If you think this is too easy a process and doubt the quality of the salvage yards that will take away your car, relax. The surest indicator that the yard is reliable is its license number, choose the one with a license number and you can be rest assured that you have got the best place that won’t dupe you.

Especially for older cars or antique vehicles being restored, used car parts may very well be the only answer to your parts needs. You may not find any auto supply outlet with access to car parts for a ’49 Studebaker pickup or a ’32 Ford, but you may very well find salvage yards with cars that are being sold for parts.

Twelve karat gold is fifty percent pure. It’s rarely seen these days, but may be found in old watch cases. Fourteen karat gold is fifty-eight percent pure, common in the US, and is also made in Asia for markets overseas and in Russia. Fifteen karat gold is sixty-two percent pure, and a discontinued standard from countries in the UK. Since no fifteen karat pieces have been made since the mid-1930s, this mark tells you the piece may have antique value.

Most gold brokers use the pennyweight scale to place a value on your scrap gold. The pennyweight scale can be quite confusing to someone that has never been exposed to it and there are a number of ways it can be manipulated in the buyer’s best interest. You will always get a better idea of what your scrap gold is worth at the retail level if your gold is measured and valued in the gram scale. Unfortunately most people don’t have a concept of what a gram of gold is and without a working knowledge of the gram it’s easy to underestimate it’s value. Recently a gram of gold was worth $32.00. Some speculators believe this is just the beginning of a surge in the price of gold and it will be worth even more soon.

Eighteen karat gold pieces make up the majority of quality pieces, and may also be marked 750 parts per thousand. You’ll find twenty-two karat gold mostly in pieces from Asia and the Middle East. It’s very yellow and soft. At the top of the list is twenty-four karat gold, the softest and purest available.

Most will disagree that you can find good things in junk yards, but this is not the case. You can, in fact, find reliable materials there. It’s just a matter of how far you would go to find what you?re looking for. The best way to get the best deal is to conduct extensive research. Look in motoring magazines and on web sites. Find lists of reliable junkyards and try to visit as many as possible.

I prefer to sit at a mid point near the side. I can see and be seen fairly well and can move forward easily if I need to see an item more clearly. Ultimately it becomes a matter of personal preference.