[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by RoboMom007

We have not done this but Team 237 can pass on some words of wisdom.

Ok, someone from 237 here. We did one a few years ago. It didn't turn out the best fundraiser but after doing one we know know what to change or improve on.
We had a local salvage yard donate a four door '85 Buick Century for this. We asked for a mostly complete car to do this with since it wouldn't be fun with just a stripped out shell and the Buick is what they happened to give us. They also dropped it off to our 'Smash-for-Cash' location and picked it up the next day for free. All glass, mirrors, and lights were removed for safety reasons along with the gas tank and battery. All this prep work was all done at the salvage yard before drop off. One problem we did run into is that they didn't drain ALL the fluids. We should have checked, and if we do this again we will. This became apparent after someone took a good wack at the radiator and antifreeze started pouring out! We were lucky the hit was up high (about the top third of the radiator) so it stopped pouring out shortly and most of it still stayed in the engine and radiator. We pulled the hood release and opened the hood and also realized the washer jug was still full. We checked the dipsticks and the engine and automatic trans still had fluid too. The lesson learned.......go over the whole car before the fundraiser begins to make sure the car IS fully prepped and don't totally rely on what the flatbed driver tells you when the car is dropped off. There appears there was a little miscommunication at the yard on what had to be done to the car before they gave it to us. We later found out the car was a fresh arrival at the yard and was driven the day before we got it.
The other problem we had was location. We did this in a baseball field at a football rally and bonfire so we wound up competing against the football team for attention. If we do another one we hope to get a corner of a parking lot roped/caution taped off. We used sledge hammers and provided safety goggles and gloves. We also had a large pipe to hit the car with.
I think we charged $5 for a half minute in the taped off area with the Buick. Some people went swinging at the car like mad while others walked around it to specific weak points to inflict the most damage. We allowed them to open the doors (we made sure they were unlocked before we started) and swing at the interior also. If anyone is curious don't go for the "A" pillars or door hinges no matter the car make or model. Those are the strongest areas and won't give much if any.
So in short, next time we know what to change, although it WAS a lot of fun getting to destroy a car that really didn't belong in a salvage yard yet. From what we were told the car was a spare vehicle that the person didn't need anymore and decided to junk it due to it's age and didn't want to try bother selling. It had 71k on the odometer and mint interior, except the interior wasn't mint after we got done with it!
One thing I also want to add is we bought brooms and shovels to clean up the debris when you're all done. There's a lot of plastic trim and such on the cars that makes quite a mess. We shoveled everything up and dumped it in the car when we were done. We also had rope which we wound up needing to tie the doors shut since some people destroyed the latches. If you're doing this also chuck the wheels and set the parking brake if it works. Ours was in a basically level field but did take precautions so it didn't move especially since we allowed them inside the car and the auto shift lever was totally broken off by the time we were done.

Originally Posted by sanddrag

It seems like there could be some danger involved. If someone got hurt from this, it could be the end of that robotics team forever.

Yes. No one got hurt but next time we will have waivers to sign. It was something that believe it or not was overlooked when we originally did it.

Originally Posted by Yan Wang

I think it's a good idea and worth trying. I doubt the local junkyard would have a problem sparing a 30 year old piece of junk.

Actually most salvage yards the vehicles are 80's and newer.

Jay