Crying in the junkyard

[88 aries]

Ok so i went to sheldons junkyard to pay a bill and down in the crushing area looked like a lebaron, the only thing that tipped me off was the headlight set remaining. sure enough it was a lebaron a black one with blue interior and a 2.5 engine and a digital dash to top it off. what a sight, he saved 2 k-cars for me why not a 3rd. anyways i said "what a fucking shame and no rust"

also a while back there was a convertable that was crushed and with the turbo engine.

ITs like i say you cant save them all but you sure can try, i saved my reliant from the crusher and now it sits in a heated garage and has no rust

[ReliantLV]

Maybe it's good that I don't live in the States, I wouldn't know what to do, seeing these cars destroyed. But I am sure those people don't feel that way about them at all - e.g. when I occasionally have to visit a junk yard here, I have absolutely no emotions for the relatively new VW's, BMW's, Audi's etc being crushed. Now if there was an older American (or USSR) vehicle there, that would have been a different story!!

If I ever went to the USA for a visit though, a junk yard would be one of the first places to see....

Come to think of it, the man who now keeps my Reliant and is trying to do something with him, has saved about 5 or 6 "GAZ-21" ("Volga") cars from 1962-1967. That's his "love", and he can talk about those cars for hours (which I am not unhappy to listen to!).

[1of10K]

There is a new junkyard here, a pick-a-part type place where all the cars are arranged in rows and raised off the ground with rims. You pay $ 2 to get in, but you can use a wheelbarrow and take all the time you want and remove what ever part you want. Love this place because I like to just look at all the cars too. There must be at least 2000 of them, all makes and models. Where the yard owners get you is when you check out, they determine the price then, after you did all the work to remove it. A few K cars in here, a 86 Lebaron, 85 Dodge 600, a 84, 86, and 89 Reliant. They only survive because they are hard to remove to crush. Love these types of places. They are mostly American cars, but they also have some old imports. The mention of old cars from other countries interesting, there are the remains of 2 East German Trabants here in bad bad shape, as well as other common recent European models. Have always thought an old Zil would be neat to find, seen one once when I was younger.

[ReliantLV]

Wow, Trabants! Interesting indeed...

A walk there sounds so tempting. This to me is definitely more interesting history than museums. (Especially if there was someone to tell a story)

[Chief]

I think that it's always excellent when you find ladies that understand and enjoy the automobile passion, especially the K-cars! I have spent six years and over $20K restoring my '89 Reliant K America LE, and it was well worth the time, the effort, and the money. It has 54K original miles and it looks better than showroom new, plus I seriously get to enjoy a car that you just don't see on the streets anymore.

Most of the new cars almost mimic each other in styling, and more and more brands are starting to blend into each other. I have met several of the SoCal members, and you can see the love they display in their vehicles. At our last car show a couple of weeks ago, there was even a K-Car Limo there that the owner was selling for $35,000. So let's try to keep them away from the crushers, and find even more like minded individuals!

Chief

[ReliantLV]

I can really only admire the exterior - any technical solutions I just cannot appreciate because I don't know much about that (but my Dad used to tell me about that stuff when I was a child and it was fun). It's interesting to know how things work, even though I will never use any of this information practically.

A K-car Limo?! Photos?!?

[Chief]

I do have the pix, but it's pretty difficult to post them here! I will figure out a URL I can use to post them. It was really special, and even though I had to leave, Guy even got a special ride in the Limo!

Chief

[ReliantLV]

Ohhh, ok, it was that one!! I thought maybe a stretched Reliant or Aries or something, LOL!

A good place to host pics is http://www.tinypic.com!

[capev86]

that's a bummer you have to pay $2 to get in in addition to checkout with all the parts.

as for spending over 20 grand to restore a k car....that scares me as i'm in the same process with my k wagon. either there was nothing left of the body requiring a lot of metal work, you had a low-rider style paint job done, or you had every part gold plated......

[Chief]

Reliant LV...I tried the tinypic.com, so let's see if this works. Here's my car...

http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=w5h ... &as=update



Chief