Strange days at You-pull-it

[Mike Arman]

Visited my favorite You-Pull-It this morning, looking for a few Audi bits &
pieces.

Got a turn signal flasher for wife's M*zda 323, which decided to only make
right turns - $3.00. Why did I bother for a USED turn signal flasher?
Because a new one is $40 aftermarket, and I didn't even bother to price
this at the local dealer, who only has banker's hours anyway.

Turns out the old one had a problem VERY familiar to type 44 owners with
climate control problems - one relay developed a cold solder joint (sound
familiar?) and a touch with a soldering iron cured it. Now I have a spare,
or rather, now she has a spare.


It seems all the Audi type 44 cars except for one have somehow morphed into
mommyvans and Neons - They had about six, now only one is left, and the
mosquitoes were absolutely ferocious, bug repellent notwithstanding. I want
a sticker "I gave blood!" after today. Fortunately, I did get the one part
I really wanted, a door locking vacuum capsule. It's a little plastic
oblong, held together by eight tough plastic tangs, and is one of the few
items of machinery I have ever encountered that even *I* cannot sucessfully
open!

Two other items of interest; a huge Brockway or Peterbuilt tractor (as in
tractor-trailer), hit so hard it looked like it fell out of orbit, and hit
Mount Everest at 250,000 miles an hour. Big, thick steel frame rails
twisted like spaghetti.

And one really, truly sad sight - something I have NEVER seen in a junkyard
before in my life, and probably never will again.

A Rolls Royce Corniche convertible!

The gas tank got punctured, and the car burned totally, absolutely and
utterly to the ground. The rear tires are gone - just the steel belts are
left. The aluminum doors and hood are warped and partially melted. The car
has IRS, and the inner end of the half-shaft looks supsiciously like our
buddies at Lobro supplied the u-joint. The grille is melted, the interior
is just a gaping charred hole, the engine has puddles of melted aluminum
and plastic on it.

Anything still good? Maybe the front wheel hubs and track arms - which look
extremely beefy and truck-like. I suppose if someone bought them, sand
blasted them and painted them, someone, somewhere might need them, someday.

Amazing sight.


Best Regards,

Mike Arman