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FILTHY. That is the one word I would use to describe the junkyard we taped at today. The grease and grime were overpowering, not to mention all the fumes from the bull dozers and back hoes they use to move the junked cars from one place to the next. All I could think about was how brutal this place would be on the hottest summer day with 98% humidity. Let's just say I would probably rather be just about anywhere else.
But bless any of you who work in auto salvage. The auto industry is one of the top industries for re-using and recycling. When a car comes into a junkyard it gets stripped of all it's valuable parts - engine, transmission, exterior panels, axels - you name it and they chop it up. The parts are catalogued and stored, so when something goes wrong with your wheeled baby, the junkyard folks know exactly where to find what you need. Anything left over after this pillaging is squashed like a pancake and sold as scrap metal.
My challenge was to find junkyard salvage that I could turn into a cool object, in only a few hours. On top of that, I was going to be competing with good friend and design junkie, Tiffany Threadgould.
When I saw how much raw material was available, I got excited. All sorts of projects came to mind, from a sofa using the back half of an old Mercedes, to a headboard from a bunch of old grills. But with no welding torch, not to mention little welding skill, and just under 3 hours to make my winning object, none of these initial ideas passed quick inspection. Reality set in. I needed something quick and easy to produce with my design chops.
Footstools came to mind, when I saw a giant stack of rims. I choose a few quickly – I was running out of time – and tried to get the cleanest ones available. Hard to do, may I remind you. What you didn't see on the show was that it took two production assistants and me scrubbing for nearly 2 hours "backstage" in Tiffany's bathtub (sorry about that Tiffany!) to get the rims anywhere near clean enough to start.
In the end, I really loved the way my tables came out. But Tiffany whipped up a rockstar coffee table made from a windshield and a couple of jacks, and she nabbed the award.
Someday I will get a rematch! Obviously I need to budget even more time scouting out junkyards. My friends will be so pleased...
Have any of you attempted any auto salvage projects? If you have, do tell!
Read More about Salvaging Furniture:
Free Furniture From The Landfill!
Find Used Goodies, Save Money at Salvage Yards
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