Did you get the IP? A spare starter wouldn't be bad either.

No, I left it. I am still contemplating getting the whole short block including accessories.

well, scavangers take what they want and don't worry about what is still of value to anyone else.

I'm on the nissan-diesel board too for my diesel Maxima, lot of discussions about "crank pirates"...those are guys that chop up a perfectly good Maxima to get the crankshaft (it's heavy duty) to build high performance Z-car engines and then trash or toss away all the other rare diesel engine parts that can never be replaced again.

Wow...i never knew Maximas came with a diesel...

yep. 82-84. back when it was "DATSUN by Nissan"

I had an 82 Maxi wagon that was mint. 120,000 mile one owner. I foolishly sold it to some guy in Seattle when I aquired my first 123 Wagon. Big mistake...shoulda kept both.

Got her twin, 83 Maxi wagon (with overdrive). Mint 80,000 miles one owner. Keepin' her for life. She is semi-retired now that I got my "mint" 450,000 mile one owner 124 wagon.

Figured I'd chime in here since the topic isn't too old, and my rant doesn't justify starting a new thread.

I found an '81 240D in a local Pull A Part yesterday. Planned to go back and nab the seats, console, as well as a few other interior bits and the manual climate control stuff. Went back today with my wife, and did succeed in getting the seats, but the climate control stuff was a total wash. Some Jerk took a pry bar to the heater controls and broke the entire assembly in to pieces that they scattered around the interior and exterior of the car. They even wiped out the shifter console surround in the process by prying on it. All of this, of course, was in an effort to extract a Panasonic CD player that didn't even have a faceplate attached to it when I first saw the car.

I did grab all of the seats, colour code 134, as well as all four door sill plates, the unmolested driver side under-dash panel, and for the sake of being rare, the shifter console switch bezel with nothing but a hole in it for the hazard switch. The car in question was a US market 240D with automatic transmission, manual windows, and a power antennae.:eek:

If anyone is interested, the car still had three of the four door panels, MB-Tex variety, colour code 134, with crank knob holes in extremely good condition - even the passenger front map pocket is intact. Driver side panel is missing, and it was likely destroyed when they went after the window mechanism. The passenger side sunvisor is also pretty decent.

One more thing... The black dash is almost, almost perfect! I had to try hard to find it, but there is a teeny crack right at the rear corner of the gauge cluster hump, and is invisible from the driver seat. I'd have pulled it, but I've decided to eventually take the route of simply having my existing dashboard restored.

It does suck but I don't see a problem with anything they did. All is fair in junkyard wars, etiquette takes a back seat to the "first come first serve" mentality. Who wants to work and pay for an entire engine when all thats needed is its head?

The only people that should really have a problem with that activity is the yard owners; it ruins a few parts they could otherwise sell. But then again, thats part of the business. If they were that worried about selling every bolt on the car they wouldn't have made a u-pull-it type yard. All those yards care about is making up for the $x00 paid for the car, taxes and operating expenses.

But don't the yard owners care about the value? Wouldn't they make a chitlaod more if more pieces were left intact? What would they have made
if that dash, IP(wow) and other parts were left in good condition.

Hiring a few linebackers to just walk around yanking idiots could be paid for
by the parts that could be saved.

It all comes down to laziness and selfishness. People can't be bothered to think about the next guy that might need a certain part, and they can't be bothered to do simple things that would take them 10 seconds, like lower the hood or close the door so rain doesn't get in. Damn well doesn't matter what nationality you are, laziness and selfishness is learned behavior, and all kinds of people pass these traits along.

I can't agree with you guys more. There aren't too many in our PNP and I see the same issues. I once saw a guy running from hood to hood looking for a specific car, bending each hood he landed on. GRRR I do want to ask a favor though... I have been trying to find an lcd outside temp display that is in the guage assembly for my '87 300D... If any of you guys happen to see a good one, can you pick it up for me? Thanks!!

I went to our Pull-a-Part when it was still fairly new and there were four Benz's in there with hood ornaments. I pulled one by the hardest with a pocket knife bottle opener. I went back two days later with the proper tools and they were broken off at the stems. Arrrrgghhh1 The were only three bucks each too.

You guys are so lucky...
 

Here in Metro Vancouver, you will be hard pressed to fine ONE Mercedes of any vintage at the local boneyards. There''s apparently one mercedes-only yard, but the owner apparently thinks that mercs are made of gold. He tried to sell me a gauge cluster housing (housing only!) for $280...saying that it was fair value. I found one on ebay for $20 plus shipping.

The local boneyards here are daylight robbers too. I once went looking for a simple relay. There were literally hundreds of them in the many Mark IIs in the yard. The guy wanted $25 for one. :eek: Modern day extortionists, they all are :mad:. I'm never stepping into that place again.

Well, in the yards around here, they do care. If they catch you destroying stuff to get at a part, they'll boot you out the same way they'll boot you out for other forms of needless destruction. Occasionally snipping hoses and wiring is fine and accepted, but crowbar extraction of radios and such is not allowed. The trouble is, you can't police an entire yard at all times, so it still happens.


Yep. I do try my best to keep doors and hood shut. It isn't always possible due to parts being removed and body damage, but I try. The employees wander around and do the same thing all day, but again, one or two guys in the yard can't keep up with two dozen people opening everything they see while the rain pours down. Most of the customers in a self-serve yard could care less about anything but the part they want, and to a point, I can understand that.

I'll tell you what I really can't stand about the places around here. I can't head out in to one of these yards without finding people circling my tool box. Sure, that guy really could be looking for parts for each model of car in the immediate vicinity of my tool box even though none of them have interchangeable parts, but honestly, he'd have better luck finding his part if he spent less time staring at my tools and more time staring at the cars. Stop hovering over my tools and waiting for me to turn my back so you can steal them! I can't say the same thing happens in every other self-serve yard, but I have my suspicions. Cheap parts, tools laying about, and lots of guys wandering aimlessly with no tools in hand while wearing large coats in warm weather is kind of a tip-off. Know what I mean?

It's on my list.

FI's got it correct. While it seems heartless, it's an accurate description.