the downfall of scrapping in my car

I very rarely get a chance to come online to look at different posts because I put in 65-70 hours a week between my real job and scrapping but I always love it when I do and since I have a short story I thought I'd post. I unfortunately don't have a truck, I'm saving up for one, and carry all my scrap in my car. Generally I'll find aluminum cans, electrical wire, vacuums, conduit, wire, etc all the stuff we all find. The rule I have for myself with anything I find is that if I can bend it, cut it, unscrew it, or cut it to make the item fit in my car then I'm all good. The other day I was scrapping for cans in my local forest preserve and I found the hood of a car. Keep in mind I drive a 4 cylinder small sedan. Now I'm thinking "What do I do now"? I discovered that if I leaned the hood of the car against the curb and stood on it that it will bend in half. Then I discovered that its actually 2 layers of metal with just the edge of one layer wrapped around the other. Well after about 30 minutes of bending, a few 4-letter words and some sweat, the 2 layers came apart at which point I was able bend each layer in half 2 times, one layer in the back seat, one in the front. When I got in the car I saw that I had access to my radio, coffee and cigarettes. So I figured I was all good to go. Only problem was that the piece in the front seat was up against the steering wheel causing me to make very wide turns. Fortunately I was only a mile away from the yard. None the less I was pleasantly impressed with myself. Happy scrapping to one and all.

I'm glad you made it to the yard and unloaded. If you had been in a wreck, it might have been very bad news. I too scrap in the car (mostly, sometimes I get to use the wife's van) and most of the time stuff is in the trunk. Once an while I have lighter stuff in the back seat but the pucker factor does increase thinking about the physics if I would have a major accident. I don't think scrapping nullifies my life insurance policies so the wifey should be taken care of if I off myself with scrap...

Should bring some heavy duty straps, could of strapped it straight to the roof. 30 minutes is a long time.

I scraped with my car for about a year now. just bought a pos truck for scrap $350. I figure I'll drove it till it dies( or I found a cheap 350) but I'd take my back seats out and load it like a truck. I fit a 15 ft trailer frame in my car oh a 15ft trailer frame and axles weight 660lbs then I use the all siding to fill rest using long pieces to protect me in front and my windows.