Scrapping alternators

[bobcatdan]

I got about 20 or so junk alternators, all the same. They have a plastic back. Tommorrow I'm thinking I will taket five or so apart and haul the stuff in and see if the money is worth the work. Have you guys found its worht it?

 

[K2Orion]

I took mine to the local metal buyer (15mins from home, on my way to work)
I did not disassemble them.
They paid by the pound, I forget how much. Same price for starters or electric motors. I won't get rich doing it but $$ in my wallet takes less storage space than alternators on a shelf. Better than throwing them away.
I did a little research to see if there was a market for "cores". That was NOT worth it.

 

[Gary S]

You call them junk alternators, but I'm betting that most of them still work just fine. My experiences for the past 45 years or so have been confined to GM alternators, and the simple fact is that very few GM Delco alternators ever die beyond repair. They need some basic maintenance once every 25 years or so, but very few of them ever need to be junked. If I were you, I would copy down the numbers off them, and try to sell them. Some of the GM alternators with the desirable numbers are worth some real cash.

 

[crewchief888]

last year i had a sh*tload of starters and alternators i'd been saving.
by the time i stripped them down, and seperated everything, i found, for me, it wasnt worth the time or effort.
they get tossed with all the rest of my scrap now.
only thing i'll strip is aluminum radiators from the housings/tanks.

 

[61falcon]

you could contact a local rebuilder that may pay you for them. we usaully pay anywhere from a few dollars to 15-20 depending on the value of the core. if you where closer i would tell you to bring them to me, but not worth the price of shipping them.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

I've gone through some old ones and made up a couple of good used ones that I sold.

 

[NJHandyGuy]

save yuorsefl the time google core buyers near you i know i pay 8-$25 a piece

 

[1931S/X]

you pay 8-25$ each? i scrapped 2 milkcrates of starters and alternators a few months ago, i cant remember if they were .15 or .38/lb

 

[bobcatdan]

I have talked with local rebuilders about getting some rebuilt to offer my customers an option. I was told these are not worth it, they most of the time fail from the bushings going out and it wrecks the case, case is not available. He said toss them. I think I should at lease pull the plastic back cover off.

 

[Bad Jackson]

The problem with scrap metal now days, is it almost ALL goes to China!!!
Get it together America! US Steel, going to China, then we buy it back.
Why?

 

[bobcatdan]

I scraped 10 alternators. I tool them apart, takes about 10 to 15 minutes a piece. Got $38 for them vs 11 cents a pound if I brought them in whole. At about 14 lbs a piece, my crappy math comes to $15 if I just brought them in. For that, I think it was worth taking them apart.

 

[bhclark]

I scraped 10 alternators. I tool them apart, takes about 10 to 15 minutes a piece. Got $38 for them vs 11 cents a pound if I brought them in whole. At about 14 lbs a piece, my crappy math comes to $15 if I just brought them in. For that, I think it was worth taking them apart.

About $9 an hour....

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd scrap them as is.

 

[NUTTSGT]

only thing i'll strip is aluminum radiators from the housings/tanks.

That make them clean vs. dirty aluminum ?

 

[crewchief888]

That make them clean vs. dirty aluminum ?

yes.
the radiators i get ahold of are either all aluminum, riveted to steel mounts, or aluminum with plastic tanks.

i salvage the mounts to fabricate small brackets.
plastic tanks get the hammer treatment.

 

[bobcatdan]

$9 an hour tax free, when you take out taxes, insurance and 401K, I bet I don't make much more then that normal. What, quick crappy math, I make about $12.50 a hour after everything is taken out.