Closed! DIY Parts

[trikey]

Frequented crabmill many times, one of the proper scrapyards, like others have said, these places will soon be a thing of the past.

[coab]

Talking about health and safety Whites scrap yard near me have gone all “elf and safety” by issuing you a with a high vis jacket with a £5 deposit before you enter the yard.
Problem is they are covered in black oil and are torn to shreds! More like low vis! I doubt many get nicked!

[respace]

There's still at least one in Dorset with the attendant stacked cars and mud as described, it's midway between Dorchester and Yeovil off A37. Last time I went there was even a fat bloke with a fag, and several helpful Polish lads doing all the work!
Can't remember the name though, might be Angels or even Crooks (i kid you not, please feel free to make the associations!)

[RPWC]

Originally Posted by coab

Oh how I miss our scrappy "Crabmills" where you spoke to some fat bloke dragging on a fag, stubble on his chin and covered in oil even tho its 8.30 am and he hasnt done a stroke!
He points you off into an abyss of cars all piled up and in 3 foot of mud, old car mats and water. You manage to find your car and as usual its the one on the top. You clamber up the sides using door handles as leverage and finally poke your head into the footwell of the said car at the top. Your greeted with mildew more rain water and half the interior is missing and the bloke who owned the car hasnt hoovered it in 20 years. Eventually you wonder around squeezing past various DIY mechanics and "jobbers" pulling various parts from engine bays and rear axles. Finally you see a decent car and hastily walk over dodging the dog Shyyte left overnight from the huge oil covered hairy alsatian and bingo your Radiomobile 3 Watt speakers are nicely cut into the rear shelf of the donor car. You whip them out whilst gingerly filling your pockets and socks with bulbs and fuses and wonder over to the counter. "What you got there mate?" as the bloke speaks whilst still dragging on the worlds thinnest roll up and you reply 2 speakers mate.
"A few quid will do Son" and you gingerly pull a few coins out of your pocket hoping not to drag any bulbs out at the same time!
A quick walk to your car whilst trying to drag all the oil mud and shyyyte off your shoes on the rare grass verge that hasnt been contaminated in oil or other noxious substances.....
Yes I miss those Sunday mornings!

That’s what our local scrappie, Pringle’s was like. You had to sign a disclaimer on entry and time out on exit, in case you hurt yourself climbing over the vehicles, which like Crabmills, were 3 high, and sometimes 3/4 stacks deep .

[vacuman]

Originally Posted by Teflon

Puts me in mind of my first attempt at haggling, at the tender age of 19 or so.

I needed a fuel tank for my trusty (rusty!) Cortina MkII 1600GT. Off to the scrappy at Sunbury where I manage to find a suitable example, complete with about half a gallon of petrol swilling about in it .

I took it over to the gaffer - a very large bloke in a dirty white vest, complete with ciggy in his mouth. "Fifteen quid mate" he says. Full of youthful confidence, I looked him in the eye and told him there was a scrappy down the road that would let me have one for a tenner (there wasn't). He didn't blink, flinch, or hesitate, he just replied "Well 'eff of down there and get it then".

I gave him the fifteen quid .


Cliff

There's a joke based on the above that I always recall.

So you say that the scrap yard down the road sells Cortina fuel tanks for a tenner and the scrappy man asks why you don't go there and buy one. You reply that they don't have any in stock.

Quick as a flash, the scrappy man says that when he doesn't have any in stock his are only a tenner as well

[Outlaw 41]

Well this is very fitting , my Daughter has just come home from work and showed me a swelling and bruise just under her right eye What have you done ??? She opend the hatch on her Focus and the stays that were fairly weak finnaly gave way , so off to the scrappys i go but this time im not comming from there with an oily leg .

[COLVERT]

WOW. Interesting thread this.

Lots of older folk posting.--Lol.

A real trip down memory lane. Up to my eyebrows in muck and bullets.

Taking home gearboxes, part engines and suspension parts to feed my in between jobs job.----

Working in the road with a scaffold tube tripod hoist set up.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS.------------------

[Dallas]

What's sad about all this is... the breakers in question would often come up with marketing gimmicks to get people through the doors/gates. The best promotion was an all you could carry for £30 weekend, if you could carry your hoard 12ft without dropping anything, then its yours for £30... Priceless.

[trikey]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Working in the road with a scaffold tube tripod hoist set up.

That's way too posh, try a length of rope with a piece of wood that you spun around to 'lift' the engine up

[jonc3725]

Originally Posted by Dallas

Yet another problem for us poor southerners trying to keep our old MG Rovers on the roads, both our local car breakers have now closed their doors.

Charles Trents closed their DIY parts section to the public just a few days ago after 90 years of serving us Dorset folk our other car breakers yard Avon Forest closed their doors some years ago, so Trents was our last resource for walk-in local second-hand car parts.

There has been a significant reduction in demand for self service DIY parts down here in Bournemouth and Poole, so Charles Trents are now concentrating on off-the-shelf parts, more so the newer vehicle parts. You will not find any old MG Rover parts taking up valuable shelf space, there cant be many of these vehicles left in our area any more.

The situation is pretty much due to these new modern people buying/leasing new cars and not/cant maintain their own vehicle, instead they are taking their vehicle to a local garage dealer to have new parts fitted.

The government and vehicle manufactures are getting their own way its seems.

I know the feeling mate. 3 of our local scrappies closed over the last few years who were very good for this marque due to environmental issues and mr health and safety.
One in particular always had ZTs and R75s and he let you take parts off the cars yourself. When he shut down he must have had 4 or 5 in the yard and closed with little warning


Now only the big ones survive and they dont keep this marque when it comes in they send them straight to the crusher. .
I heard of a ZT in the local Plymouth one. Went down and he had sent the car to the crusher!

I could always lose half a day rummaging around. Not now Im afraid