Its not just junk!

Over the weekend, I had to find replacement parts for my 95 civic hatchback project(more on this later). Since most oem parts are very expensive, even at employee cost(I work for a honda dealership), the easiest way for me to save some money is to go to the local junkyard.
Junkyards to me are more than just junk. Some can find some truely amazing gems or even rare parts there. A friend once found a set of 17" Works VSXX there and he ended up only paying $300 for the set, which usually would cost over $1100 for a new set.

This was something interesting that I saw there, its a 93 Honda Prelude(though the car was beat) with a turbocharged H23 engine:

Its neat to look at but the more I looked at the kit, I noticed the reason why its at the yard. All parts that was used on the build was replica's of well known brand. On Engine builds, let alone turbocharged ones, I would spend more money on quality parts. Its not that I'm against replicas(easiest way to save some money), but when its as important to the car as an engine, its something that you wont want to skinp on. You never know how parts, like the wastegate or even the turbo, will perform under such heat or loads that the engine produces.

Fire is not a cars best friend. Looking at this near new Mini Cooper convertible, fire will decimate everything in its path. With enough heat, plastics melt and burn, even metal components start to bend and deform.

I wonder what this civic owner did or why this happened, I wont  show the interior(bloody) , but the car is riddled with bulletholes. The bullets went through both sides of the car. Hopefully who ever was inside came out alive...

Being a big fan of track cars, I feel sad sometimes when I see cars that has a lot of potential end up at the yard. Cars can sometimes be saved, engines replaced and everything swapped out to let the car live again to be appreciated by the next generation. This Mazda Miata could have been one of those cars but the owners have just neglected it and let it die:

Reminds me of my friend Jerrel's Miata (http://kropsblog.com/) when we had to pick it up and it was still in pieces.

After a couple hours at the yard, on the way homoe, I spotted this cool work truck. I would mind driving this thing daily if the gas wasn't so expensive.

And this Black on black Mercedez CLS. This would be one car I wouldn't mind having for a daily

I Ended up spending only $8.61 for all the parts I needed for the civic which would have been over $50 easily at the dealer. Though the parts are used, they still work and Im happy to keep the money where it should be, in my pocket!