What parts to look for at junk yard?

Greetings,

Going to a junk yard soon that has an 83 F250 (diesel) and an 84 F150 (gasser).  Any parts I should keep an eye out for?  Making the drive for a seatbelt / door open buzzer, and maybe some salvageable trim, but didn't want to pass on some unobtainable part that I'm likely going to need soon.

Blue_Whale wrote

Greetings,

Going to a junk yard soon that has an 83 F250 (diesel) and an 84 F150 (gasser).  Any parts I should keep an eye out for?  Making the drive for a seatbelt / door open buzzer, and maybe some salvageable trim, but didn't want to pass on some unobtainable part that I'm likely going to need soon.

I don't know if I needed it or not, but I always thought it was wise to keep a spare complete instrument cluster around, and if there are any nice dash bezels I always grabbed them. If either of those two trucks are manuals, the hydraulic clutch pedal assemblies are getting hard to find. You may not need it, but there's always somebody looking for a set.

What Cory said, and brackets on the engine for A/C, power steering or any brackets, sometimes people are looking for those.

Excellent, thanks for the feedback.  I think one of the trucks is a manual so I'll see if I can salvage the hydraulic clutch pedal assembly.  I like the suggestion of the brackets and instrument cluster - seems wise.

I would keep an eye out for any good interior trim parts.  If you happen to find some that match your interior color, go ahead and get them.  Yes, you can paint these parts a different color, but you always get much better results if you find the correct (or in the same color family) molded-in color to start with.

None of these interior parts are reproduced, and the ones out there are already 36 - 42 years old.

OE air cleaners, I keep looking on ebay for something and they are all priced in the $200 - $500 range depending on what you are looking for.

1. I second the "interior trim" comment. Skip the dash panels unless they're immaculate or special (chrome trim). But all the pillar trims, dash bezels and trims, and even small things like glove box doors and latches. All these parts are typically very easy (a few phillips screws and maybe a plastic pry bar) to remove and very expensive to impossible to source.

2. Spare tire mount parts (carrier and bolts)

3. Exterior door/body and fender trim, especially chrome in good condition. This includes the door mirrors if they're in good shape and the original metal versions. Don't forget the emblems and letters! These pop out super easily with a light prying, although in my experience it's rare to see these still on the vehicle.

4. If the seat belts are in "great" condition they're easy to remove and expensive to replace. More important the replacements (I got the LMC ones) look great but are really frustrating to actually use, they "lock" up much too easily so you have to pull them out maddeningly slowly.

When I was resto-mod'ing Rocky I found most of the trim pieces to be either expensive or impossible to find replacements for. You could also do a lot worse than looking through the postings here by 1986F150Six, and peoples' gasps of shock and awe at the prices some people ask for rare parts.

I considered making this a Sunday hobby but... maybe your experiences will be different but at all my local junkyards it seems like anything truly "high value" is gone by the time the vehicle hits the lot. At least this goes for the "U-Pull" types of operations. But I've never seen a vehicle that still had chrome trim or emblems still on it. Otherwise I bet with practice you could yank a clean $1000 worth of small parts and trim off a vehicle in an hour if you new what to go for...

I figured I'd do an after action review incase someone else stumbles onto this thread.  The good news, I was able to find a door buzzer, that partially works (only alerts on headlights on) which I took as a win.  I was unable to get some of the intended engine brackets due to the way the vehicle was damaged, and all other parts suggested had been previously harvested, which I guess means the advice I was provided was solid, as they are hard to find, even in a junk yard. On an up note, I did find an original working radio, which has been fun to tinker with.  Thanks again for all the sage advice.