Welcome to Sports Car Salvage. We are a niche hobbyist sports car dismantler located in Northeast Ohio, selling parts for C4 & C5 Corvettes, Mazda Miatas, and other sports and performance cars. We also restore diamonds in the rough. Let us help you with your restoration project.
Sportscarsalvage.us Stands In Protest of SOPA/PIPA
January 17, 2012 | Posted in Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
While we are not a large company like Google, or an industry leader like Wikipedia, we at SportsCarSalvage.us absolutely stand against the horrible, bloated, ill-conceived SOPA/PIPA proposed laws. The United States has always spoken out against censorship. Now our representatives are trying to ram it down our throats under the guise of a safer, more secure post-911 world. In so many cases the Internet is the last bastion of freedom for the oppressed and the only method used to get real information out of dangerous world and national events. ANY effort to hamstring it should be met with resistance and questioning.
For more information on what SOPA is about, please follow take a look at this article from CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/technology/sopa_explained/index.htm
Yes, it’s a diesel! (And other statements of fact)
January 14, 2012 | Posted in Humor, Travel Stories, Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
We had, at one point, a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD. We did our homework and this suited our needs best (at the time,) so, after scouring eBay and dealing with some, ahem, rather “interesting” car dealers in Miami, completed our purchase. It had the fuel mileage and the towing capacity we needed. Sounds easy, right?
Here’s a hint: if it were easy, I would not be discussing this in the “funny stories” category.
First of all….Diesel. The diesel Liberty was a rarity. So rare that for the first few months we had the thing, every trip to the gas station was a 3-ring circus. “SIR (or “MA’AM, depending on which one of us was outside,) you are about to put DIESEL FUEL into your Jeep.” It was cute the first two times, but every fill-up? By the time it came time to register and plate the thing, I was so sick of hearing about it that our chosen vanity tag was “GRNR DZL.” Greener Diesel in short form. Emphasis on DIESEL. To prevent well-meaning but incorrect folks from having heart attacks as I fill up with diesel fuel.
Second of all…..Towing. We did quite a few cross-country trips then, purchasing cars out of state or delivering items via rented trailer. It would have been OK if booking a trailer through Uhaul’s website actually worked correctly.
But no. The drop down boxes on the pages wouldn’t let me combine Jeep, Liberty, and diesel. To make matters worse, calling Uhaul’s 1-800 number was sometimes just as unhelpful. Let’s just say that I eat smarmy 20-something guys who think I’m STUPID about cars just because I’m female for breakfast. They taste great with barbecue sauce. (“Of COURSE my Jeep can tow, and don’t call me ‘ma’am’ out of spite. I don’t care what your computer system says, I know its specs. I didn’t buy something that wouldn’t be useful for towing cars. May I PLEASE speak to your supervisor?”) I think my personal best (or worst) was speaking to five different representatives before booking my reservation.
We now have a more “typical” ride – a Dodge Ram. A lot of large Corvette parts barely fit in the bed of the truck, so it’s more useful on that front. However, the gas mileage leaves a lot to be desired. It’s almost enough for me to track down that Liberty, kick myself in the butt for getting rid of it, buy it again, and strap Corvette parts to the roof a la Fred Flintstone and his rack of ribs. Almost.
1984 Corvette is here!
January 10, 2012 | Posted in Corvettes, Humor, Travel Stories | By fastwrecks
We just got back from a road trip to Texas, where we picked up a recent purchase – a 1984 C4 Corvette. It just so happened that we came back a different way, allowing me to stop by the National Corvette Museum with the ’84 in tow.
Ooooh, pick me, pick me!
I finally took it for a drive out in the parking lot of our garage today. Although it probably still has the original shocks (bouncy bounce bounce….) and no power steering, it was actually kind of fun! It doesn’t have a dash (in fact, it has a pile of rainbow spaghetti where the dash should be) so I used my musical training in tempo and pitch to shift gears by ear. I’m sure my piano teacher would be proud.
VROOOOOM! (or not)
Still not sure if I’m going to restore it or part it out….We shall see.
Does this bathroom make my rear end look fat?
While I was at the National Corvette Museum, I picked up some goodies to throw into the packages we send out 🙂
It’s almost the New Year
December 30, 2011 | Posted in Helpful Tips, Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
As the new year approaches, I would like to thank each and every one of you for following our blog and other social media sites, and for buying from our Sports Car Salvage eBay store.
Your support has made many endeavors possible. We have been able to contribute to the Yellow Ribbon Fund via Ebay’s Giving Works program. Our summertime spoils added some vigor to Saturdays @ Schumann’s Roadside & Towing cruise-ins. Most recently, we were able to make Christmas happen for some who would otherwise have gotten little to nothing.
Click here to visit our Sports Car Salvage eBay store. If you are looking for items whose purchases contribute to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, look for the blue and yellow ribbon next to the eBay item title.
Travel Eating Rules
December 29, 2011 | Posted in Humor, Travel Stories | By fastwrecks
It was so bad, I almost swore I would never complain of being bored with Mickey D’s ever again. Almost.
After several days of traveling, we had BOTH had enough of McDonald’s, Burger King, and the like. We settled into our hotel in Georgia, ordered some Chinese takeout from a recommended restaurant, and made plans for the next day. The goal was to get home as fast as possible.
The food. It was underwhelming, at best. I swear, some takeout places purposely skimp on traveling customers in order to save money, and the even “better” ones pretend like nobody speaks English when you offer some constructive criticism. We both got a shrimp dish with approximately 10 broccoli pieces to each shrimp. Shrimp that weren’t deveined, even.
What’s worse than finding you have a sensitivity to shrimp? Finding it out when over 1,000 miles from home*. Our plans? Hah. The only thing happening quick and snappy were bathroom trips. We only got about 20 miles down the road before we found another hotel to crash in. Forget our usual preference for continental breakfast – the LAST thing either of us wanted to think about was food.
Moral of the story: Some kinds of food are best enjoyed close to home. Chinese, Mexican, and Cracker Barrel are the three I can think of off the top of my head. Oh, that’s right, I don’t enjoy Cracker Barrel any more, but I’ll leave that story to the imagination. It’s pretty crappy.
*It’s not an issue with peeled and deveined shrimp, just the, ahem, “intact” ones. We eat shrimp quite often at home.
The Night Before Christmas – Garage Version
December 24, 2011 | Posted in Humor | By fastwrecks
(Composed by our Top Banana and edited by the Big Cheese)
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the shop,
Not a tool was still working, not even a mop.
The stockings were hung over the welder with care,
In he hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
The lug nuts were all tightened on the alloys with care
And dreams of Nitrous kits filled the air.
And ma in her Rusty robe and me in my Dale cap
Had just snuggled up for a winter’s nap.
When out in the yard there arose such a clatter
I jumped out of bed to see what was the matter.
I tore to the garage door and hit the lights
Wondering who I might have to shoot this of all nights.
The moon shone brightly over the new fallen snow,
As bright as day with a magical glow.
Then what should arrive all red, shiny and good
But a Cummins powered sleigh with 8 reindeer ornaments on the hood.
With a little old driver with a beard like ZZ Top,
I wondered if that rig was gonna quite stop!
More powerful than Reindeer, and no problems with PETA,
The sleigh gets 40mpg and burns biodiesel!
Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen!
Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen,
Have all retired to condos at the South Pole,
Instead of burning hay Santa now rolls coal.
So up to the rooftop the big rig flew,
With toys, and tools, and St. Nicholas, too.
And then with a squeal of slammed brakes,
And turbo spooling down,
on the rooftop I heard the man climb down.
As I pulled in my head, and turned around,
Down the stovepipe St. Nicholas did bound.
He was dressed in all Carhartt, from head down to toe,
With sponsor’s patches everywhere on could go.
A bundle of parts and tools flung on his back,
He looked like a sales rep opening his sample pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He said not a word but went straight to his work.
Filling stockings and tool boxes, and then turned with a jerk,
Laid his finger against his nose and up the stove pipe he rose.
He jumped in the cab and laid some air to the horn
Then sped off into the night in a cloud of black fog.
But I heard him yell back as he sped out of sight,
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Necessity, the mother of invention
December 21, 2011 | Posted in Humor, Mazda, Travel Stories | By fastwrecks
…Sometimes, it’s just a mother.
About three years ago, we went to pick up a Doug Nash 4+3 Corvette transmission from Tennessee. It was actually cheaper for us to pick it up than it would have been to ship to Ohio. (They are quite a bit heavier than a normal transmission.) We thought we’d add some value to our trip by seeing what we could find in the area. Ohio cars, especially older sports cars, can be a bear to deal with because of rust.
So, on that lovely Sunday morning, we consulted the oracle in Craigslist to see what all we could find. What we found in Sunbright, Tennessee, was a first generation Mazda RX-7 in beautiful shape (minus a few bad apex seals) for $400. We called and made arrangements to look at the car, and possibly pick it up.
What we ALSO found is that no Uhaul location even remotely close to Sunbright was open on Sundays. The closest open location was in Georgia. Off to a hardware store commonly known as “Horrible Fright” to purchase a 5,000-lb capacity tow bar. We had seen quite a few people use these without any problem, so we figured it would be more than enough for this RX-7.
We traveled up winding mountain roads up to Sunbright, where we met up with a very nice family looking to sell their RX-7. It was a project they hadn’t gotten around to and were more into bikes and such, so the RX-7 was ours. It almost wasn’t.
What we do when towing is travel for a block or two, check and adjust everything, go for a few more miles, re-check our load, and then go on our merry way. It can take a few stops to get everything to seat in properly, but after a few adjustments it’s usually smooth sailing. The worst I usually have to worry about is a misbehaving ratchet strap. HOWEVER….before we could even find a place to do our first check, we heard an ominous “SCREEEEECH” and a pop while rounding a corner.. Our Horrible Fright tow bar had split at one of the mounts. To make matters worse, we were on a pretty steep slope and the car was dangling. We were not in a very populated area and the closest hardware store was the Horrible Fright we stopped at 20 miles before.
HAAAAAALP!
Lucky for us, the man who sold us the RX-7 had a tow dolly that belonged to his brother in law, and he was nice enough to let us borrow it. He met up with us at the gas station we’d pulled into with along with the RX-7 hanging from one side of our errant tow bar. True to our word, we brought the tow dolly back to Sunbright a week or so after that. Other people’s trust and generosity? Awesome. Horrible Fright tow bar fail? Not so awesome. Don’t worry, we’ve already learned to call UHaul *first* before anything else.
Summit Racing Gift Card Giveaway
December 13, 2011 | Posted in Facebook | By fastwrecks
I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far.
If you follow our Sports Car Salvage Facebook page, you may have seen that we will be giving away two $50 Summit Racing gift cards to two lucky Facebook friends chosen at random. Right now, we have 290 fans and counting.
We would like to thank our fans and customers for supporting us over the past year. It’s been a fun yet challenging time of getting things up and running, and we would like to share some of the fruits of our labor. We’ve also been fortunate enough to buy Christmas gifts for families in our local community.
Looking forward to 2012 and the adventures it will bring!
(Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.)
Special delivery!
December 11, 2011 | Posted in Shipping, Travel Stories, Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
Well, for those of you who don’t know, I’m expecting.
Expecting great things…
What kind of great things, you ask? Well, it’s a 1984 Corvette from out of state and all I had to do was let my fingers do the walking on uShip. For shorter trips, it’s nice to get out of the house and out of the area for an afternoon or so. For longer trips, well…
There’s the issue of renting a UHaul trailer. Sounds easy enough, considering that we rent from our local Uhaul quite a bit without any problems. However, I have booked reservations online, only to arrive to a destination several hours (and sometimes, several states) away just to be told, “I’m sorry, but your 2wd Dodge will just NOT haul a Corvette properly. I can’t let you rent this.” The last time this happened, I spent two hours at a Michigan Uhaul convincing two separate stores that, yes, I *have* hauled Corvettes before without any problems. They then scared up a lighter (but much OLDER and previously wrecked) auto transport with a VERY bent safety latch. (Manager had the nerve to give us attitude after receiving our honest “anonymous” review, but that is another story for another day.)
Really? REALLY? Can’t haul a Corvette? That’s how I did it three times…with a pocketful of Jack’s magic beanstalk beans. *whatever*
Then, there’s the whole food and lodging thing. I can deal with fast food every once in a while. I also don’t mind spending the night out of town every so often. However, packing for several days, eating on the road, and that sort of thing get old. I also can’t ship out any packages or do most of my other work when I’m gone. It becomes a big deal when we suddenly receive a spike in sales when we are out of town. I like getting shipments out quickly; I am not so thrilled by a huge backlog of shipments. I am not super picky about hotels, but I don’t want to choose one hotel over another for its “AWESOME continental breakfast” to find only weak coffee and carrot-raisin-nut muffins and stale bagels set out. This might have happened once or twice.
Gas is expensive, too. I know, I just heard a collective “DUH” from the audience, but hauling a trailer with a Corvette isn’t great for the gas mileage. Tolls can be pesky, too…the two extra axles from an auto transport can sometimes raise tolls by 1000%. <-- Not a typo. And if you don't believe me, cross over the George Washington Bridge with one of these in tow. I could have made a small grocery run with the money I paid for that little trip. I miss the cats when we're gone. I have three moderately spoiled cats who provide a lot of comic relief, especially when they want attention while everybody at home is busy. (Lucky for me, Spanky is asleep on a recliner as I write this post, NOT purring in my face.) Sometimes, loading and unloading cars from a trailer is not a big deal. However, the cars we pick up are not always picture perfect in somebody's garage.It's Sports Car Salvage, not OMG Shiny Perfect Sports Car Corporation. Having one with all 4 wheels pointing the same direction *and* brakes *and* runs and drives all at the same time is kinda rare. Not having to be the one primarily responsible for loading unloading these cars can be a big strain off my shoulders. Literally. Strain on the shoulders. 🙂
After a 4-state, 5-day trip earlier this year, during which we purchased another salvage car on eBay, I wasn’t in a big hurry to make the lengthy trip to pick up this Corvette in Georgia. Because the trip we had just made was as long as this trip to Georgia and back would be, I totaled up the receipts for our travel expenses. Wow….those $5 and $10 purchases start adding up after a while, around the tune of $600. So, I figured that if we could have it transported for around that amount, it would be worth it. Sure enough, a few weeks later….another Corvette in the garage without all of the travel headaches.
The cats thank me, too.
Preparing for the holidays
November 27, 2011 | Posted in Family, Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
The holiday season is upon us. We’ll still be at the garage, but will be slowing things down a bit until after the 1st of the year. (Don’t worry, Sports Car Salvage is not going ANYWHERE!)
It’s important to spend time with family this Christmas. Last year, we were faced with a family member’s battle with lung cancer, which ended on December 22nd, 2010, after contracting MRSA pneumonia. Our LilBear had come up on the morning of the 22nd from her mother’s house to stay with us for her Christmas break, and losing her grandfather was a huge blow for her.
Now that the business is growing, and we’re not dealing with any illness, death, or relocation, we can make this holiday much nicer for her. We have some trips planned on her weekend visits (like the Polar Express!) plus she will be with us for a couple of weeks until school starts back up.
We also plan on participating in some Christmas activities in the community. Some of these are our typical gift-giving to local churches for children in need and the like. Some of the others….well, those are a surprise and I can’t spill the beans yet.
But don’t fret, because we will still be active in the business. I’m aiming to do more administrative-type stuff that I can complete from my home office during that time. While digging out Christmas decorations and the like, I found some interesting miscellaneous stuff that I can list on eBay. Plus, I plan on working more on the Internet marketing side of things. Long story short, I plan on dedicating the same amount of time to the business – just focusing on different areas.
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