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Barn find....... The story of my frozen Thanksgiving trip....lol


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So, I got a new tow rig and decided to drive it out to Nebraska for Thanksgiving with family.  Got to thinking, I should take the trailer out and see what I can haul back.  For a couple weeks before the trip, I scoured Craigslist looking for a candidate and came across a '91 Eliminator project.

 

Before I got out there, the guy wouldn't come down to a reasonable price for his VERY rusty, non running parts truck...... so I kept searching.

 

Found this cool '67 Squareback custom "truck".  40 min from the town I would be visiting.  My cousin's boss built it 3 years earlier and sold it.  $1500 engine, tons of new parts.  Current owner fried the ignition a year ago, it sat for a year and wants it gone.  We negotiated a price range depending upon my seeing it and I hitched up the trailer for the trip.

 

We drive out Weds night expecting to get into town around 2am.  Well, a nasty ice storm had another plan for us.  60 mph was the max speed I was able to safely achieve between Sterling Colorado and Kearney Nebraska (400+ miles)....... Didn't get to the hotel until just after 5 am.  Had to be to the first family dinner at noon....... ugh.  

 

Stopped for gas, had to put my shoulder into the door just to get out......  1.5" ice on the mirror and covering much of the truck and trailer.

 




 

The ice storm continued all Thursday and most of Friday.  Each time I returned to the truck, I had to contend with ice covered glass like this......

 


 

So, here's the candidate:

 


 

Took a look at it that Saturday before heading home.  Long story short...... it was a rusty bondo bucket with rotten tires.  Pass.

 

Well, I didn't wanna go home with an empty trailer!  So......

 

Saw this pic in a Nebraska craigs ad....... '48 Ford Tudor Super Deluxe 8 cyl.  In a barn since '72, runner driver when parked, $1995 asking.  Called the guy, said it was his father's car since '65, has '72 plates on it.  Put it in the barn with restoration intentions.  Dragged it out of the barn 2 weeks ago to put on Craigs.  

 


 

Ventured out in 20 degree temps and freezing rain to go look at it.  Rougher than expected but VERY complete, with title but no keys.  It's got 2" of ice all over it but what was visible just screamed rat rod.  Guy says no reason the engine shouldn't turn.

 

No keys, can't get into the trunk.  No biggie, probably full of mouse carcasses anyway. Hood release cable (yeah, that's correct) is seized, no getting under the hood, ice was probably gonna make that impossible anyway.  I'm sure it'll turn, after all, it's been in a barn for 40 + years right?

 

Doors open fine but lower door sills are rusty and floors aren't great.......but ok we'll just put down sheet metal road signs for floors anyway right?

 

What the hell, the guy is willing to take less than half his asking price, had to grab it right?

 

Now, the ground is covered in ice, trailer deck is a sheet of ice, the front wheels don't rotate as the drums are seized.  I'm sure some plywood on the ladder style trailer ramps and this beast should slide right up onto the trailer with moderate effort from the frozen winch and battery.....right?

 

OK and the yard is angled down hill and to the left.......  Yeah, perfect conditions all around.

 

Well the beast slides left off the ramps, left front tire busts the trailer tail light.  Awesome.

 

Have the guy use his truck as a pivot with straps going from each axle of the '48 on the passenger side to his receiver hitch as I winch.  It wasn't pretty but was successful.  1 1/2 hrs later I'm on the road headed home.

 

No photos of all that hilarity, too cold and in a hurry to get going.

 

Stop for lunch a couple hours later, much of the ice has melted from the top surfaces..... Damn.  It's RUSTY.  40 years of barn dirt layered on it have decayed the hood and pass fender surfaces badly, flaking rust. Put my knuckle through the worst spot.  And then I look at the roof, it's solid..... but has a massive dent.  Dammit.

 


 

Has tons of paperwork in it from 50's on up.  A few pairs of vintage women's sunglasses, and a cool old box of Kleenex in the back package tray.

 

Probably gonna find the engine seized at this rate.......IF I can get the hood open.

 

Might be best to just cut it up into car-art.

 

Damn my impulsive vehicular A.D.D.   :nuts:    :laughin:

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Today I got the trunk open...... ugh.  HUGE squirrel nest piled up against the trunk lid and latch mechanism, it's completely rotten, trunk won't latch now since it all ripped apart when opening.  

 

I was able to stick a long screwdriver in the gap at the front of the hood and push the hood release where the cable was attached...... but only after I used my air gun to blow out the squirrel nest and tons of walnuts in the way.... 

 

The headliner is packed with mouse/squirrel nests too.  

 

This will be fun........  :shake:  :ack:  :mad:

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Spent the past two days digging the nests and crap out of this thing.

 

I think I may have convinced myself to NEVER grab one of these barn relics again.... Effing hell it's gross.  I'm not kidding when I believe I've excavated about 80 lbs of dirt, gravel, dust, mouse and squirrel crap, nests, bug and spider carcases and walnut shells from this thing.  I was gloved up, masked, goggled and the fine stuff still got into my nose.  Muddy boogers?  Yep. :puke:

 

Got some old 15" Ford F150 wheels and some roller tires mounted up for it but holy keerap are the drums stuck!  Gonna take some sledge massaging and a bunch of PB Blaster to get them moving.  I'll probably have to pull the drums off and hit the insides with a wire wheel.  I need this to roll off the trailer and into a spot at my lot and as it is, it's not a roller.  The brake master is rusted stuck too so I gotta see if I can get the e-brake working.  It moves but I have no idea if the pads are getting tight.  

 

Haven't put a wrench on the engine crank yet.  I'm considering pulling the heads off the flat head and giving the pistons and valves a good soaking before turning anything.  Would be cool if the engine was salvageable.  I tugged on the fan belt and one of the water pumps appears to turn as does the generator.  I'm cautiously optimistic since the engine has been sealed up with the plugs, breather, dipstick and oil bath air cleaner all in place.

 

Worst of the rust is on the passenger front fender, hood, lower door sill area where the lower seal was, the trunk lid and latch area, and above the windshield.  The trunk rust and the windshield rust are all due to mouse nests holding moisture.  ****ing rodents.

 

Some detail pics:

 








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Progress.......

 

Trunk floor is better than expected.  Body mounts are in great shape, just the driver's side of the floor and along the sill edge is swiss cheesy.

 



 

Turns out that the sill edge at the doors is actually just a carpet pinching piece of trim.  The floor rust is non existent except for some spots under the carpet trim.  The running boards are in great shape and solid.  Lots of scaley rust around where the door seals sat wet but the door themselves are damn-near rust free.  

 



 

The worst spot is above the windshield.  The channel above the inside inside trim is crumbling and when I pulled on the next packed in there, it took a dime sized chunk leaving a hole above the windshield.  Dammit.

 


 

Dusted off the dash and hit the glove box button with some WD40 and it closes now.  Note that this was a radio-delete car.

 


 

Found a newspaper laying under the front seat...... apparently the paper and/or newsprint ink is something the mice really don't care for, it's not been chewed on, pissed on or otherwise damaged.  

 






 

Very surprisingly..... I only found one mummified mouse carcass, and NO coins or other currency.  Found 3 pairs of women's bakelite sunglasses but they literally crumbled when handled.  Back in the day, Nebraska DMV would publish a "phone book" of license plate numbers.  Found 2 of these in the glove box, one for 1959 and one for 1963.  You could look up people by their plate numbers..... crazy.

 

 

 

Now I've gotta get the drums un-seized, bolt up the rollers, and haul it over to the pressure wash to blast the crud off the body and engine compartment.

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def don't cut anything on that. Sell as is or just make it a driver. Driving "as is" barn finds is huge right now. This would sell for good money at pomona swap meet.

 This is the stuff i do, enjoy doing for a living. Find and drive em. They tell a story.

 Power wash/steam with soap. Then use garden sprayer to soak the nest areas with bleach. Let sit a day or 2. Wash again.

 Ive cleaned some NASTY rodent nests out. Where i grew up we had huge pack rats in the forest and they made nests in so many rigs ive owned.

 

 Great find though and story to go with it.  :)

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Thanks for the insight mountainman!

 

Today I got all the drums freed up.  I discovered the brake shoe adjusters are bolts with tensioner springs on the backing plates.  They turn eccentrics into the back of the shoes to snug them up to the drums.  Releasing the tension on those freed up the rear drums easy.  The front drums however were a massive P.I.T.A. as they'd sat several inches into dirt/mud.  I had to spray PB Blaster all around the edge to get it into the drums and onto the shoes.  I removed the spindle nut and outside bearing then used an air hammer on the back of the drum.  Took 30 min for one side, 45 for the other but they did finally come off.  I removed the brake pads and put the drums back on so it'll roll..... the hydraulic cylinders are seized keeping the shoes from backing away from the drum enough to spin free.

 

The underside of this car is amazingly solid.  All body mount locations are solid, bushings all in place.  Clutch mechanicals feel like they're in working order and the column shifter works as it should. Throttle pedal is seized, I'm guessing the cable and linkage is stuck.

 

Brake pedal is seized as I'm sure the master cylinder is stuck.  To get the brakes working I'd imagine it'd require new steel lines and rubber lines along with the 4 wheel cylinders and master..... 

 

Radiator core looks rusty at the top looking into the fill hole...... wonder what it's like farther down.  Its not corroded and doesn't appear to have been leaking or seeping.  The radiator hoses are intact and also don't appear to have been leaking or seeping but they are dry rotted on the outside.  I'm curious if it's still got coolant in it.

 

It would definitely be cool to get it running/driving in it's present condition.  But that'll have to be done by it's next owner.

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Took it to the pressure wash today.  $20 +/- in quarters later its a whole lot cleaner.  Did the interior floor, engine and trunk.  Left one huge rusty, muddy, nut shell, mouse poo, dirt ring in the stall......  :laughin:

 

Dent in the roof popped right out with two pops of a gloved fist.  

 

Got the wheels and tires on it....... looks so much better.

 

Stripped the nasty fabric and padding off the front seat, vacuumed the back seat, put them back in.

 

It's now on Craig's....... wish me luck on re-homing this rusty gem!

 

 

 

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5354999413.html

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  • 2 months later...

And It's now in the hands of a guy who builds rat rods.  Should be interesting when it's built and running!

 

Oh, and the tow rig got a bit of a personality change.........

 

2.5" leveling kit, 325/65/18 Duratracs, Fuel D558 Anza wheels 18x9 +20 offset.    

 

:D

 

 

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  • 10 months later...
I told myself never again after the '48 Ford.

 

'41 Chevy Special Deluxe Sedan.  No engine or trans.

 

Looked fairly complete from the pics.

 

Dude had it at "best offer, needs to go today".  Text reply says "$1,000 with clear title."  I offer $700, he says "Come get it, but I won't take any less."

 

Got there and yeah....... issues.  The hood is all kinds of tweaked and separated across the center.  Interior is non existent except for the frame and springs of the front seat.  Rusty at the lower cowl area behind the fenders and small spot on driver's floor. No glass, guy has cut thin plywood to fit in the rear windows for some reason and plexiglass in the wing windows. Not huge issues but realistically, the body is really solid.  Go to open the trunk and both pot metal hinge arms are broken so the lid just sits in place.

 

I ask to see the title.  It's from 1959 where that owner had settled the lien on it.  The next owner signed it with a notary seal stamped over it dated a few months after the lien release.  Dunno, will the DMV allow me to sign as the buyer when the titled owner signed the seller's spot 58 years ago?

 

I go to look at the cowl tag and verify the VIN..... yeah, cowl tag is gone.

 

Sorry dude, not interested.  I tell him I'd give him $400 for the value of the parts it has on it, mostly believing he'll say "nope."  He says "ok."

 

Dammit.   :laughin:

 

Now what do I do with it?   :hmm:

 




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I would see what the DMV says first. If they say they won't title it then you may want to part it out so you don't have to deal with a no title vehicle. If they will title it then probably dig in and see what a restoration will take. Either way you can make your money back easily. If you get a new title then even better.

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