For many car enthusiasts, a trip to the salvage yard is a lot of fun. Exploring the yard and finding parts for your project can be extremely satisfying, but the fun ends pretty quickly if you get hurt while you are there. Safety is essential, so consider these before you head to the salvage yard for your parts.
Safety Equipment
Taking the right things with you to the salvage yard can help make your trip safe and more productive. You may want to consider some of the items here.
Gloves
A good pair of mechanics gloves are an excellent way to protect your hands from sharp parts of the car and help avoid cuts or scrapes to your hands. Gloves can also improve your grip on your tools, especially if you are trying to remove a frozen fastener or are working in an odd position and can’t properly grip your tool.
Eye Protection
The salvage yard has a lot of things that can get into your eyes and cause an injury. Antifreeze, fuel, and oil are all potential problems. While these chemicals should be drains from the cars when they come into the yard, you may find small amounts of fuel in a line, or brake fluid remaining in a master cylinder.
A good pair of safety glasses will help keep contaminants out of your eyes and are relatively inexpensive to purchase at any home center or auto parts store.
Boots
Boots are not a requirement in most yards, but the amount of scrap metal that is lying around can be a problem if you are not prepared. A good pair of work boots will protect your feet and ankles from injury and can enable you to walk around on uneven terrain.
Water
Water is an essential part of your trip to the salvage yard. Water can serve several functions. It can keep you hydrated on hot days, which is critical, and you can use it to flush out your eyes if something gets in them while you are working. Take a couple of good size bottles of water with you as part of your safety kit, and if you don't need them on this trip, you can keep them for the next one.
Fire Safety
One of the biggest concerns in a salvage yard is fire. The nature of the parts in a salvage yard makes fire a genuine concern, and because of that, there are specific rules that apply to the tools you can use in the yard. In general, any tool that has a flame or generates sparks is a bad idea, and in most yards, you can't even bring them into the yard.
While some small torches or battery-powered grinders are available that would be easy to put in your tool bag and take in, you will get kicked out of most yards for having those kinds of tools with you. Don't take the risk and follow the fire safety rules that the salvage operator has in place.
Under Car Safety
If the parts you need require you to work under the car, make sure the vehicle is stable and safe before you go under the car. Most salvage yards block the cars up, but if you think the vehicle is unstable, as one of the yard workers to add some blocks or cribbing under the vehicle, so that is it stable. They will happily help you to ensure you stay safe while you are working in the yard.
At Pick-A-Part Jalopy Jungle, we strive to provide a wide selection of quality used parts at prices that are fair. We also buy used cars if you have one that you want to recycle. Stop and see us at one of our five locations today, and we can help you find the right part for your repair.