Junkyard Dog

Like many young guys, I had a car fixation. It was the expression of my freedom. I could pilot myself... or even better, myself and a date... anywhere I wanted or needed to go.

Before my first car, it was a bicycle. I put a lot of miles on my bike, visiting friends, riding to the beach, even visiting the store.

But the horizon expanded geometrically with that first car.

Even though it was a piece of crap.

Which is another common thread through the lives of many young people. We did everything we could to get a car, but the budget was limited. And while the horizon had expanded with my gas-powered freedom machine, the cost of maintenance and repairs also exploded.

Thanks again, Mr. Jones.

When I met Mr. Jones, I was well beyond my first bike. I was close to me teenage years. He was a deacon at my church, and a one of those people that could do "that"... regardless of what "that" might be.

I broke my bike in half more than once. Mr. Jones was the guy that welded it back together. I never managed to break his welds, but by the time I was done, all of the welds on the bike were his.

That first car, a 1973 Ford Mustang Grande, was also destined to break, although not in the grandiose style of my bike... I was NOT Beau or Luke Duke.

Queue Mr. Jones again... Like I said, he was the guy that could do "that." With the new entry in my life, "that" turned out to be rebuilding a carburetor, replacing the brakes, rebuilding a transmission... You get the idea.

And I discovered the Guy Thrift Store.

While my girlfriends might have hit up the consignment shop or the thrift shop for good deals on the fashions that were important to them, I found myself doing almost the same thing.

Pre-owned auto parts have been big business as long as there have been cars. After all, for most of the car, when it is no longer useful as a whole, that doesn't mean it isn't useful.

I love a good junk yard... especially one I can walk through, and "browse the racks" so to speak. And those junk yards have provided a lot.

On that first Mustang, the passenger door was on the rough side. Lo and behold, there was a beautiful passenger door in a junkyard nearby. The original was "serviceable" but would have been very difficult to repair. The window mechanism was trashed... but the glass stayed up. The bodyline running it's length was crinkled it, and the hinges "worked" mostly. But for $50, I had a perfect blue door for my red Mustang. For $3 more, I spray-painted it, and it looked just fine.

Over the next couple of years, window-shopping the local "Thrift Store for Guys", I replaced a battery tray, a tail light, two side market lights and several pieces of interior trim.

Mr. Jones showed me how to shop junkyards for parts from other vehicles that would work... vehicles that might not be as popular, or that might be more plentiful. And those were even better bargains.

A suspension arm for Ford Mustang is desirable and popular. That means it might be big bucks. Or at least bigger bucks. But the one from a Ford Falcon was exactly the same... and easier to find. Parts for my 1965 Mustangs were tough to find in wrecking yards... the cars were too popular.

Mix and match.

Donna was an old girlfriend that had a unique fashion sense. And to match that, she would roll through a thrift shop and walk out with a diverse collection of weird. Usually for almost nothing. Her peers always sought to dress like her, and some spent hours and hours trolling the mall for the odd collection of fashion she would throw together from a thrift store trip.

Because of her I upped my junkyard game. Taking parts from one car and dropping them into another they were never meant for...

Even now, my son has a 1988 Jeep Wrangler that is getting a junkyard 6-speed transmission transplanted into it, from a 2005 Wrangler, along with the electric, two-speed cooling fan from a Ford Taurus.

Just like Donna was able to take what others didn't want and create something new and better from her thrift shop finds, my son and I troll junkyards for the parts we can adapt and modify to his old Jeep.

And it's still cheap...

Not as cheap as the old days. But still a pretty good deal. An electric fan capable of pushing enough air to replace a mechanical fan is about $200 new. The junkyard version we bought was $15. The transmission we picked up for $200, and will have another $300 in before he drives it, would have cost $3000 to buy new... and still would have required a bunch of adapting.

Take that $20 thrift dress...

But, wait, there's more.

There is another type of thrift shopping that might be uniquely man-focused, too.

The Army/Navy surplus store. They even have clothes. I love a good surplus store, some days even more than a good junkyard.

Good ones are hard to find, but a blast when you do. There are a lot of places you can find some stuff... even some old uniforms. But there are a few that have the really cool stuff.

Camping gear is a good start. I mean, you don't want to hike the Appalachian Trail with an Army issue tent, it weighs as much as Donna did, but it will last longer that many of us will. And there are tarps and ropes and spiffy gadgets that the military dreamt up.

Ammo cans are the next step up. Waterproof, airtight and crazy strong. First aid kits, car emergency kits, there are loads of uses for them as they come straight from the store. Donna wouldn't approve, though. With a little work, they can be a myriad of things. Don't believe me, get lost on Pintrest by searching "Ammo Can."

Equipment cases, and sometimes even equipment. If you need more space than the ammo can will give you, there are mil-spec gear cases you can park a car on. And every once in a while, they come with stuff. I picked up a really cool helmet... it was for an attack helicopter. I had NO use for it at all... but it was $30. When the Army bought it, it was $10,000. However, without having an attack helicopter... $30 was more in line. And it couldn't do thirty bucks worth of anything except sit in the garage menacing my tool chest.

Guy Thrift Shop Math.

Remember those ammo cans? One of the coolest things to do with them is use them as make a car console. Although a buddy of mine found some cool tubes designed to store mortar shells. They were mounted in his Jeep to store camping gear.

And who doesn't love the dummy hand grenade shifter knob.

Finally, there were the HMMWV wheels. I bought them directly from the Army through surplus auctions. I picked them up by the pallet load. Some people cut the centers out to use them on other types of axles. Others use them for heavier running gear as they are. I won't get into what a "beadlock" wheel does, but they are pretty cool... in an ugly, heavy and reasonably bulletproof way.

I made a bunch of money from them. I'd usually pick them up in quantity for $20 each, and sell them for $50 or more.

That is some thrifting, right there...

But the point.

Ella's Thrift & Consignment might be groovy (If you are or know someone named Ella that has a cool thrift and consignment shop, this is NOT about you or her) but unless she sells used auto parts and ammo cans, it could always be cooler.