Scrapping an Old VW
and
the Internet Swap-Meet

So Mom (or the Missus, or the landlord, or the zoning lady,...) finally laid down the law and you've got to get that junk 73 bus out of the driveway, and you are thinking of scrapping it out... well, here's a list of things you might want to consider before you call Charlie Palmer to haul the stripped carcass away.

• Safety precautions- Drain the gas. Remove the battery. And remember that the vehicle will be free to roll when the engine is pulled, so block the wheels.

• Gas tank and tires- In the headlong quest to blame someone else for pollution, the various environmental agencies have succeeded in bullying most scrap yards into refusing to take any vehicle that has a gas tank or tires.

  The result of this policy is the decentralization of this type of junk. Rather than having 1000 gas tanks in one location where they could be dealt with and properly disposed of, the tanks will now be found in 1000 different locations under hedgerows and behind barns all over the landscape. Ever notice all those tires discarded along the Interstate?

  What this means to you is the unfortunate likelihood that you will end up with 4 or 5 tires and a gas tank when you are done. Plan ahead. The preferred method of disposal is leaving them on the EPA doorstep in the middle of the night. You won't get in trouble...

• Dashboard and switches- When removing switches, instruments, and instrument panels, do NOT remove the push-on connectors. Cut the wires instead, leaving the connectors on their proper terminals. This makes reinstallation of the item substantially simpler.

• Doors- If you've got a place to store them, you might want to save the doors, but be aware of the fact that they will probably stay in that place until you move, die, or get tired of looking at them. Pretty much everyone who has ever scrapped a VW has saved the doors because they are so easy to get off. For this reason, there is a plethora of doors available.

  A few years ago, we almost bought the MaddMan's collection of bug fenders, but he wouldn't sell them unless we took all his bug doors too, and that put the keebosh on the deal.

• Horn- If the horn works, it would be worth a special trip under the vehicle to recover it.

• Windows- Except for the windshield, which seems most susceptible to road hazard damage and vandalism, the other windows may or may not be worth saving. Very seldom do the other windows need replacement. On the other hand, one vender is asking $199 for a 64 bug rear window.

  The big consideration with saving the windshield is storage. Don't store it on the concrete floor or where someone is going to pile things (even light things) on it. Store the windshield upright or it will break from its own laminated weight.

• Westphalia interiors- They sure do take a lot of room to store.

• Engine and Transmission- Don't store the engine outside unless you live in some place where it never rains. Somehow, that kind of storage promotes internal rust. And, if you are scrapping a post-67 bus, don't store the transmission where those dune buggy guys can see it.

• Marking and storage- If you only scrap one car in your life, you may not need to mark the parts. Otherwise, you can greatly simplify your life later on by marking the year and type on each part with a paint pen, grease pencil, or indelible marker. Something like 64-I or 73-II is sufficient for later identification.

  The first rule of inventory is "it doesn't matter if you've got it if you can't find it." Organization would seem to be most beneficial. As they say in Costa Rica, "orden es progresso."

• Misc- If you can find someone with a sawz-all, you might consider cutting some panels out of the roof or sides. This is good German metal and will be useful some day for body work, etc.

• A cautionary note- One of the problems with saving things is all the things that get saved. After a while, they begin to clog up the works, the 2 car garage becomes too small for even one car, and navigating the basement becomes an adventure.

  Tom Schwendlemeyer has a story about a friend of his who spent a lifetime collecting all sorts of things, eventually filling up a 5 story warehouse. After his friend died suddenly of a heart attack, the widow hired Tom to clear out the warehouse so it could be sold, and Tom accomplished the task by removing a set of windows on each floor and using a front end loader to push all the stuff out the window to the dumpsters below.

  While in the process of clearing out the warehouse, Tom happened upon the 15 horsepower outboard motor that he had sold to his friend for $50 ten years before. And it went out the window to the dumpster, too.

• The Internet Swap Meet- Old VW parts are in a bit different category from an old 15 horse outboard. You don't see anyone scrapping out Geos or Caravans in their driveways or garages. The modern, disposible automobile goes to the crusher or shredder pretty much intact. One reason is because the parts are redesigned so often that old parts are quickly obolete. The other reason is that nobody wants to try to keep a Caravan on the road forever. This is our modern society. But not so with VWs.

  But what are you going to do with a set of 68 bug doors if you never get another late model bug? Why save them if they are just going to be a nuisance? And what to do when Mom ( or the Missus, or the landlord, or the zoning lady,... ) demands they be removed. Of course, this is the reason that God made swap-meets, and so long as its still legal in America to assemble peacably and buy and sell private property, the swap-meets will be one method to re-distribute salvaged VW parts.

  But for my part, I'd rather stay at home and use the internet to find buyers all around the world for all those VW parts I'm never going to need. That would be the REVERSE classifieds. In fact, before I scrapped out that 73 bus in the drive, I'd scope them out to see if there weren't folks looking for 73 bus parts, and maybe get in touch with them before I called Charlie to haul the carcass away. Might be something special they need that I wouldn't have considered. Know what I mean?

Back to the Junkyard

c 1997 Air Cooled Volkswagen Junkyard of Richfield, Ohio http://www.acvwjyro.com "Where Advice Is Always Free"(216)659-3638
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