This past weekend was the legendary “60 for 60” event held at a junkyard north of Detroit. The event allows people to buy for $60 literally any part/parts they can carry 60 feet. Last year, someone carried a 1,000 pound axle, another guy carried multiple engines on his back, folks carried hoods and doors and leaf springs — it was madness! This year was, too, and though I wasn’t there, I’m going to highlight Autopian reader Karl’s haul: An absolute goldmine of Porsche 924 parts.
Ooh boy. These past couple of weeks out here representing The Autopian at the LA Auto Show have been great, but a bit weird. I haven’t wrenched in weeks, so my hands are clean. I’m wearing stain-free clothes. I’ve even gotten a haircut. Now I’m looking for apartments that don’t allow me to fix cars in their garages. I’m driving a rental car that doesn’t leak a drop of oil! Am I living a lie? Or was there always a cleaned-up version of me deep down, below that thick corroded upper crust? Or, perhaps, more likely, is the ol’ me going to be elbow-deep in a Nash Metropolitan engine soon, with parts strewn about my otherwise empty apartment?
I can’t wait.
Anyway, I’ve missed you all over the Thanksgiving break, almost as much as I missed not having attended the greatest junkyard event on earth: U.S. Auto Parts of Sterling Heights’ “60 for 60” event, which promises a price of $60 for anything you can carry on your back for 60 feet. Here’s a look back at last year’s event:
Since I’ve gone full Hollywood, I missed this year’s wrenchfest, but here are some videos of folks trading cheap parts for a chiropractor visit or six:
There are some absolute beasts in these clips:
Anyway, in addition to mentioning this year’s 60 for 60, I’d like to highlight a haul from longtime reader and auto enginerd Karl Woods. Karl owns a Porsche 924 that started out looking like this:
And after a $2,500 Maaco paint job and lots of other work, now looks like this:
It’s gorgeous. Though you know what isn’t gorgeous? The Porsche’s interior, thanks to these nasty cracked seats that don’t match anything:
Luckily, one of Karl’s friends sent him a photo of a picture that U.S. Auto had posted to its Facebook page, advertising a recent newcomer to the junkyard — this Porsche 924:
Karl and his friends headed out there, tools in hand, on Black Friday for “60 for 60” to he check out what shape the Porsche’s interior was in. Boy were they in for a pleasant surprise. I’ll let Karl tell the story:
Last Sunday [my friend] Amanda sent me a picture of the car at US Auto in Sterling Heights, which I initially didn’t think much of. I never complain if a 924 shows up in a local yard, but because I’m usually in need of turbo-specific parts that’re unique, I usually pass on them. However, on a random zoom-in to the pic, I recognized the two-tone herringbone pattern on the rear seats. When I got my 1980 924 Turbo five years ago, it came without much of an interior, save for the dash and seats. And over the years I’d pieced together a new interior out of a couple 944s. Vaughan, my 924 friend, mentor, and fellow 924 Turbo owner had given me herringbone tweed door cards to replace my haggard set a couple years ago. I figured they might be worth a look but didn’t have much faith in their condition, as most 924s I’ve seen look like they’ve been sat outside with the windows open for decades.
I recruited Amanda and my 924-inclined friend Vaughan to check out the car at the yard’s Black Friday special…Vaughan and I arrived at the yard just as it opened at 8am, with a line of automotive prospectors waiting to rush in like a Wal-Mart and start picking away. As we walked up to the car, a 1978 924, it looked to be in reasonably good condition — a dented fender being the only outward sign of damage. But as I opened the door for a peak inside, my jaw dropped to the floor: The interior was MINT.
The dash was cracked as all 924s and 944s generally are, but aside from a tiny rip on the driver side seat, the interior was a junkyard time capsule. As I’m just in awe of this good fortune, Vaughan yells “SON OF A BITCH!!”. He was looking to pull the steering rack and sway bar drop links, so I’d assumed they were gone even though we were the first to touch the car. Then he motions for me to have a look underneath.
Dollars to donuts, this thing’s got a turbo on it. And it’s properly set up, albeit in a non-factory position. No naturally aspirated 924 ever left Neckarslum with a turbo other than the Turbo and Carrera GT/GTS/GTR models, and only one company seemingly offered an aftermarket turbo kit for these cars.
Similar to Callaway Cars, BAE Turbo Systems offered a kit for 924s in an unknown amount. This kit may be rarer than 924 Turbos. And somehow we stumbled upon a BAE-equipped 924 in Metro Detroit, of all places. Better than a goldmine, this was a unicorn that had no place being in the yard. Unfortunately, we couldn’t buy the car as a whole, so we began carefully pulling every part worth having; we weren’t gonna leave this for others to take. Vaughan started on pulling the turbo kit and head, and I began carefully removing as much of the interior as I could. Amanda came by later on with hot chocolate and helped us remove some of the remaining bits we wanted. By the time we were done around 2pm, we had the entire interior (save for the carpet, which Vaughan went back for on Sunday), the turbo kit and cylinder head, the rear lights, front and rear reflectors, and some other odds and ends.
Now, to carry all of this the 60’, I’d comically thought the 924’s hood would be more than enough to hold this haul…….yeah, no. Amanda, far more resourceful than I, found a truck bedliner we could stuff all the parts in. I found a long aluminum bar to stick underneath as a structural member and an extra place to carry the liner. And with two extra pairs of hands, courtesy of a group that we helped pull the gearbox from the 924 for, we hoisted the thing the whole 60’. Now, because it was actually $60 per person carrying, we paid $300 for thousands of dollars of parts. But between Vaughan and I, it was actually $150. A steal any way you swing it.
Imagine that — a beautiful interior, a cylinder head, an entire turbo system, and lights for your Porsche for $300! That’s a deal and a half.
Here’s a look at Karl’s interior today:
What a huge improvement! I can’t wait to see this thing at the next Detroit-area Autopian event. I’ll be in LA, of course, but I’ve got some roots (friends) in Detroit, and you know I’m gonna have a meetup when I do come back. Detroit car culture is awesome, and a big part of that is thanks to the amazing local junkyards.
> Last year, someone carried a 1,000 pound axle
Did they make him stop and pay his $60, or just watch in awe as he headed off in the general direction of the Empire State Building?
Extra points for turning a grey car into a blue beauty!
My local junk yards have all gone full-service. No customers allowed in the lot. So sad. That used to be one of my favorite activities.
Going out on a limb here, but whomever shot the video from this year (that you can’t FFWD through!) either has no idea how a camera viewfinder works or really likes feet. Because that’s 90% of their video.
Eons ago, a local pull-a-part had something similar for $25 All You Can Carry event. My ’81 Toyota pickup needed a rustfree bed badly & step-bro’s chevy pk needed everything. Loaded down with hand tools, we sallied forth to Victory. Scored the bed (color.matched) AND a complete exhaust already torched off the engine. Step-bro snagged a door, starters, alternator etc….As we struggled with the loaded down bed, a gentleman wearing a local auto dealer polo pointed out the yard’s mega forklift working nearby-for $5 more, it would carry the booty NEAR the finish line, we just had to carry it across. And the lift would load your vehicle to boot! Also snapped up numerous badges that caught my eye. I would love to see the video tape the owner’s son was shooting at the line. An epic day all around.
nice story ????
Nice! Oddly enough, just before I bought my MGB GT, I was seriously considering a two-fer Porsche 924 deal. There was a non-running but fairly clean ’77 Martini Edition, and a running but banged-up red ’79. Both cars for $1600. I was all set to pull the trigger, then I decided to take one more pass through Craigslist to see what I could find, spotted the MG, and the rest is history. But I do still dig the 924.
Great story, I have picked 2-3 Porsche 924s at the boneyard, they show up from time to time, but never one quite like this. One time expected a garden variety 924 and it ended up being a 931. Same color as my 924 at the time. I would have taken the hood (it was even that same color as mine and had the cool NACA duct), but they used as a base to hold up the jackstand for another car next to it. Rats. Anyway, I love picking a junkyard, and finding rare or unexpected part is a bonus.
Nice Audi 😛
Yes, but…
Porsche designed the 924 in the first place, on contract for Audi. And it set the stage for the 944s, which ARE Porsches, and all of which were built in Neckarsulm anyway. I think the 924 Turbos (“931” to the kids in the In Crowd) were fairly righteous, with about 25 more hp than the NA 944s and near perfect weight balance on a lightweight car.
So a video of people triumphantly crossing the line is great and all… but give us what we really want, a super cut of the epic fails.
A video of people crumpled over like gladiators in defeat after their knees gave out and they dropped a 6.0 LS to the ground, cracking the block.
People sobbing next to the Port-a-Potty after the hood they were using to carry a transmission, pair of seats, and and a set of shocks folded like a taco and caused them to keel over at the 50ft line…
We want the fails David, give us the fails.
I love this idea. But what happens when they fail? No charge? Charge for damaged parts? Try again? The world wants to know.
Reminds me of a similar junkyard deal. A complete set of original wire rims in good shape but Bullhead City Arizona. All four rims $160. A steal but Saturday was 50% off. I bit the bullet. Lost the deal. Those were in the yard for 6 months but sold in less than 3 days. The car gods hate me.
I bet 8-10 people could carry that whole car 60 feet…
$600. Totally worth it.
Or two World’s Strongest Man competitors.
Yes DT you are living a lie. “Get back to where you once belonged.” And stop calling yourself Loretta damn it.
Nicely done! I think this the only Black-Friday special I could see myself actually taking part in. That junk yard was something special as well – ’68 Caddy Hearse, Humbler Super Snipe, ’59 Edsel, Porches, and more? Not a typical pick-n-pull!
did i see an Avanti in that third driving by video? An Avanti?!
I noticed it, too. It’s hard to tell if it’s the original Studebaker version or the Avanti II from the video.
I have sort of the exact opposite of this story…
I have a 944 turbo. I discovered one of my wheels was bent over the weekend. My brother-in-law, a mechanic and master internet marketplace scrounger of anything and everything offered to help me find a replacement.
After five minutes… he showed me a picture of a surprisingly good-looking turbo for “$1.” Judging from the (not great) pictures… the car looked drivable. Certainly many 1000’s of dollars worth of parts if not. I figured it was a scam… but my brother-in-law reached out to the seller for details.
He got an immediate response. “$1. Come and get it.”
Attached were some updated pictures. No glass. No interior. No wheels. And absolutely nothing from the dash forward. The front half of the car was simply gone.
Loved reading about the find in this story…
This story makes me so happy. Guy finds a needle in a haystack and pays pennies on the dollar. Old car parts get second life.
Reminds me of the time I found an old, fancy vintage, enameled cast-iron that had crud baked on the bottom. After using a bottle of CLR a few sponges and a shit-ton of elbow grease, it was in good/usable shape. Then I went on the hunt for a matching lid. Within two weeks, found one on ebay an it was delivered to my house for about $8 in a week.
That is awesome, Karl. I hope to see a write-up over on Oppo soon!
I love a good junkyard score!
Timing. Friends. Planning. Awesome job! Congratulations!
There may be a California side story in that turbo setup for you, I don’t know, but maybe.
http://bradanderson.com/
Nicely done Karl!
I clicked in expecting that “Michigan Man” was Tracy acquiring more stuff when we just had a talk about how he needed to be reducing the size of his rust pile. Now I am both relieved DT wasn’t involved and pretty happy for the actual Michigan Man. If he’d gotten nothing else but that interior I’d be stoked for him. That’s sweet.
Nice score, but that has to be the most mismatched interior I have ever seen.
Damn. I am officially peanut butter and jelly.
Man nothing gets my juices flowing than a good deal. In Western Pa in a town of Stoysltown there is a yard that covers an entire valley. They had Vehicross for a few years I needed parts. They said it had been picked over. I went there they left me off, usually they pull, and i would call when ready. Three hours later they came looking for me thinking no service. I was still pulling.. i finished up they took me back. I got some newbie in training the boss told get what you can. He asked what would I pay i played the idiot. He suggested $70. I paid that so fast his head was spinning. Sold a roof rack I pulled for $150, and made $80. I still have hundreds of dollars if not thousands but I dont overcharge for my VX brethern.
Damn, what a score! I love that interior.