Decided to go to a "classic" u-pull lot in Boring, Oregon, yesterday to see if there was any hidden gems in the piles of rust. After walking around and around and around, I spied a green spider in this "DO NOT ENTER", "I KEEL YOU", and "STAY OUT" area of the yard. It was easy to get permission to enter and look at the car which, looking at the interior, was all picked over.
I did see a stick shift knob sticking up and I decided to grab that as my car has some aftermarket piece of ham on the end of the shiny thing. To get at it, I had to drag off a tarp that was in very ratty shape. I was scared that a body of some mammal would be underneath. To be honest, I didn't know if it would have been better to see something alive or dead under.
Walking back to where I saw an extra-long antenna on the ground, I picked it up and first poked the plastic pile before pulling it away. There was my shift knob...there was another on the floor unattached to anything...and, lo and behold, was a heater control in what I feel is at least an 8/10 condition...9 if it gets cleaned up a bit!!!
Not believing my luck, seeing as I saw one for $100 at a nearby European Car Repair place, I grabbed my screwdriver and proceeded to break the #2 phillips tip. The screws were solidly rusted on...the tarp was "untarp-like" in allowing moisture to rust all exposed screw and bolt.
Well...traipsing back to my suv (can you picture me "traipse" anywhere?) I retrieved my cordless drill, got a bit from the yard manager, and went back to carefully spend an additional 25 minutes draining my drill's battery. The bit was too large, but it was also dull as anything my wife will watch on Oxygen channel. It had to give up for the day, leaving my prize behind.
After getting home, I put whatever I felt would help free the part into a tool bag. Then, after battery was on the charger, I went to sleep...having a dream that someone got to it 1 minute before I returned. Logically, it being there that long, it will be there tomorrow. Illogically, I didn't sleep at all.
Today, I returned...drill in hand with brand-new bits of various sizes. In less than 5 minutes, I extracted the part and did not damage anything in the process!!!
I retrieved a passenger side map pocket, the heater fan, the heater core (as it looked like it wasn't leaking and I figured WTH!) in addition to the shift knobs and heater control shiny-bit...all for the grand total of $25!!!
Now, I'm not the biggest car guy nor the most knowledgeable Fiat person in the world...far from it. But that was SOOOOO FREAKING AWESOME!!!! I got a couple of parts I wanted/needed plus a few extra bits "just in case." I also took the plate for reference as the screws holding it in the engine compartment was nearly rusted though. I just put my hand on it and the screws literally fell out.
The car is a CS1 model. Not knowing a lot, and not wanting to spend more time in the sun, I really could not tell you what model it is/was. However, the luggage rack looked like it would be good with a little elbow grease. The two-tube front bumper looked salvageable. The carb looked like it was in really good shape...no rust around the nuts securing it to the engine and the valve covers looked solid. I keep thinking that maybe I should go back with more tools to get it...or at least take pictures of the rust bucket so someone could take a look to see if there is anything else worth getting.
If anyone is interested, I could post the info from the plate ... it is out in the suv still and I'm feeling drained from a sunny, hot, but totally worth it adventure!
As I was heading home, I glanced at the dried blood from the scratch on my arm I picked up during this adventure and thought...
...I'm also glad my tentanus shot is up-to-date as I may be doing some more of these little adventures!!!
