Advice from people with part cars/ parting out cars

[cooper-davis]

I bought an 86 900T 16V Hatch with the intention of using it as a parts donor to keep my 84 + 85 going for many years to come. Not having 15 acres, a barn or a professional shop for storage, I wanted to know what many of you have done in terms of parting out a vehicle. The easiest thing would be to just let it sit there under a tarp in a barn somewhere and pull things off as needed. With a 2 car garage full to the gills with bikes (another habit) and other typical garage fodder, I don't really want this car taking up the room for what could take eons to piddle parts off of it.

Right now my inclination is to jump in and start stripping it bare, organizing and labeling pieces as I go. I'd start with the little things and work my way up. I'll probably gut the interior first. Once a person is left with say a frame on some rims, should I just get a wrecker to junk the rest? I will for sure keep the transmission, and sell the engine. Do people sit on engines? The ones who don't have several barns and a lot of land mind you I'll probably open it up to free pickings to anyone local after a while. I'll need to revisit this thread on important parts to keep as well.

Thoughts?

[900t]

Property values in Texas are quite low, just buy a 15 acres with barn

[cooper-davis]

Originally Posted by 900t

Property values in Texas are quite low, just buy a 15 acres with barn

tempting, but then I'd have to move again

[TunnanXWD]

You could sit on the engine. Whatever floats your boat and Texas is pretty strange. Look at Roky.

I really knew a guy who ran a business from his home in Porsche parts for 911, 912's and 914's. Neat tidy suburban home on a small lot and he says come over and pick. I figure we would head for a barn somewhere.

He had a few dozen Porsches all nested, fender to fender and hood on hood in the crawl space beneath his home. Amazing, in all colors too. Very military and precise part inside of part with shelving for transmissions and motors.

The ultimate in round peg & square hole. Try it?

[900t]

Originally Posted by cooper-davis

tempting, but then I'd have to move again

Not even, cottage time!

[cooper-davis]

I'm liking TunnanXWD's idea. Time to get super organized. I can put everything in boxes+ bins until I get some more shelves built. Now just to get some of these bikes out of the garage.

[B202NUT]

I just read another post where you wanna start the car; your all over the place with this thing arent ya.

parts car
then you were gunna restore it
then you wanted to start it
now your stripping it?????????????????????????????????????????

I say put it on the roof of your house with one of those Rooster thingy's with the North, South, East, West pointers and let it blow in the wind in circles until you need a part! Hell, put a flood light on it while its up there and help the sleepy air traffic controllers guide planes.

get on with it already please...

[cooper-davis]

Originally Posted by B202NUT

I just read another post where you wanna start the car; your all over the place with this thing arent ya.

Yes.. I'm running a little manic these days Perhaps I should change my handle to Waffle-man. I sort of came to my senses about restoring it... It's in pretty sad shape, and I still have a number of things I want to do to the 84. Perhaps I will keep my eyes open for that something special- like your auto vert you found, to get working again An SPG find would always be worth it

Originally Posted by B202NUT

I say put it on the roof of your house with one of those Rooster thingy's with the North, South, East, West pointers and let it blow in the wind in circles until you need a part! Hell, put a flood light on it while its up there and help the sleepy air traffic controllers guide planes.

This would be a fabulous addition to the house, and something my a**hat neighbor and the HOA would LOVE

Originally Posted by B202NUT

get on with it already please...

getting on... sorry, I know I blather and ask a ridiculous number of questions and or amount of advice
that said... need any parts?

[ejenner]

Your focus has to be on removing the parts you can't get from Saab or anywhere else.

Glass is probably one of the most important parts. Imagine if your daily 900 got a broken window one day. If you had the spare just sitting in the garage you'd feel well smug.

Don't try and remove the windscreen rubber. Just cut it out of the frame. Trying to remove the screen without damaging the rubber is too risky. I tried it. Got several windscreens out by cutting the rubber. All the ones I tried to remove without damaging the rubber ended with cracked windscreens. Conclusion, leave that part of the job to the specialist you call in for fitting the new screen. He can reuse your old rubber.

Really, your target should be to remove everything. But if your storage space is limited then you have to rationalise. Things you don't need are the bits which are always going to be available or can be eaisly made. Those are pretty much limited to wheels and exhausts but luckily those items are quite bulky so not keeping them saves a lot of room.

[cooper-davis]

Originally Posted by ejenner

Your focus has to be on removing the parts you can't get from Saab or anywhere else.

Glass is probably one of the most important parts. Imagine if your daily 900 got a broken window one day. If you had the spare just sitting in the garage you'd feel well smug.

Exactly what I was thinking I want to try to keep all the hard to find/ spend parts- especially since there are hardly any salvage yards that have c900's around here. I just don't want to be a parts hog either I enjoy being able to help out fellow enthusiasts.

Originally Posted by ejenner

Don't try and remove the windscreen rubber. Just cut it out of the frame. Trying to remove the screen without damaging the rubber is too risky. I tried it. Got several windscreens out by cutting the rubber. All the ones I tried to remove without damaging the rubber ended with cracked windscreens. Conclusion, leave that part of the job to the specialist you call in for fitting the new screen. He can reuse your old rubber.

I was thinking about keeping it, but it does have 2 or 3 rock chip holes in it + the makings of a crack near the drivers side on the bottom. Still worth keeping?

[ejenner]

In that case it would not be worth keeping.

[Steve Corgan]

What are the zoning restrictions like where you live? You might want to make sure they won't come down on you. You might want to consider one of those fitted car covers (a cheap one). Most people presume it's a fine collectible under the cover and so won't know or complain about the junker.

I can't park a vehicle, boat, or trailer on my property unless it has current license and resgistration. Even though I've got 3 acres, everthing has to be parked on a gravel or surfaced driveway. I had two neighbors who declared war on me and turned in several complaints to the municipality. The city inspector who came out happens to have a GTO he's restoring and he really enjoyed seeing my Saab projects, tools, and shop. He also has a bass boat like mine, so we swapped fish stories for a while, and my cousin Billy is one of his favorite rock and roll stars. So those things got me grace and he did not "see" anything wrong. And he waves at me now when I see him around town, so I got friend out of the deal too. Since then those 2 snooty hostile neigbors have left the neighborhood.

I've got 2 "illegal" Saabs now on MY PROPERTY and am enjoying life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness the way the founders intended.

[ejenner]

They are just going through the process of doing that over here. They say they are doing it because they want to keep drivers who are not insured from driving on the public roads.

The idea is that they are going to use the motor insurance database to compare against the vehicle keepers database and everywhere where they find a vehicle owned but not insured they will send an automatic penalty / fine.

It will probably make quite a difference for uninsured drivers. They have an opt-out system called SORN. Which means Statutory Off Road Notification. If you have notified the authorities that you will be keeping the vehicle off the road then it does not have to be insured or taxed. That notification still has to be renewed once a year.

So in theory everything will be ok right? Wrong... for people like me who used to be able to work the system so I could legally keep cars I am not driving parked at the side of the public road for just the price of the road tax this will now be impossible. The car must be insured or SORN - SORN = off the road. Insured = £500 to £1000 per year even if you are not using the car. There is no middle option which I used to exploit for the purpose of keeping parts cars on the road while I secretly hollowed them out from the inside to get all the parts out. It used to only be illegal to drive without insurance. Now it will be illegal if the car exists without insurance. Even if it is not being driven.

In this case I am the unfortunate casualty of legislation being introduced for a different reason.

Still, if it's for the 'greater good' - why does it matter if it's just my selfish life which has to be sacraficed...

[cooper-davis]

Originally Posted by Steve Corgan

What are the zoning restrictions like where you live? You might want to make sure they won't come down on you. You might want to consider one of those fitted car covers (a cheap one). Most people presume it's a fine collectible under the cover and so won't know or complain about the junker.

I can't park a vehicle, boat, or trailer on my property unless it has current license and resgistration. Even though I've got 3 acres, everthing has to be parked on a gravel or surfaced driveway. I had two neighbors who declared war on me and turned in several complaints to the municipality. The city inspector who came out happens to have a GTO he's restoring and he really enjoyed seeing my Saab projects, tools, and shop. He also has a bass boat like mine, so we swapped fish stories for a while, and my cousin Billy is one of his favorite rock and roll stars. So those things got me grace and he did not "see" anything wrong. And he waves at me now when I see him around town, so I got friend out of the deal too. Since then those 2 snooty hostile neigbors have left the neighborhood.

I've got 2 "illegal" Saabs now on MY PROPERTY and am enjoying life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness the way the founders intended.

Amen! Yea the HOA restrictions are similarly strict out here... it's not usually a problem unless your place is a total mess. We're supposed to have cars stickered and such- and I think only 2 are supposed to be parked out on the driveway. The donor car is in the garage because I know my favorite neighbor with the 3 matching black cars would poop a biscit if he saw me ripping it apart outside. I do enjoy working on it with the doors open however . Glad to hear you have a friend amongst the wolves. Often times I miss living in the sticks... dang suburbs.

[900t]

Originally Posted by ejenner

They are just going through the process of doing that over here. They say they are doing it because they want to keep drivers who are not insured from driving on the public roads.

The idea is that they are going to use the motor insurance database to compare against the vehicle keepers database and everywhere where they find a vehicle owned but not insured they will send an automatic penalty / fine.

It will probably make quite a difference for uninsured drivers. They have an opt-out system called SORN. Which means Statutory Off Road Notification. If you have notified the authorities that you will be keeping the vehicle off the road then it does not have to be insured or taxed. That notification still has to be renewed once a year.

So in theory everything will be ok right? Wrong... for people like me who used to be able to work the system so I could legally keep cars I am not driving parked at the side of the public road for just the price of the road tax this will now be impossible. The car must be insured or SORN - SORN = off the road. Insured = £500 to £1000 per year even if you are not using the car. There is no middle option which I used to exploit for the purpose of keeping parts cars on the road while I secretly hollowed them out from the inside to get all the parts out. It used to only be illegal to drive without insurance. Now it will be illegal if the car exists without insurance. Even if it is not being driven.

In this case I am the unfortunate casualty of legislation being introduced for a different reason.

Still, if it's for the 'greater good' - why does it matter if it's just my selfish life which has to be sacraficed...

Pfft that has been illegal on this side of the pond for years... worse is that lots are trying to stop you from having the car parked in your own driveway!

[ejenner]

bloody fascists

[c900]

Since when has it been a 'crime' or an 'offence' to have a vehicle that is privately owned and kept on private property which isn't registered? The whole point of storing a vehicle or machine or farm implement or truck on private property and not on public property is that it is then not an insurance liability. After all you don't have to 'register' your house to keep it on your property. 8-) And unless it's a gigantosausus motorhome it's unlikely your house will ever be driven down a public road (under it's own power!).

How can a neighbour 'put you in' for that? How long before your lawnmower has to be 'registered' to be able to keep it in your garden shed? 8-) Or the lawn trimmer (aka whipper snipper or whatever) or powered lawn edger or chainsaw.... Registration is required to use a vehicle on PUBLIC roads. On PRIVATE land registration/insurance isn't required and I wonder how your local government people can actually enforce something like that? Stupid cotton-wool society run by litigists and insurance w.a.n.k.ers.

I had a few c900's I was pulling apart a couple of years ago stored outside the back of my property. It wasn't anywhere near the street, and they were not messy. Never had anyone tell me they were 'illegal' though. Now that I live back in NSW again where the RTA is very anal about everything, I bet it won't be long before the state government tries to legislate that you can't own a motor vehicle unless you have it rego'd/insured (regardless of which state's registration is displays). That will create a massive boon for the scrap yards and parts dealers who have a 'license' to deal in 'second hand goods' and be another way to 'force' people to buy new cars and give the car finance industry a big push forward too.

Craig.

[ejenner]

Different laws in different countries.

Increasingly over the last 10 to 15 years our particular country (the UK) has become more and more fascist in its approach to citizenship. Right now you can barely f*rt without it being illegal or requiring a permit. The enforcement works because they have managed to cultivate an enviroment where citizens are happy to turn on each other. Citizens will report fellow citizens to the council if they see even so much as a crease in someone elses shirt. This seems to have become the British way.

What will put a stop to this is the cost of maintaining a society which is so tightly regulated. It requires armys of bureaucrats who all need to be paid so taxes just keep going up and up and up. Eventually the bureaucracy will eat itself and we'll have a bit of a reset - or at least I hope that's what will happen.

Like I said, it used not to be illegal to keep a car on the road if it was taxed. The illegal part would be to drive it. When the car becomes a mechanically propelled vehicle under the control of an individual then insurance is required. When there is no risk because the car is stationary then no insurance is needed. A lot of people in this country were not actually aware that this was the case. I had got this confirmed by the authorities especially so I could do what I wanted to do... which was to keep parts cars by the side of the road - complete on the outside but with lots of bits missing inside.

[c900]

Originally Posted by ejenner

Different laws in different countries.

Increasingly over the last 10 to 15 years our particular country (the UK) has become more and more fascist in its approach to citizenship. Right now you can barely f*rt without it being illegal or requiring a permit. The enforcement works because they have managed to cultivate an enviroment where citizens are happy to turn on each other. Citizens will report fellow citizens to the council if they see even so much as a crease in someone elses shirt. This seems to have become the British way.

Aka everyone is 'trained' to be an 'anti-terrorist'. TV licensing gone mad perhaps?

No doubt if I went to the UK for a holiday I'd have everyone watching me just because I'd 'look and feel' different and I wouldn't put up with the c.r.a.p. 8-) We are getting plenty of anti-social legislation here and it's just a matter of time before that approach flows through to vehicle ownership/use/registration/insurance/etc.

I'd better get a very 'loud' anti-EU t-shirt for that UK holiday. lol

Craig.

[ejenner]

Pretty much.