What to keep when breaking a vehicle?

[drdan007]

Hello everyone. I hope I'm not being too out of order after such a long period of lurking by jumping straight into the PH pool asking advice. We have an off the road atm mk4 astra which due to the "nimbyism" of certain neighbours and a newly added clause to our tenancy agreement which means it has to be laid to rest. I won't bore you with the details, suffice to say it's one of those stiff upper lip situations.

From certain posts I've read , primarily the accident damaged auction one, we've decided to break it to be able to acquire the greatest monetary gain from this unfortunate situation. Obviously a mk4 astra isn't going to be in great demand , but one man's rubbish....I have a fairly rough idea of what to remove ,the question I have and would like advice on would be if the following list is exhaustive enough :

front and rear lights
bonnet
wings
hatch and parcel shelf
doors and glass w/motors
alternator
bumpers and skirts
exhaust system and cat
steering wheel
interior?

the plan is to strip it over the weekend and sell the remaining shell including engine for scrap, we don't have a trailer so it will have to be picked up. If we were to sell it as scrap as a complete motor we would be lucky to get a hundred pound, is this the best course of action. I await the wisdom of the PH collective, many thanks in advance.

[littlebasher]

These days, the fuel in the tank is the most valuable part!

[Jimmyarm]

Firstly, weigh it in yourselves if you can, you will get much more than someone that comes to collect it.

Go through ebay and put everything you can think of in and find out prices, that way you can see if its worth keeping or not.

Power steering pump, windscreen wiper motor/linkage, aircon compressor, switches etc.

If you can be bothered, rip the wiring loom out and sell this to a scrapyard (will be easier if you strip all the wires), copper is worth a lot at the moment

[drdan007]

ha ha thanks for the tip, that's already been drained. No need to be giving away a free tank of tax.

[eltax91]

As suggested, take all the engine ancillary items too. Last car I.scrapped I.also took little things out like fuses and relays. Can be useful to keep in the garage!

[drdan007]

Thanks Jimmy wish I could take it down myself but alas no trailer. Done the Ebay thing and have a fair idea of what i can get, .I wasn't sure if there was anything else that could be salvageable. Once again thanks didn't register the ps pump or wiper motor/linkage.

[drdan007]

Excellent gives me an excuse to spend all day Saturday in the carport. Are there specialist merchants where the copper and the cat can be taken rather than the scrappy?

[Jimmyarm]

'Pikeys' will often pay more than one of the bigger companies and come and collect it, if you have a local independant garage you use ask them if they know any scrap dealers willing to take it

[Eggman]

I'd target the interior, lights, MAF, ECU, wheels, radio and battery (the last two because they're handy to have around).

I suspect you'll need to prioritise, otherwise you're going to have one hell of a busy weekend and no end of stuff that needs storing somewhere. Checking prices on Ebay sounds like sensible advice.

[drdan007]

Storage not too much of a problem SWMBO will have to do with a little less space in the utility room Just to clarify re:"pikeys" ,would that be for the shell/engine , or the more valuable cat and copper?

Edited by drdan007 on Thursday 10th February 21:09

[Eggman]

Copper is about £6000/ton, so I wouldn't expect to get too much for the loom. The cat and battery will be worth a few quid each.

[Jimmyarm]

You'd be suprised at the loom, there is a lot of wiring in a car. I got the idea from a chap who takes in scrap cars and was getting £30 just for the loom copper.

Cat's should be taken straight to the scrapyard, they pay the best for them. If its an aftermarket Bosal or such they are not worth much but original items should be about £50.

'Pikeys' will take the car and weigh it in for the scrap metal, condition is irrelevant (as are V5's )

[drdan007]

Thankyou for your replies everyone. I now know my course of action up at 8am ,spend the day stripping it out, Sunday on Ebay and come Monday have the "pikeys" collect the shell/engine. Incidentally if anyone is interested in anything let me know. Just as an aside would it be worhwhile posting in the VX thread or listing parts in the clasifieds or just rely on that famous auction site?

[Eggman]

You might want to ensure that you send it to somewhere that'll issue a 'certificate of destruction'; this has the effect of removing your as the registered keeper on the DVLA computer so you'll have no worries about what might turn up in the post. Check the back of the local paper and you'll probably see places advertising.

[Mound Dawg]

These days (and I guess this probably applies to a Mk4 Astra) manufacturers use really flimsy wiring so I doubt that there's enough copper in the loom to justify the sheer ball-ache of removing it. Let's face it, carpets out, seats, dash etc...

[Eggman]

I certainly wouldn't be taking a dash out for £30 (not unless my next meal depended on it, anyway).

[LuS1fer]

Given catalysts get nicked, I've always wondered if it pays to scrap them separately.

[maniac0796]

Lights
Wing Mirrors
Alloy Wheels
Control Stalks
MAF sensor
Alternator
Starter Motor
Coil pack
Catalytic converters

Thats the basic stuff to keep. Then you need to get stuff specific to the car your breaking. So if there's a common problem with that car, and you don't have it, keep that bit. Or if you have a high spec model, bumpers, steering wheels, side skirts, all that goes down a treat.

[Jimmyarm]

Mound Dawg said:

These days (and I guess this probably applies to a Mk4 Astra) manufacturers use really flimsy wiring so I doubt that there's enough copper in the loom to justify the sheer ball-ache of removing it. Let's face it, carpets out, seats, dash etc...

I've got a loom from a 52 plate 206 at work. Its massive and weighs 3kgs easy

They give you £100 quid, they get £500 quid

[Jimmyarm]

LuS1fer said:

Given catalysts get nicked, I've always wondered if it pays to scrap them separately.

Most definately. A big cat will get something like £70 - £90 from a 'pikey' and they aren't doing it because they think I'm pretty and want to chat to me again

As for taking the loom out, its a piece of piss, you rip that mofo out like a coloured man off your moma

Edit: I don't mean that in a racist way, just they tend to be large (or so all those adult films have led me to believe)

Edited by Jimmyarm on Thursday 10th February 22:20