Anyone know of a MINI "heaven" (salvage yard) in your neck-o-the woods?

I could preface this by saying - I pretty much work on my Mini everyday. Inspecting, cleaning, tweaking...dreaming.

While working on my R53 this morning; Recently brought to mind a flashback, when I had built a couple of (custom), HP classic VW's many, many years ago. I would occasionally shop salvage yards for good original parts or otherwise.

When I lived in Tampa, FL; I discovered a salvage yard 80 mi North in a town called Kissimmee, (just outside Orlando), exclusively for classic aircooled VWs and Porsche/Type IV.
7 acres of nothing but classic, old, ***-end powered beauties of the past; of every year, "type" and model.

When I lived in L.A., CA: I happened upon a couple of HUGE salvage yards exclusive to VW's. The only difference was the L.A. "everything is disposable" attitude (back then)...Nearly every car in the yard was rust free and appeared to be drive-able.
Neatly arranged by year, model (Transporters, Beetles, Type III, etc...). Most bodies were in complete and in perfect condition. Lots of mods and chrome to be had too!

These were two perfect examples of a "heaven" for VW's, aircooled and the like, I had come across.
I often wonder if there will ever be such a heaven exclusive to Minis?

 

I wouldn't even care about Mini exclusivity. A good salvage yard that had a section dedicated to Mini would be heaven, as far as I'm concerned.

 

There are no local salvage yards in my neck of NJ. Would be great to be able to find some cheaper parts, but I end up having to get stuff shipped.

 

I've always been a junkyard dawg!

Love just strolling thru too, zenning out on the various stuff.

There was a semi-local yard to me called HPC Import Salvage that did indeed have their own little MINI section, but their prices were extraordinarily high and then they ended up having a massive fire which took out most of their stock.

Blessed to have a couple of options close by within 30 minutes drive, and a good few of the "big boys" within an hour,
and I ain't afraid to drive even further either ---
just a couple of weeks ago saw this pop up at LKQ Nashville which is a 3 hour drive, so 6 hour roundtrip.




...and lucked out because I was the first Miniac to pick it, although it was a bit sadly tragic, rode hard & put up wet, plus a clumsy forklift driver badly damaged one of the side skirts when putting it out in the yard.



Took it anyway tho!



:

Frontal damage made the front aero bumper not worth taking, but did salvage the lower grill which was still okay.




:

Justa with full aero kit.




:

Got some grubby gauges too.



:

Custom headliner.

 

Back on the original thread topic though concerning MINI-specific yards...

...I do know of more than several joints that specialize in modern Mini salvage stuff, like Willmek in Ohio,
or most famously Allmag in Tampa,
also ARK Recycling which is also downround there...



...but those tend toward online commerce because simply put, there is more profit in it,
they know what's hot and in demand and charge accordingly for it.

I'd love to hear of a modern Mini junkyard where you're allowed to browse 'n pick yourself,
it would indeed be just like heaven!

 

Totally agree. I use to think I was a "car guy" until the "modern age"...but I still enjoy exploring the yards regardless.
Most of the time, if I do venture out to a yard, Mini hunting; all I usually see are few R50's & R56...Rarely do I ever come across any R53s'.
I would've loved to scored those Aero side skirts...I may not be a wiz w/modern engines - but working/fabricating w/FRP and thermoplastics is kinda my thing.


I have those same dealer installed gauges in my R53.
Nice to have but dislike the placement and the fact that the needle is the same color as the illumination.
'needle tends to "disappear" (not easily visible) some times.


oooooh! - I bet that new headliner looks sweeet in your R53.
I'm sure it compliments the anthracite interior very nicely. Good score! ......

.....I'm almost envious.[/sarcasm]

 

Never heard of Ark and I worked in Lakeland for 5 years. I only had a Mini for the last month of that time -- bought the Countryman All4 before we moved to deal with the snow in Wisconsin.

The custom headliner is sweet. Would be better with no sunroof so that there could be more flowers.

 

[QUOTE=Here2Go;4631698]



I have those same dealer installed gauges in my R53.
Nice to have but dislike the placement and the fact that the needle is the same color as the illumination.
'needle tends to "disappear" (not easily visible) some times.[quote]


Oh,
forgot to mention I also nabbed a Beetle bud vase to go along with it!

Really diggin' the ambiance of flower power.



.
https://media.vw.com/en-us/releases/1401
.
.
With my previous employer I got to hit up lots of locations because all our work was concentrated in the southeast and I could drive my R53, but now I'm all over for much longer distances and usually carpool, sadly southeast jobs are rare and I don't get to hum-ding my shindig much as I used to.

Found a really cool ghostyard once in boondock Alabama which was once a foreign car wrecker specialist,
really had a good time wandering around there...



That dog was groovy and was running around all playful while I was walking through.



Later learned that it was a somewhat famous place amongst old aircool-heads and it was called Merrill's and discovered that at one time it was absolutely enormous but a few years back was bought out and the new owners crushed lots of the cars.



It was a nice quiet bluesky day.














https://i.imgur.com/K4u4ukK.jpg[/i9mg]

 

Oh, Man and you even thought to take pictures!
That is awesome! but...
Those images nearly break my heart to see all those long forgotten orphans.
Just sad.


My dream house. No joke!


Wow. What a shame. I've been wanting one of those old Volvo P1800 since I was a teenager.


Pretty much the same condition of how my '68 Ghia looked when I bought it for $200.
$15K later...you wouldn't even recognize it as a VW.

Wow - Great images Oldboy!
Thanks!!

 

No doubt, I concur with the dream home,
and no joke!

It'd be quite wonderful indeed.



Man,
once had a girlfriend who had a '68 hardtop Ghia and it was really fun but at the same time a bit scary sketchy because it was loosey goosey and got real squirrelly when driven spiritedly.

Hers had a cool bamboo tray that sticks out in my mind for some reason, just such a cool touch I thought,
like this -
(not RHD tho, best similar pic I could find)




But yeah,
that sad aspect of forgotten orphans can give a sense of melancholy too, but uplift comes from the fact that they are often saved by the grace of some nutty enthusiast, and at the very least are like sacrificial lambs who donate worthy parts to keep a stronger goat going.

Speaking of existential dread, I get pangs of regret upon reflection sometimes when I remember prime opportunities for picking which for whatever reason were left behind, like in my mind one big one was a full deck spec'd R52 that had the softest leather door armrests ever and I stupidly left them behind and haven't came across any near that nice ever since. Wish that I had grabbed them dammit!

Sometimes it's just not practical, or like a head-over-heart logic thing where something rare is appealing and you'd like to have it just for that aspect, but also realize that you'd likely never actually use it --- some things are small enough that you can easily get them and make it available for someone who is looking and make a small bonus to help fund your own mania of maintenance/upkeep/upgrade...



...but the bigger stuff requires storage and is difficult to pack for shipping so you have to draw the line somewhere unless you intend to make it an actual gig instead of supplementary side benefit. Like I still sorta wish that I'd gotten this green interior when I came across it in a New Orleans yard:




But even then, what? It'd likely still be sitting in my garage just taking up space. LOL

Neat note about the NOLA yard was that upon checkout they gave you some Mardi Gras beads.



Most yards are gravel or mud, but some places have a premium section where they put the luxo stuff and actually has concrete,
still a bit apocalyptic tho!



Speaking of dystopian nightmares,
one bugbear of the scrap-heap is the hamfisted pickers who tear apart stuff in brutality with no concern for the next guy.




Eaton M45's are usually the first thing stripped because there are many people looking for superchargers.

Then again,
sometimes the work is already done for you and if you happen to want it just lug it up on the wheelbarrow!



Although,
some things just defy explanation and you ask yourself WTF




You can also meet interesting critters...



...or have an artistic impulse for sarcastic composition!

 

Ah!

Forgot to mention the most frustrating aspect of yard-doggin'...

...it's a bigtime bummer when you're too late and the thing you were seeking has already been picked.

Especially painful if you took a long out-of-the-way drive to get there, such a situation is difficult to salvage (excuse the pun! LOL) but you just try and make the best of it and gather what you can even if it's small stuff like bolts 'n fasteners or whatever...

...one sad personal tale was a couple years back when working a job in Apalachicola Florida which in-and-of-itself was absolutely wonderful because I love the laidback chill of the "forgotten coast" since it's like a different speed of pace and just has goodvibes that hit my soul in the sweet-spot, but anyway, it was a small job so we were done on Wed., when then that morning I got an alert from LKQ for a new arrival down in Largo:





Oh Hello!

I was like WOWZERS!!! full aero kit fresh on the yard!

We had finished late afternoon Wed and it was ridin' my mind that I should at least try and see if I might get lucky so decided to drive down there the next morning...

...it was like a 5 hour drive and I thought it was likely gonna get grabbed quick, but YOLO y'know fuggit afterall I decided to make a mad dash --- woke up at 3:30 AM and had a blast night driving on a very isolated hwy 98 but got more crowded as the sun came up and off the forgotten coast.

Got to Largo P-A-P at 8:30 and waited for the opening, got in finally and dashed back to the spot ,
only to see:





Should've known it would be gone with a quickness since it had sat there a full day and the next morning was a day late 'n a dollar short 'cause it had been stripped of all aerostuff.

My ride home was a bummer and ended up being 13 hours of me cussin' myself for being a dumb overly-obsessive idiot! LOL

 

Both great posts/accounts Oldboy!
Very well stated and ​​​so eloquently written. I certainly could identify. Some of which really brought back ...some misty water color memories.

OK- I admit. That last line was a bit sappy even for my taste. But I think you get it