One person's trash can easily be another person's treasure, which is why finding scrap metal is a viable way to make some extra cash. However, you need to know where to find scrap metal and how to get the most money out of it. Here are some tips for scrapping an old engine block and turning it into cash.

Scrap The Whole Engine As Is

If you are new to recycling scrap metal and not sure what you are doing, you may be better off just scrapping the entire engine. There are some scrapyards out there that will take the engine as a whole, so many sure you call around and check before you stop on by. You are going to receive less money for the metal that you are turning in, but it is going to be a quick and easy way to do it. 

A scrapyard gives you less money because they need to take the time to disassemble the engine and remove the various metals from it. If you do this on your own, you'll get more money from your find. The scrapyard also needs to hold onto those metals until they can find a buyer for them, which means they are paying to store the item as a whole or its parts indefinitely. 

Disassemble The Engine Into Individual Metals

The other option is to take the entire engine and break it down into its individual metals. This is because scrap metal is categorized as either clean or dirty, which actually has nothing to do with the amount of dirt on the part. Clean and dirty scrap metal is about what other metals are attached to the primary material that you are turning in. If you are trying to scrap the cast aluminum that is part of the engine block, that aluminum is worth less if it still has metal bolts attached to it. By isolating the individual metals, you'll get more money for the time spent on disassembling the engine. 

Rebuild The Engine

Of course, you can always try to rebuild the engine to restore some of the value to the item as an actual auto part. If you are not able to do this yourself, you may be able to find someone that will buy the engine from you and do it themselves. While there is no guarantee that you'll get the engine working again, it is the way to make the money from it.

For more information, contact a company like Gutterman Iron & Metal Corp.