Collapsed barn find
- Thread starter Dave Mellor NJ
- Start date
Synchro909
Well-known member
In a word, WOW!.
It is difficult to know how much of the damage done to those cars was due to the collapse of the barn and how much was done by the guys pulling them out. I have to wonder "Did nobody know what was in there for the years before it collapsed?. I'd like to know the back story here.
It is difficult to know how much of the damage done to those cars was due to the collapse of the barn and how much was done by the guys pulling them out. I have to wonder "Did nobody know what was in there for the years before it collapsed?. I'd like to know the back story here.
Joe K
Well-known member
I'm reminded of "rescuing" an AA truck from a barn in Amherst, NH. Bought the truck for $100, and it cost $150 to have a wrecker flatbed to haul it home.
The truck had originally been some sort of "box" truck. Once home, the metal box sheathing and wood frame were removed to get back to the basic chassis.
Double rear wheels (5 hole) upon which I discovered the subtle markings "R" and "L" holding the wheels in place.
While in the barn, the barn roof had rotted out, and the rain water continued downward and rotted out the fabric roof of the 28-29 squarecab.
The Owner at some time had removed the 3 speed transmission top - which was sitting on the seat springs, now collapsed after the leatherette covering had deteriorated. The rainwater had collected in the transmission, which while rusted, was still able to be "turned."
The truck had been a "useful" truck certainly up until possibly WWII - but had sat there since. It had signs of a previous rebuild and restoration to service (I've mentioned the "sistered" frame.)
Everything of that rebuild was done "right." I continue impressed - and wish I had kept more of that truck for myself.
Joe K
The truck had originally been some sort of "box" truck. Once home, the metal box sheathing and wood frame were removed to get back to the basic chassis.
Double rear wheels (5 hole) upon which I discovered the subtle markings "R" and "L" holding the wheels in place.
While in the barn, the barn roof had rotted out, and the rain water continued downward and rotted out the fabric roof of the 28-29 squarecab.
The Owner at some time had removed the 3 speed transmission top - which was sitting on the seat springs, now collapsed after the leatherette covering had deteriorated. The rainwater had collected in the transmission, which while rusted, was still able to be "turned."
The truck had been a "useful" truck certainly up until possibly WWII - but had sat there since. It had signs of a previous rebuild and restoration to service (I've mentioned the "sistered" frame.)
Everything of that rebuild was done "right." I continue impressed - and wish I had kept more of that truck for myself.
Joe K
Tom F OHIO
Well-known member
Alot of those cars look like their only going to be good for scrap. That must of been a
huge barn to hold all those cars.
huge barn to hold all those cars.
It always strikes me as odd when you see this kind of destruction to good cars that some one "loved so much" they just couldn't let them go....so they left them to rot and have a building fall on them.
I have / had two guys near me (one died) who "love cars". They buy perfectly good cars and park them outside and slowly they rot. NUTS! One guy overflowed his huge barn and had about 12 cars outside. He let me in the barn before he died...He had a really nice Airflow way in the back stuck behind other cars. I asked him if it ever ran. He said he bought years ago, drove it home down the Garden State Parkway and parked it where I saw it...sitting with the mice and slowly freezing up...he loved his cars!
If you really "love cars" keep them at a level you can store inside, drive, maintain and enjoy. Buying them to let them sit and rot is a dysfunctional kind of love.
I have / had two guys near me (one died) who "love cars". They buy perfectly good cars and park them outside and slowly they rot. NUTS! One guy overflowed his huge barn and had about 12 cars outside. He let me in the barn before he died...He had a really nice Airflow way in the back stuck behind other cars. I asked him if it ever ran. He said he bought years ago, drove it home down the Garden State Parkway and parked it where I saw it...sitting with the mice and slowly freezing up...he loved his cars!
If you really "love cars" keep them at a level you can store inside, drive, maintain and enjoy. Buying them to let them sit and rot is a dysfunctional kind of love.
Synchro909
Well-known member
Gonna do it up some day!
Marshall V. Daut
Well-known member
"Gonna do it up some day!"
Yeah, right after they cut their grass that hadn't seen a lawnmower in the previous two years.
M.
Yeah, right after they cut their grass that hadn't seen a lawnmower in the previous two years.
M.