past 5 years but totally restorable cars are going to parts constantly. I know I know, a car is worht more in parts right now than it's worth as a whole......yadda yadda yadda.

Well then, restore that car and sell it to someone so they can have their dream car. For every car that gets parted out, one less person has the chance to own one. Yes, some of the parts are used to rebuild other cars and I do understand that. But, there are people on this board and others who seem to be doing nothing on here but selling parts from their parted out cars. Should these certain individuals be paying vendors fees??? I think some of them have far past a level where they are just trying to get rid of parts, it's become a business for these guys. Now if JoeBobsGN has a wrecked, totally rusted, bad titled, POS that isnt salvageable sitting in his barn then by all means, harvest the good parts off of it and get rid of the scrap metal. I have no problem with that.

What ever hapened to the reason we are all here?.......the dream we've all had about having this amazing car we built or purchased, the comradery of our fellow TB buddies, the good feeling of accomplishment when your cruising your car, etc!!!!! I get into this quite a bit with a certain person who is very close to me that I wont mention. First thing that pops into his head is, I'll buy that and part it out. I think he is changing that mind state and seeing it more to the way I see things. I think of a car thats incomplete or needing work like I thought about that Go-Kart frame sitting by a dumpster when I was a little kid. I took that go-kart frame and my buddies and I made that into a running cart from pieces of lawnmowers, bicycles, dirtbikes, parts from cars in the junkyard, etc!!! Granted it got pulled with a chain behind my friends 3 wheeler more than it probably moved on it's own power! But the point is, not every car thats not a show car is worthless. Some people cant afford a $15k-$20k car. some people can only afford a non running, rusty piece of crap. But those people will eventually fiddle with it enough that it may be a nice show car someday!!!

I just say.....build cars, stop thinking about the all might dollar! It may make some kids dream come true someday! My little brother is seeing that dream come true right now because we are rebuilding a car I parted out years ago for him! It was a wrecked salvaged car. The only thing we are actually using is the shell from that T. The frame and everything else has been built from donor cars that werent worth fixing. It's a 403 powered, BRF trans, 8.5 rear (3:73 gear), completely factory looking car. We used all the 307 wiring harness, carb, ECM, dash components, etc! It looks like it just rolled out of the factory with a 307 but it's actually a 403!

I'm not rich, actually I dont even have a job right now! I know money is very important but before you rip that car apart, please think to yourself......could it be fixed???

 

[usetaboost]

Now if JoeBobsGN has a wrecked, totally rusted, bad titled, POS that isnt salvageable sitting in his barn then by all means, harvest the good parts off of it and get rid of the scrap metal. I have no problem with that.

.....some people can only afford a non running, rusty piece of crap.

I'll raise my hand to this one! Jeremy just described my car. Only difference mine has a good title

I'll say it and I'm sure a few others have said it-my car shoulda been stripped and dropped off so we could have more beer cans made. But here's the deal. My car was complete, stock, and all original. No my car isn't going to be perfect. It won't ever be numbers matching either. Stock appearing? Yes easily. Show car? NEVER. A good driver? Yes.

And that's what it's all about, enjoying the cars. Preserving what little is left. Agree with me or not, these cars are a piece of automotive history and will never happen again. IMO, all Gbody cars have their own place.

There's plenty of base model cars to steal parts of, just gotta get ahold of those dirt track guys

 

[coach]

ALL parts go to build other cars. If not, then they would just get scraped. I know what you mean, but Sometimes it is necessary. Are the cars being parted out turbo cars or collector cars? I know most of the parts cars I have used inthe past for my other projects are 4 doors and run of the mill passenger cars, not 2 door or turbo cars. Rust is rust, sometimes a good car has to donate so another can live.

Take care bud,
Coach

 

[bison]

I dont know what it is lately but everywhere I turn, someones always wanting to part cars out. I dont know what happened the past 5 years but totally restorable cars are going to parts constantly. I know I know, a car is worht more in parts right now than it's worth as a whole......yadda yadda yadda.

Well then, restore that car and sell it to someone so they can have their dream car. For every car that gets parted out, one less person has the chance to own one. Yes, some of the parts are used to rebuild other cars and I do understand that. But, there are people on this board and others who seem to be doing nothing on here but selling parts from their parted out cars. Should these certain individuals be paying vendors fees??? I think some of them have far past a level where they are just trying to get rid of parts, it's become a business for these guys. Now if JoeBobsGN has a wrecked, totally rusted, bad titled, POS that isnt salvageable sitting in his barn then by all means, harvest the good parts off of it and get rid of the scrap metal. I have no problem with that.

What ever hapened to the reason we are all here?.......the dream we've all had about having this amazing car we built or purchased, the comradery of our fellow TB buddies, the good feeling of accomplishment when your cruising your car, etc!!!!! I get into this quite a bit with a certain person who is very close to me that I wont mention. First thing that pops into his head is, I'll buy that and part it out. I think he is changing that mind state and seeing it more to the way I see things. I think of a car thats incomplete or needing work like I thought about that Go-Kart frame sitting by a dumpster when I was a little kid. I took that go-kart frame and my buddies and I made that into a running cart from pieces of lawnmowers, bicycles, dirtbikes, parts from cars in the junkyard, etc!!! Granted it got pulled with a chain behind my friends 3 wheeler more than it probably moved on it's own power! But the point is, not every car thats not a show car is worthless. Some people cant afford a $15k-$20k car. some people can only afford a non running, rusty piece of crap. But those people will eventually fiddle with it enough that it may be a nice show car someday!!!

I just say.....build cars, stop thinking about the all might dollar! It may make some kids dream come true someday! My little brother is seeing that dream come true right now because we are rebuilding a car I parted out years ago for him! It was a wrecked salvaged car. The only thing we are actually using is the shell from that T. The frame and everything else has been built from donor cars that werent worth fixing. It's a 403 powered, BRF trans, 8.5 rear (3:73 gear), completely factory looking car. We used all the 307 wiring harness, carb, ECM, dash components, etc! It looks like it just rolled out of the factory with a 307 but it's actually a 403!
I'm not rich, actually I dont even have a job right now! I know money is very important but before you rip that car apart, please think to yourself......could it be fixed???

Whats the point of restoring a car you bought for $5000 when you can buy a low mileage car that is original and worth more and easier to sell than a high mileage car that has been restored? You will have way more into the restoration and you will have to do a lot of the work and tie up space, pay for insurance, downtime, getting jerked around by everyone under the sun as you try to complete your restoration. These cars are not rare at all. At any one time there are hundreds for sale at a time. They will always be available to buy. There arent too many driver quality cars left under $10k though. Under 10 and you will be throwing a lot of $ at it unless you want to drive around a POS. Anything could be fixed but its not worth it. If i buy a $3k TR for some parts i need i can profit a lot more by cutting it up and selling everything i can than restoring th pile of chit. A proper restoration costs at least $20k. To properly paint one you will be in over $7k plus the cost and you havent even done anything else yet! If it were a GNX it owuld be different but it wouldnt be under $20k even if it was a total POS.

 

[usetaboost]

Not everyone has 20k to buy a low mileage car. Not everyone pays to have a shop rebuild their cars either. My uncle has a 67 cutlass convertible. It was almost as bad as my car was when I got it. He restored the car with the help of a friend. Painted in the garage and all. It is a beautiful car and has less than 10k into it with purchase price. I doubt the equivilent could be purchased for what he has into it.

 

[turboc87gn]

I can see ur point bison but you musnt forget the lil guy..Theres a lot of people with more time and friends than $$$ and they will take the time to give a car the tlc it needs to be awesome and it may take some time,and it may never take the riddler award at autorama ,but they may not have 9k + to spend on a car thats done already..

Arent most of us car guys because of the passion we have for cars even if it means beating our heads against the wall to have something different thats not ur average 350 chevy or 302 ford that kicks a$$,,,, not in it for the $$$ We see what happens when people get into it for the money,, Barrett Jackson....

 

[GNTIM]

History repeats itself. The problem is keeping them till they are worth big $. I remember my dad taking me through bone yards in the late 70's and early 80's. There were muscle cars every where that would be easy and profitable restorations today, but they were cheap back then. I remember this one yard had a GSX, AMX, GT350, a couple Super Bees...you get the idea. A neighbor had a Boss 302 Cougar, one of like 170 built that he had a couple of fender benders with. He sold the drive train to a buddy who put it into a freakin Granada. Thats what you did back then.

 

[ZNix]

Yea! What about the little guys like me! I bought this 84 GN for 2200$ and plan on doing everything myself. Yea, I'm probably the youngest on this board, but I am not your run of the mill teenager. I have patience ! Most people would consider this a parts car! Hell no! This is all mine, clean title, and very well optioned with the not so rare flinstone floors! Yea!

 

[GNBRETT]

Probably cause people get more for parting them out vs. selling as a whole. Pathetic, but true is many cases.

 

[SPOOLN]

Big Dreams

1. I see alot of cars owners had Big Dreams to make it fast. Buy parts left and right spend thousands of dollars on parts. Then something happens their interests changes. Their TR is sitting as a project all taken apart in the garage. Lose interest of ever putting it back together so the parts are sold and the shell is sitting Parted out!

2. Then you have the other end of the spectrum. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ lets see how much money i can make to part them out. There used to be alot of people stripping them left and right. I remember going to the Nationals 1996 and you could see parts and parts of TRs for sale everwhere but thats not the case anymore cos there are fewer and fewer around...

3. Then you have the chop shop thieves that profit on ebay selling hot parts. Ever wonder where alot of low mileage TR parts come from??? These are the TRs/GNs that have been unrecovered for years or recent.

I know its sad but true but what can you do?

 

[jdpolzin]

I guess i speak for the little guys around here. I would much rather buy a car for $3K that needs work and d the work slowly as I have the time and money. Once it's done, it's an accomplishment that I'm proud of.

If anybody knows anyting about the costs of restoring a car, that would be me. I've put a lot of money into restoring these cars. You are welcome to check into some of the cars I have restored bolt by bolt piece by piece.

I think it's pathetic that people see a $3K TR and buy it up just to part it out. How about let some other people into the game? Let some kid that doesnt have a pot to piss in buy that car and show it off to his buddies, learn how these cars work, fix it up and someday become a good asset to the community.

Problem is everyones is too damn greedy and jumps at every opportunity to make a little $$$.

Jesse is a great example to this. His car wasnt sh*t when he bought it. He's spend a ton of time fixing that thing up and will now this year finally get the chance to drive it. To me, thats what Hot Rodding is all about. Buy what you can afford and fix it up till your broke! But, in the end it's going to be YOUR car and your going to be DAMN PROUD of it!!!!

Todays society thinks too much with their own greed. Back in the day when my grampa was cruising cool cars around, they would make something out of nothing. Now todays society is just wanting to make money out of nothing which eliminates the not so well off people from enjoying our wonderful hobby.

Now on the other hand, if it a standard not valuable Regal or something thats not worth the time to restore, part it out and donate the organ to other cars. I have no problem with that. It just seems like everyone is out to make money on these cars and rips them apart instead of rebuilding them and making dreams come true.

 

[jdpolzin]

I'll give another example of why a decent car shouldnt be parted out:

When I was a teenager, my parents werent poor by any means but they didnt have the money to buy me toys like a lot of my friends had. I wanted dirtbikes, 4 wheelers, cars, etc like any other teenager. I had all of those things because I worked for them. I worked for a farmer making $3 an hour cash. Yeah that's nothing but it taught me responsibilty.

Anyways, when it came time to find a car, I wanted nothing but a G Body. I worked as much as I could and ended up saving up $1800. I looked and looked and couldnt find anything for less than $3k at the time. Well one day a white Cutlass pops up for sale for $2300. My parent pitched in the extra $500 and I had myself a car!!!!!! It was a floor shifter car, 150K miles, T Tops that leaked, 50HP 307 V8, with rust holes in the qaurters and doors. It wasnt that great but it was mine! I pollished that turd like it was gold. I spray painted the rust holes white so they didnt stick out so much. Finally got my lisence and drove it to school everyday proud as heck! My dad and I had to change the fuel pump in the middle of a really bad snowstorm in the High School parking lot which still didnt get the car running becuase it ended just being out of fuel which I didnt know becuase the gas gauge didnt work! I loved that car and it was all mine. It wasnt a nice car and everyone else had much better cars becuase their mommy's and daddy's bought them nice cars and such. But I bought it with my own money. Then it all lead me into these cars which I pretty much live and breath now.

My point is that if some jackoff bought that car before I did just to sell the floor shifter, counsol, bucket seats, 200R4, crossmember, rear end, blah blah blah to make some money, I would have never had that opportunity and the car would have been turned into clothes hangers and dishwashers.

So, I'm glad I had the opportunity to have a pile of garbage. It taught me a lot at a young age when I couldnt afford a nice car.

 

[ZNix]

Hate to make a second post, but It seems ive lost the edit button.. It wont load on my computer for some reason.. Anyways! I was going to add I am 15 years of age, and this will be my first car. I will be getting my permit in September, and hopefully on the road on my own in March of next year! Don't worry.. Ill be good. I promise.

 

[rattrod30]

My .02

Whats the point of restoring a car you bought for $5000 when you can buy a low mileage car that is original and worth more and easier to sell than a high mileage car that has been restored? You will have way more into the restoration and you will have to do a lot of the work and tie up space, pay for insurance, downtime, getting jerked around by everyone under the sun as you try to complete your restoration. These cars are not rare at all. At any one time there are hundreds for sale at a time. They will always be available to buy. There arent too many driver quality cars left under $10k though. Under 10 and you will be throwing a lot of $ at it unless you want to drive around a POS. Anything could be fixed but its not worth it. If i buy a $3k TR for some parts i need i can profit a lot more by cutting it up and selling everything i can than restoring th pile of chit. A proper restoration costs at least $20k. To properly paint one you will be in over $7k plus the cost and you havent even done anything else yet! If it were a GNX it owuld be different but it wouldnt be under $20k even if it was a total POS.

Not rare at all ????? there were just over 7000 1968 z28s manufactured those are not being parted out regularly. 2000 is the number usually cited for 84 GNs that would be much more rare than a 68z28. The number of TRs that have never been all "fouled" up with various mods will ultimately be even smaller. So yes,they are "rare".
The cars are given less respect than any other model I personally know of .From parting out as well as from the wannabe Smokey Yunicks of the world.
Read,read,read is the common advise for those perceived as needing the sage advise of the resident Yodas. If ya' don't screw around with the damn thing you probably won't need to "read" anything more that the factory manual.
My car is an 84. These are really worthless pieces of crap according to the average GN enthusiast. Non TR people love my car,it is gorgeous,there too stupid to know it is a second class collectable. Point is, people are going to have regrets in the future. As we continue to screw up the garden variety 86/87 cars while using the 84/85s as cheap parts whores we continue to thin the herd. But hell, they grow on trees!

 

[Dabigguy]

Greedy?? It is not greed, it is called making money. When I was raised, it was called "The American Way" I work and my retirement funds are there to MAKE ME MONEY.

I agree that our cars should be restored, in a perfect world, but these are tuff economic times......we need to liquidate assets so we can have a roof over our heads.

Wanna buy a fixer-upper Limited......... to save me from parting it out?

 

[charlief1]

Jeremy, you know about my cars. An 82 GN, an 83 T, and an 83 Regal NA V6. I will be parting out the 83 after it's used as a test bed for the parts I want to put into the GN, but the NA isn't on the block. I intend to use parts from the T to fix the NA. Not a rare car but a simple one. I had one guy find out I had the 82 and said "what do you want for it". My response was 20K for all of them. Why? If he'd bit I'd have taken the cash and done more with it to save more of them. He looked at me like I was crazy. The dirt track guys around here are idiots to say the least. Several of them have tried to offer $100 or $200 for the cars and I litterally laugh at them. My land lord used to use 55 Chevys for dirt cars and now regrets it. Most of the people parting out these cars are just trying to make some cash out of them. Remember the GNX that was parted out because the guy didn't get his asking price? I do. Idiots are a dime a dozen and are willing to try and make a profit off of the next thing that comes around. The G body chasis is just the newest one right now.

 

[chopped39]

I dont know what it is lately but everywhere I turn, someones always wanting to part cars out. I dont know what happened the past 5 years but totally restorable cars are going to parts constantly. I know I know, a car is worht more in parts right now than it's worth as a whole......yadda yadda yadda.

Well then, restore that car and sell it to someone so they can have their dream car. For every car that gets parted out, one less person has the chance to own one. Yes, some of the parts are used to rebuild other cars and I do understand that. But, there are people on this board and others who seem to be doing nothing on here but selling parts from their parted out cars. Should these certain individuals be paying vendors fees??? I think some of them have far past a level where they are just trying to get rid of parts, it's become a business for these guys. Now if JoeBobsGN has a wrecked, totally rusted, bad titled, POS that isnt salvageable sitting in his barn then by all means, harvest the good parts off of it and get rid of the scrap metal. I have no problem with that.

What ever hapened to the reason we are all here?.......the dream we've all had about having this amazing car we built or purchased, the comradery of our fellow TB buddies, the good feeling of accomplishment when your cruising your car, etc!!!!! I get into this quite a bit with a certain person who is very close to me that I wont mention. First thing that pops into his head is, I'll buy that and part it out. I think he is changing that mind state and seeing it more to the way I see things. I think of a car thats incomplete or needing work like I thought about that Go-Kart frame sitting by a dumpster when I was a little kid. I took that go-kart frame and my buddies and I made that into a running cart from pieces of lawnmowers, bicycles, dirtbikes, parts from cars in the junkyard, etc!!! Granted it got pulled with a chain behind my friends 3 wheeler more than it probably moved on it's own power! But the point is, not every car thats not a show car is worthless. Some people cant afford a $15k-$20k car. some people can only afford a non running, rusty piece of crap. But those people will eventually fiddle with it enough that it may be a nice show car someday!!!

I just say.....build cars, stop thinking about the all might dollar! It may make some kids dream come true someday! My little brother is seeing that dream come true right now because we are rebuilding a car I parted out years ago for him! It was a wrecked salvaged car. The only thing we are actually using is the shell from that T. The frame and everything else has been built from donor cars that werent worth fixing. It's a 403 powered, BRF trans, 8.5 rear (3:73 gear), completely factory looking car. We used all the 307 wiring harness, carb, ECM, dash components, etc! It looks like it just rolled out of the factory with a 307 but it's actually a 403!

I'm not rich, actually I dont even have a job right now! I know money is very important but before you rip that car apart, please think to yourself......could it be fixed???

If you see me parting a car on hear it is a pile of crap.rotted beyond repair. If the body is clean and solid it gets sold running or as a roller.I see some parts sellers on hear that have a full time job. I cant imagine parting out that many cars the pms alone would drive me nuts. But these cars are worth more in pieces. sucks but it is true. It does kill me when I see rust free doors in mint condition because you know if the doors were rust free so was the rest of the car, thats what pisses me off.Face it people dont care about the cars they just want the money.

 

[klrv6]

If the math is done on say a $6500 '86 GN, it is never worth the cost to restore it to near pristine condition. You have to look at the big picture for these cars. Parts are getting more expensive by the day and the number of vendors is shrinking. Only the absolute purist will keep these cars in the future. I would be much more inclined to replace my lc2 with a turbo six liter and six speed auto. I have done the math and for a fun street car, it would end up costing just a little more than having the lc2 and trans rebuilt. It's a personal choice if someone wants to buy and part out cars THEY OWN. I like the body style way too much to get rid of the car but, the reality is we have 23+ years of innovation that is finally beating the performance the v6 used to have.

 

[novaderrik]

thios whole hobby- Hot Rodding- is based almost entirely on the concept of parting cars out. it's the whole reason that junkyards exist, and why people can make a living just doing swap meets.
it's like when you sign up to be an organ donor- the parts get taken from the dead car so that another car may live.
do some nice cars get parted out? yes. but that's gonna happen from time to time. but all that rust and dent free used sheetmetal has to come from somewhere..

 

[SS_Sean]

For every one car parted ten are saved...