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It seems like a skilled mechanic should be able to scavenge at least some usable part(s) in less than 5 hours.

From the Players Manual, p. 86:

"SCAVENGING PARTS
If you spend a shift scavenging parts from a functional or inoperable vehicle and make a TECH roll, you can find a number of vehicle spare parts equal to the number of you roll. If the vehicle you scavenge is permanently destroyed, you can still scavenge it, but you’ll find one less spare part, meaning you’ll need to roll at least two to find a single usable part. The vehicle you scavenge is permanently destroyed in the process, and can never be scavenged again, even by another person."

I suppose that I could apply the Quick Search rule (sidebar, p. 143), but that seems a little too generous, as it doesn't require a character to make a skill roll. As someone with minimal knowledge of auto mechanics, I would have little to no idea what component I should pull- or how to pull it- from an APC or what have you.

It seems like there should be a middle ground (between 5 hours minimum and unskilled scroungers spending much less time and essentially getting a freebie).

Is it time to house rule this, or am I missing something?

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The rules on scrounging (shouldn't that be scavenging anyway?) are pretty "gamey". They remind me of the computer game "Mad Max" in which you could pick up any old bit of scrap and it would add to your accumulated scrap points, which you could then spend to create an upgrade to your vehicle. If you want something more realistic I would just house rule it, as you suggest.

Well, I've wrenched a car or two (recreationally) and I agree that the rules are pretty "gamey", but I don't quite see what there is to gain from making them more detailed. I have a couple of ideas nonetheless.

If you want more granularity, maybe you could put in place some categories? Spare tyres could be one, the Driving Mishaps Table has an entry for a busted tyre, which RAW is fixed with a vehicle part. Spare tyres are big and heavy, and can only be used to replace busted tyres. Very easy to pick off a donor vehicle as well.

Stuff that is quick and easy to strip off of a donor vehicle and have some general utility are drive belts, hoses, alternators, wiring, electrical components, fasteners and brackets. I.e. if a hose bursts and you have a collection with you you can probably rig up something that works well enough. A real-life example: With a simple bracket and a swap of pulleys, my old Land Rover sported a Moskvich alternator for a while. Got me home, at least.

Stuff that any competent mechanic can pull include whole engines and transmissions, axles, dashboard w/ instrumentation, seating, sensors. Takes up a whole lot of room, though, and probably fit across either only the precise vehicle or a range of vehicles (like the GM 4L80-E 4-speed automatic from HMMWVs and Chevrolet pickups and vans, the latter pretty thin on the ground in Poland). These however can be made to fit, with skill, workshop facilities, parts or stock materials and time.

Can be a whole lot of book-keeping if start down this road. But maybe it can be an incentive to have players interact with the world, to beg, borrow or steal parts or workshop time for their vehicle.

What I'm planning to do as a middle ground is to have some rarity of parts needed for some cases where I want a bit more tension.

Some vehicles may need a specific part and I will make a roll to see if it is available among the pile of parts the players have and if not if it is available where the players want to scavenge for it.

If the part is not there they will know it after looking for it, they may scavenge for general parts but the vehicle will still be damaged. If the part is available the tech roll will get it and then some more generic parts if they have the extra successes.

But I will only track some of those special cases.

Maybe a system along these lines: Success lets you fix the problem with vehicle spare parts. A failed roll means that you can only try again with a more specific part. A failed roll on that attempt means that you can only try again with spares from an identical vehicle.

I.e. HMMWV with busted engine -> first try to repair with vehicle parts fail -> on second try the players need to scrounge up a turbocharger from any other vehicle -> that also fails, they will need to locate a HMMWV or mid-80s GM truck with a turbodiesel and transplant the turbocharger from that one.

Or GM fiat, of course... What drives the game forward? A desperate search for a M113 transfer case might be just the thing to get the players to take some risks.

These are all good suggestions that I can certainly see applying in certain situations. I wasn't clear enough in the OP. The scenario that prompted it is as follows:
The party revisits the site where they ambushed a Soviet convoy (from the Outnumbered random encounter). During the firefight, the enemy BTR was knocked out by two RPG hits- one to the crew compartment, the other to the turret. However, the BTR didn't burn, so the engine is intact.

The party includes a skilled mechanic. He wants to pull as many usable components from the BTR's engine as possible in the time available on site. The issue is that the party does not want to stick around for a full shift (5 hours), as the ambush occurred on a known MSR between two company-sized cantonments. According to the rules, as I understand them, the mechanic PC would not be able to recover any spare vehicle parts in under 5 hours. I'm not mechanically inclined at all, but I'm fairly sure a skilled mechanic could pull several usable components (belts and hoses at the very least) in under an hour. Being as I know next to nothing about automotive mechanics, I'm fine using abstractions (e.g. "minor spare parts").

5 hours seems reasonable for something like removing a major component like a transmission or an engine, but for something like a battery or a water pump, doesn't that seem excessive?

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Maybe a system along these lines: Success lets you fix the problem with vehicle spare parts. A failed roll means that you can only try again with a more specific part. A failed roll on that attempt means that you can only try again with spares from an identical vehicle.

Oh, that's a very nice idea! I love rules where fails allow to succeed by new and harder challenges.