Junkyard Outtake: When You Just Need That One Little Part That’s All The Way Inside…


Actually I’m fairly certain that it was the block they were after since that’s the big obvious part I can’t see anywhere.  Still, that’s a ton of work to remove everything to get to a bare block right there in the dirt in front of the donor vehicle. 

Most of the junkyards I periodically visit around here on your behalf, dear reader, are actually fairly clean (yes it’s a junkyard, the bar is low) and decently organized.  While over time random cast-off parts, especially wheels and tires, hoods, bumpers and sometimes seats eventually start to fill in the space around the vehicles as purchasers get to the exact item they need, most of the yards tend to periodically pick up the detritus and jam it into the nearest car or turn the cars over so quick that it doesn’t get out of hand to begin with.

The exception, go figure, are the yards in Denver owned by a huge company with three initials, whose yards are usually tightly packed with cars, strewn with crap and whose employees are usually on the surly side or just plain rude.  All the independently owned yards I’ve been to so far generally have very helpful and friendly staff, or at least they are if you are friendly to them which includes my favorite, the independent closest to my home where I found this.

In any case, while caution when walking around is always warranted, this is the first time I can recall literally stumbling across a whole engine’s worth of innards.  As far as I can tell, what they wanted (and took) is the block itself.  The obvious reason is cost; while at this yard a whole V8 engine (carbureted) would cost $150 plus a $50 core charge for the entire thing and everything remotely connected to it EXCEPT the carburetor, the same engine in long block form would still cost $150 but only command a $37 core charge, BUT if you opted for the short block only, then it would cost $100 plus a core charge of $25.  So by disassembling the entire thing right there, the buyer saved $50 plus $25 of core charge.

I don’t know, it seems like a TON of work to take it all apart right there but I suppose if you can just let everything drop in situ as it comes off, that makes it easier.  Still, I realize $75 is $75 and I recognize that it’s a lot of money to more people that I’d like to think it is.

The non-sensical part is that the yard gets nothing out of it, it’s not like someone is now going to see a piston or crankshaft laying on the ground and realize it’s just what they wanted, more likely (or surely) that stuff will just get scooped up in the next few weeks and get put in the crusher/grinder with the car body.  Of course the steel is what the yards all trade in, hence the reason for the core charge etc and no need to let extra steel walk out the door.  Still, pretty wild (to me anyway).

Here’s the truck the engine appears to have come out of, a well worn 1979 Chevy with a large flatbed.  I’m guessing the color is Holly Green, as the only other green that year was Shamrock Green Metallic which seems much lighter than this color.

As a Custom Deluxe, one would think that’d be a fairly fancy trim level but no.  That’s the starting point with Cheyenne, Scottsdale, and Silverado all being above it in that order.  As an aside I’m amazed that Plymouth actually had a “Miser” trim level in some of its ’80’s cars.  If this truck was a Plymouth, it’d probably be the Cheap Bastard or something like that.  Custom Deluxe sounds better when you tell the in-laws what you bought.  No wonder Plymouth is gone.

There’s the flatbed along with the dashpad/cover laying on it. Whatever this truck was used for, it doesn’t seem to have been just for going to the saloon and back, it likely did some real work.

Imagine the dashpad that’s laying on the flatbed in place and this wasn’t a terrible place to be at all.  I must say I did not used to be a fan of this era of Chevy trucks but I have come around on that viewpoint completely and now find them to be extremely attractive inside and out.

There’s still some seat fabric left but that’s nothing that a saddle blanket cover (in green) wouldn’t take care of right now.  If this had a red interior it would be in pristine condition if my current theory regarding interior colors holds water.

Here’s the page (above) from the 1979 Chevy Truck interior discussing the Custom Deluxe trim, although the interior of our actual truck seems to look a little different (this is embossed vinyl, the seat cover material in the actual truck looks different to me).

The 1978 looks very different inside to me but the 1977 brochure (above) seems to have seat material that looks more correct as well as wood grain on the dashboard as this one has along with the steering wheel shape but the door panels are completely different.  Suffice it to say that I am not positive it really is a 1979 model but that’s what was marked on the side of the truck in grease pen so I’m sticking with it for now.  Yes I should have checked the tag; oh well, I am humbled to admit that I have failed at one other thing in my life as well.

Anyway, this started out as a little post at my astonishment that someone would disassemble a V8 engine right there in the lot but now here we are much further down the page than I anticipated contemplating the year of the truck.  Someone will undoubtedly know for sure.