Arizona Junkyards Are Better

Every car in Massachusetts is rusty. Whether you have a 1955 Lincoln Capri or a 2010 Chevy Camaro, in the North East, your car’s destiny is rust.  Now, if the nice cars are rusty, just imagine what the vehicles in our junkyards look like.  They are absolutely horrifying at best.  In the time that it takes to remove a junkyard fender, it often erodes itself back into dirt right before your eyes.  Bolts? HA!  After 1 year (so… 2009 models at this point), all bolts become permanent.  At the 2 year mark, the bolts don’t even look like bolts anymore. They become round rusty buttons that can only be removed by breaking the head off with Vise-Grips.  It is truly an awful experience.  Thank goodness for torches, Sawzalls, sharp drill bits, and tetanus shots.

Arizona cars on the other hand, are better in every possible way.  Rusty cars (New England style) just don’t exist out there.  What they consider a junkyard car is usually “flawless” in my opinion.  The nicest cars I personally own aren’t as clean as what is found in their junkyards.  It’s quite sad really.  Over the last few years, I have had the pleasure of working on several classic cars from the South West, and I laugh like the village idiot the entire time I work on them because I can’t believe that the bolts come out.  Underneath the AZ cars, the original hydraulic brake lines and parking brakes cables are often still there and working.  It is a gearhead fairytale.

Let’s do a comparison, to see who the real winner is.  Massachusetts on the left, and Arizona on the right. Ding Ding Ding. FIGHT!

Sure enough, Arizona wins with a KO, as expected.  If you want to restore an old car, just buy a rust free body from someplace dry. It will save you thousands of dollars, trillions of hours, and a Tetanus shot.

Jeremy Nutt

Hi, I'm Jeremy.

7 thoughts to “Arizona Junkyards Are Better”

  1. Chris486 tweeted "this is why the USAF dump their airplanes in AZ".

    Thanks Chris, that's a good point that I had not ever thought of. The USAF clearly does it for a reason.

  2. The fact that we have racing 12 months out of the year, and a huge lack of rust issue is what keeps me in south Texas. I love visiting the northeast, but I wouldn’t want to see my toys erode. Great blog!

  3. Hot wrenches are the best . used them many times. Invaluable when the bolts are no longer a bolt . I used the chisel method and tapped it till it loosened up enough to turn it with a vise grip also.

  4. I agree as far as the body is concerned but we have a delicate balance. To restore the car of your dreams you need.
    -1 Arizona body shell with its baked out interior and plastic and 300 thou mile totally worn motor/trans.
    -1 Mass. rust bucket with its non baked interior and plastic and low mile motor/trans.
    marry the two and you have your dream car.
    mike

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