Underhood and trunk lights - getting very scarce at salvage yard...

[turbokinetic]

If you value your automatic underhood and trunk light, you need to take care of it. If you see one at the salvage yard, buy it. They are in the process of disappearing forever.

Today I went to several salvage yards and ALL the cars across ALL makes had the underhood and trunk lights removed. The yard operators explained that the lights contain a mercury switch, and therefore are hazardous and can not be sold to the general public. All underhood and trunk lights are required by law to be removed and destroyed to reclaim the mercury.

To further piss me off, virtually every hood was damaged by prying the lights off (without removing the screws) and denting the hood upward. Every. Hood.

This is just another example of our out of control government, taking away freedom little by little in sneaky ways. The terrifying part is, they managed to do this without any fanfare or anyone noticing what sort of legislation was being passed.

 

["Turbo-T"]

So is it also illegal for the parts department to sell the lamps?

 

[turbokinetic]

I think this only applies to the auto salvage industry. You can still buy mercury switches new for industrial use, so the dealer could probably sell a complete lamp with swich, as a new part.

It just shocked me that this has come to be. It is minor annoyance but it represents a very ominous trend, if you know what I mean.

 

[ttaowner]

how many do you wanna buy? i have many

 

[novaderrik]

answer this question honestly: how many underhood lamps have you or anyone you know ever purchased from a junkyard? it's not one of those things that have ever been big sellers, so they aren't going to lose any sleep over it except it's another thing they have to yank off the car along with the gas tank and any fluids that are in the car before scrapping it. i used to save them from cars i junked for some reason- i had about 50 of the damn things before i realized i was never going to use them and threw them all in the trunk of a car i was scrapping..

i wonder if they pull the underhood lights off 90's GM pickups? i don't think they have a mercury switch in them, but they are mounted on a reel and have about 20 feet of wire so they are pretty damn handy.

 

[turbokinetic]

how many do you wanna buy? i have many

Actually, I have plenty. The hood light its self isn't really the issue. I just wanted to bring attention to one more way we're losing access to parts for our older cars. It's just one of those things that represents 'moving in the wrong direction' with our hobby.

Having seen how extreme things like this can get (from woking overseas) it is scarey to me when any new restrictions appear.

Sincerely,
David

 

[John Larkin]

Ever since steel went nuts 6 years ago and cash for clunkers 3 years ago, I am surprised there are as many parts cars left as there are.

 

[INEEDAGN]

Out here the circle track racers are eating them up at an alarming rate. By now they are using rustbuckets anyway, but I wish I could intercept the parts they are ripping off of them. All junkyards, even the old-time ones out here in the sticks, are under pressure from the government. I had a conversation with one yard owner this summer. Every passing year they get less traffic in to buy stuff, more government regs regarding titles, more epa regs from hazardous materials, can't buy any new inventory reasonable, and the stuff they got out there has a scrap value high enough to retire off of. He said if there was a way to crush it all and not pay taxes on it, it would all be GONE. The end of those kind of yards is very real and very near. I hit a new yard last year (hour away from me) he said "man you shoulda been here before the winter, I crushed 200 cars, scrap was high and bills have to be paid".

 

["Turbo-T"]

It would be nice if all salvage yards could somehow dismantle all cars that come in of every serviceable part, put the parts on the shelves, and then plug every pulled part now on the shelf into a computer data base for the yard to use, before sending what can't be used off to the crusher. At least then more parts could be spared and sold....but that's a pipe dream for most.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

A word about junk yards/salvage yards etc....in my area the big move is to upullit yards...the turn over in inventory is constant....down side is you get customers that may want some small part and wil destory a major part to remove the small part.

What you may not realize...at least with the yards I go to is they only take cash....these yards are probably one of the last all cash businesses around today....you never see a junk yard go out of business for lack of sales...its usually because the ground becomes so valuable that forces them to sell.

Some of these yards are extremely well orgainized with the car models all seperated and in neat rows....heck one large yard even has a bus service that runs in the yard to haul you around...

On a side note...virtually all the rear wheel drive G body cars are basically gone in my area most cars are the later front wheel drive...

denniskirban@yahoo.com