Abandoned old car projects

[MC1]

A post by Fred Smailes yesterday (http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...mer-68094.html) (post #10) inspired me to bring this post to light.

Many of us have the luv of rebuilding older trailers and many too have/had the same passion for resurrecting older cars.

This is my contribution to the thread. I saw the remnants of this 1964 Corvette Coupe sitting in a field, near the Welland canal back in 1970. Thought I would be a great project. Picked it up for $300. and got it home.
I managed to find a complete drivers door for $100. at the auto wreckers. Then it became more difficult to find parts. Anyway kinda lost interest and traded the car back to the original owner for a pair of 1969 Corvette bucket seats.

I know there must be lots of stories out there similar to mine. Luv to hear all about them.

[Ken in Pa]

Years ago. 1951 Ford pickup bought for $750. Flat head v8 4 speed 1 ton. 13 Leaves in the springs in the back and 9 in the front would not move jumping on the back bumper. It had 4.8 something rearend with a top speed of about 45mgh. Not a smart buy but I was young. I kept it about 10 years changed all the running gear wear points then sold it. My Kids liked to play in it .
Ken

[tjpainter]

Funny you mention project cars... I'm seriously thinking about buying and restoring a '63 Falcon with a small V8. It would look great towing a vintage fiberglass trailer. Right now I don't have either the car or the trailer but my plans are to have both some day... that's the reason I lurk on this website all the time :-)

[bullfrogeh]

Similar story to Ken. In the early 60's, I found a 1932 Model 'B' Ford 4-banger abandoned in a White River (Northern Ontario) bush lot. Found the owner, and he gave me the vehicle. Towed it 100 miles home and got it runnable. Drove it for about 2000 miles, with a canoe mounted on top, it became my first 'camper'. A tourist from Cleveland spotted it at my place, bought it, and had it professionally hauled back to Ohio. 50 years later, I still 'miss' that ole' last of Ford's 4-bangers. Had a similar experience with a 1930 Whippet; but, couldn't afford to upgrade the 'wooden' frame.

[Danny1953]

Originally Posted by tjpainter

Funny you mention project cars... I'm seriously thinking about buying and restoring a '63 Falcon with a small V8. It would look great towing a vintage fiberglass trailer. Right now I don't have either the car or the trailer but my plans are to have both some day... that's the reason I lurk on this website all the time :-)

TJ we share a similar vision. A friend has a very cool Burro painted silver. I think a white '63 or earlier Falcon wagon with a small V8 would be the perfect tow vehicle for it. The lines of the Burro and the U-Haul are very reminiscent of the early Falcons.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Danny1953

TJ we share a similar vision. A friend has a very cool Burro painted silver. I think a white '63 or earlier Falcon wagon with a small V8 would be the perfect tow vehicle for it. The lines of the Burro and the U-Haul are very reminiscent of the early Falcons.

That would look good together. Just a little heads up on the Falcon for you. 1963 was the first year they offered a V8 and the frame was beefed up a bit for the extra weight of it. Although many people have installed V8s in the 6cyl models and have had good luck, the extra weight can and has caused the frame to bend enough for the doors not to align properly.

[tjpainter]

I hear ya. I owned two early 60's Falcon wagons way back when they weren't considered "vintage". And I agree that Burros and U-Hauls in particular are a perfect match (think coordinated paint schemes).

Not many of the Falcon wagons had V8's but it's not too difficult or terribly expensive to install a small-block V8 motor (260, 289, 302). The straight-6's barely had enough power to move the car out of its shadow let alone tow a trailer.

Me... I'm seriously thinking about restoring a '63 Falcon Sprint. And then maybe looking for a Burro or U-Haul to restore :-) What a great combo that would be.

[mary and bob]

I have a barn full of projects. Don't want to call them "abandoned" rather refer to them as "projects in waiting". Here's a brief list; 69/77 Ford Bronco, '43 International truck, '62 & '64 Ford Fairlanes, '46 Bantam trailer, '46 Farmall H, Beaver garden tractor, year unknown. Some of this stuff runs but needs work, some needs total restoration. The projects that are mostly done and useable are a '76 Ford pickup, '46 teardrop, & '84 Uhaul camper. Then there's the stuff that has to be maintained for every day use; '60 something Case loader/backhoe, '68 Ford 2000 farm tractor, '65 & '74 John Deere lawn tractors, plus related maintenance equipment like chain saws, lawn mowers, snow blowers, and a wood splitter. I'll never live long enough to do all these projects but I'm too stupid to give up and sell it all.

[stevebaz]

Wow Bob are you my long lost brother?

Cars I have done 1967 Mercury Caliente, 1972 Datsun PL521 Pick-up, 1967 Mustang, 1973 Super Beetle and a 1974 Bronco.
2 Boats 11 foot and 17 foot Boston Whalers.

Waiting to be done. Another 1974 Bronco, 1943 Bantam trailer WWII survivor repatriated from Switzerland and A 13 Foot Boston Whaler boat.

Who knows what will pop up in my path before I am gone.

[mary and bob]

Steve, you probably are better off with your Bronco if it's a California original with minimal rust issues. I bought mine new in 1969 but being in the Northeast it was really rusty by '77. I was able to get a new body tub, complete with doors, tailgate, and windshield frame, right off the Ford assembly line. It is still on the shipping skid in my barn. The Bantam trailer I have is the post WW2 civilian version that has an opening tail gate. My grandfather bought it new. It has wood top bows and a canvas top, and near as I can tell the original tires. One of my Fairlanes is in the movie "Taking Woodstock" and I'm in a restaurant scene as an extra in the background. And for a brother, I have one in Texas that had a building packed with cars & parts. Don't know what he has now.

[Mike Magee]

What model Ford was it, back around the late '50s or so, that had huge fins that looked like eyebrows overtop the tail lights? My aunt and uncle had one (in blah brown), and as a kid that rear end impressed me greatly as one of the ugliest and scariest things ever made. It's funny what impacts us when we're young.

I never picked up the desire to wrench on cars (or anything). But I'm glad some folks do, or we'd all be in trouble.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

And for a brother, I have one in Texas that had a building packed with cars & parts. Don't know what he has now.

Nice... those rust free classic cars from Texas fetch a premium price up here north of the border.

[mary and bob]

Wayne, My '76 pickup was an Arizona truck it's entire life until I bought it and had it shipped to upstate NY. There's a guy in Indiana that buys rust free trucks, mostly from California, and resells them.

Mike; you may be thinking about a '58 Ford. Or the '59 Chevys had a big horizontal fin over the tail lights. The 58 Ford had an oval area for the tail lights, '59 had a big round tail light as I recall.

[FRED SMAILES]

Originally Posted by bullfrogeh

Similar story to Ken. In the early 60's, I found a 1932 Model 'B' Ford 4-banger abandoned in a White River (Northern Ontario) bush lot. Found the owner, and he gave me the vehicle. Towed it 100 miles home and got it runnable. Drove it for about 2000 miles, with a canoe mounted on top, it became my first 'camper'. A tourist from Cleveland spotted it at my place, bought it, and had it professionally hauled back to Ohio. 50 years later, I still 'miss' that ole' last of Ford's 4-bangers. Had a similar experience with a 1930 Whippet; but, couldn't afford to upgrade the 'wooden' frame.

Your story made me think of the story of this 32B.
The guy bought it in 1967, flat towed it home from Ontario to Alberta with big dreams and preceded to do nothing with it.
It is completely stock, a few years ago he got it running fixed the brakes etc and drives it around. We all tell him it's too late to "rod" it enjoy as is.
Fred

[Rick Mooyman]

Bob do your have a complete Early Ford Bronco Body on a shipping skid? Did I read that right? I LOVE early Bronco's.

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Steve, you probably are better off with your Bronco if it's a California original with minimal rust issues. I bought mine new in 1969 but being in the Northeast it was really rusty by '77. I was able to get a new body tub, complete with doors, tailgate, and windshield frame, right off the Ford assembly line. It is still on the shipping skid in my barn. The Bantam trailer I have is the post WW2 civilian version that has an opening tail gate. My grandfather bought it new. It has wood top bows and a canvas top, and near as I can tell the original tires. One of my Fairlanes is in the movie "Taking Woodstock" and I'm in a restaurant scene as an extra in the background. And for a brother, I have one in Texas that had a building packed with cars & parts. Don't know what he has now.

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Rick Mooyman

Bob do your have a complete Early Ford Bronco Body on a shipping skid? Did I read that right? I LOVE early Bronco's.

Mostly complete, it's the welded assembly, body tub, inner front fender panels and radiator support, doors, tailgate, windshield frame.No front fenders, hood, or grille. A friend that has a body shop got the local Ford dealer to order it. It's a '77 body, last year made, only year that had gas tank doors. All previous years had external gas caps. It was delivered on a skid made of 2 X 6's and wood blocks and enclosed in an open crate of 1 X6 boards. For some reason they wanted the crate back?? It had a tag on it that said "Do not trim, send to shipping" I got the idea from working on big trucks where we had replaced cabs or frames or built a truck from a glider kit. But this got shoved in the barn and I never got to it. I usually don't allow anyone in my barn to see what I have so not a lot of local people know about it, or believe I actually have it. It's like Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster, does it really exist. Don't have any pics on this computer, and won't be home for another month. I'll bet it's the only one in existence that's an original unused body. Reproductions are being made, but this is an original Ford factory piece

[Rick Mooyman]

Awesome I hope the metal is coated and not rusting away sitting there in your barn. Do you any plans to build the truck? Even old rusty ones are demanding big bucks. I LOVE those truck. Always wanted one but none are in my price range and seem to be harder to find now. Often wished I would have bought one when I first started working.

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Mostly complete, it's the welded assembly, body tub, inner front fender panels and radiator support, doors, tailgate, windshield frame.No front fenders, hood, or grille. A friend that has a body shop got the local Ford dealer to order it. It's a '77 body, last year made, only year that had gas tank doors. All previous years had external gas caps. It was delivered on a skid made of 2 X 6's and wood blocks and enclosed in an open crate of 1 X6 boards. For some reason they wanted the crate back?? It had a tag on it that said "Do not trim, send to shipping" I got the idea from working on big trucks where we had replaced cabs or frames or built a truck from a glider kit. But this got shoved in the barn and I never got to it. I usually don't allow anyone in my barn to see what I have so not a lot of local people know about it, or believe I actually have it. It's like Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster, does it really exist. Don't have any pics on this computer, and won't be home for another month. I'll bet it's the only one in existence that's an original unused body. Reproductions are being made, but this is an original Ford factory piece

[Donna D.]

I love old iron. Sigh. So too few places now to get bodies fixed. Shops want to pull and replace. Pulling and leading is a dying breed.

[caderider1]

restored my 65 comet , still restoring my 79 trillium

[Rick Mooyman]

Awesome setup. No upper door flex when towing? A friend of mine had a 67 Cougar convertible when we were late teens and it would flex at the upper door gap when driving over bumps with the top down. It was about 10 years old back then and considered an old car, but we had fun in it.

Originally Posted by caderider1

restored my 65 comet , still restoring my 79 trillium