Best Uses for Recycled Car Parts

Old cars are often thrown into junkyards where they rust, decay, and send dangerous chemicals into the environment. You don’t have to let that happen to your decrepit vehicle. Instead, you can recycle it old parts and fluids to not only protect the environment but to get some excellent items out of it too.

1. Turn the Seats Into a Couch

Instead of throwing away perfectly good seats from your car, you can turn them into an awesome couch. There are many different ways you can approach this particular process. For example, some pull out the seat and place it as is in their living room. However, that’s fairly lazy and should be expanded on to ensure you get the look you want.

For example, some people will add plastic and metal arms on the seats to make them more like a real couch. The best idea is to use the front or back of the vehicle to serve as a holder for the seats. In this way, you can show off their origin as car parts. Don’t hesitate to try out this approach and vary it in ways that work for your needs.

2. Recycle Your Used Oil Parts

Used motor oil is interesting because many people assume that they need to throw it away. That is not the case. Used motor oil can be recycled and cleaned to remove the heavy contaminants that make it inefficient. In fact, there are a large number of facilities that recycle oil for free to manufacture new oil.

There are a few advantages to taking this approach. For example, oil never really stops being an excellent lubricant but only loses efficiency as it gets dirty. Therefore, cleaning it makes it easy to use it again for another vehicle. It also helps protect the environment by avoiding contamination and by decreasing the demand for new oil. You should also take in your oil filters to the same facility to ensure that they don’t cause any more contamination.

3. Turn Your Auto Glass Into Dozens of Products

Auto glass can be taken into a recycling facility and turned into dozens of different materials. For example, you can recycle it into fiberglass insulation, glass bottles, carpet glue, concrete blocks, and much more. That’s because auto glass has so many different materials in it. As a result, it is critical to avoid making your windshield one of the 15 million that are simply thrown away every year.

4. Rebuild That Damaged Engine

Your old engine might have some life left in it if you are willing to do a few simple repairs. For example, you can add new pistons and belts to help it run a few more years. This step might cost you a bit of money but can decrease your need for building or installing a new engine.

What is particularly interesting about this process is that these recycled engines can be more efficient than they were when they were initially built. That’s because you can integrate new and more efficient items into their design, ones that will make it operate a lot better than it did before the changes.

5. Convert the Car Body Into Scrap Metal

There is a large amount of metal in just about any car, and almost all of it can be converted and recycled into scrap metal. For example, your door handles, the aluminum car rims, the trim on the sides of the vehicle, and even the vehicle body can be torn up and converted into scrap metal.

While you won’t necessarily get a lot of money for this process (usually no more than $500 or so), that old metal will then be recycled and sold to car manufacturers. In this way, you can help to decrease the costs of manufacturing and help to protect the environment at the same time.

6. Make a Table Out of an Engine

If you cannot save your old engine but aren’t ready to give it up, you can convert it into a table. This process is surprisingly easy, though it does require a knowledge of a few mechanical processes. For example, you need to remove the gears, belts, and chains that hang from the engine and then clean it up and remove all of its fluids.

After performing these steps, you can install a piece of glass or plastic on its top that can be used as a tabletop. These types of tables are often an excellent choice for a mechanic shop or a garage. Some may be used as outdoor conversation pieces, though they end up rusting in this environment if you don’t protect them from the elements.

7. Create Incredible Hanging Lights With Chains

There are a large number of old chains in your vehicle, and you can convert them into unique hanging light fixtures. For example, you can build a light frame and then attach the chains to it. This design lets the chains hang down to create a cool and impressive look. Try to integrate this look into a home that has a unique or modern look.

8. Protect the Environment by Recycling the Battery

Your battery is filled with a variety of volatile liquids that need to be recycled. Simply throwing away your battery will cause it to degrade in the junkyard and release these dangerous chemicals. However, recycling will carefully remove them and allow specialists to either discard them or recycle them. Protect the environment by taking not just your car battery but all batteries to this type of recycling facility.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many benefits to recycling your old car parts. Try out one or even all of these methods to convert your ancient vehicle into new metal, better car parts, or even into decorations for your home. It is a win-win process that will benefit you and the marketplace exponentially in a multitude of ways.

Credit:
Mohamed Bah
Bah handles public relations for Springrates and in his spare time enjoys playing and watching basketball.