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1951 Crosley barn find

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by racerdaddy1, Sep 29, 2010.

  1. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    Last night I went to see a 1951 Crosley that had been pulled out of a barn after years of rest. The exterior body wasnt in bad shape. The floors are rusted pretty bad. The engine spins over by hand. The nose on this car is so ugly. I just dont know if I could ever make anything cool out of it or not. It does have a good title. Any suggestions? This thing is from way before my time, so I know very little about them.
     
  2. rrbrucea
    Joined: Mar 2, 2010
    Posts: 646

    rrbrucea
    Member

  3. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    At first glance from the rear it resembled a Henry J to me, but as I rounded the front, wow. Almost like an Amphi car. I like the gasser look in the pic rrbrucea.
     
  4. Check the internet for Crosley clubs. It's worth more restored than all cut up.
     

  5. TBone69
    Joined: Aug 21, 2007
    Posts: 833

    TBone69
    Member
    from NJ

    So ugly it's cool. You can even Hot Rod the original motor!

    There's a build thread on here somewhere.
     
  6. Hmmmmmmmmmmm x2
     

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  7. rrbrucea
    Joined: Mar 2, 2010
    Posts: 646

    rrbrucea
    Member


    Great minds evidently... :D
     
  8. Eightydeuce
    Joined: May 10, 2007
    Posts: 322

    Eightydeuce
    Member

    They are neat little cars, like Tbone said they are so ugly they are cool. My uncle is currently building one up with a 289, new frame and a 9 inch rear.

    Here is a bad ass example of one.

    I think this is one from the late 40's though.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. raidmagic
    Joined: Dec 10, 2007
    Posts: 1,440

    raidmagic
    Member

    I love those things. None of my buddies get it. There is one for sale here local. Cool cars but I like things that are different.
     
  10. Like them mini rods too. Different.
     
  11. Jax2A
    Joined: Apr 14, 2009
    Posts: 419

    Jax2A
    Member

    Hey, I'm up in Columbus. My dad has been kicking himself for months for not buying a Crosley chassis and motor a while back. He wants to build a little speedster out of one. If you're not going to do anything with it, please let me know. Thanks,
     
  12. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    If I opt to not buy it tonight, I will pass it on to someone that would do something with it. I thought it was priced right ecspeially with a title. I will TRY to get some pics of it tonight.
     
  13. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    The Crosley 'Hot Shot' was rod fodder for some of the serious racers 'way back to '49.
    Some drag cars (yes, diggers too) were made up from Crosley engines (2 stroke, you oughta hear one wind up.) There were constant ads in HRM, Honk, and HopUp for Crosley speed parts. Low H.P., but when modified, RPM was extreme, and in a light car, it would perform. There was an old Crosley dragster that ran in the last days of the Old Time drags at Baylands, in Fremont.

    Most of the older pros had knowledge of the popularity of Crosleys. They were America's first 'compact' car. I saw Crosley stuff at Blair's, Quincy Automotive, and Reath's, to name a few. If I found a Crosley, it would definitely come home with me! I'd hop it up a little, and use it for a driver. Verrrry cool.....
     
  14. you say it is a 1951 but what body style is it? station wagon? sedan? pick up? convertible?

    as was mentioned before, the floors are commonly rusted in Crosleys, but depending on what you are going to do with it, they are easy to fix and there are a few vendors who are remaking replacement floor panels if you want to go that route
     
  15. greeno
    Joined: Feb 2, 2006
    Posts: 144

    greeno
    Member
    from Fresno,Ca.

    Crosleys were not 2 strokes. My friend Nick Brajavich a had a twin engine blown Crosley dragster. He made and marketed Braje racing equipment for Crosleys. He has since passed away. He probably did almost everything possible with CRosleys. He used to race H production in Hotshots and Millers.
    Gary
     
  16. TomWar
    Joined: Jun 11, 2006
    Posts: 727

    TomWar
    Member

    In about 1963, I had a friend whose uncle had a dusting service outside of Davis Calif. He rode around in their Helicopter, and spotted some Crosleys. We went up to the guys place on the north part of the Sacramento river, and the guy had Crosley engines running everything. Boats, Generators, Cable across the river, pumps, etc.
    he had 8 bodys stacked up. Coupes, p/u, station wagons, sedans.
    He ended up giving me all of the bodies. We flooded the market in Norcal with Crosleys. After that there were Quite a few drag cars with Crosley bodies. But I never built one myself.
     
  17. philo426
    Joined: Sep 20, 2007
    Posts: 2,097

    philo426
    Member

    I saw this one at a local car show. [​IMG]
     
  18. rd martin
    Joined: Nov 14, 2006
    Posts: 2,463

    rd martin
    Member
    from indiana

    im working on a 48 crosley wagon body for my front engine dragster. hope to have it together in the near future.
     
  19. This panel wagon showed up at an area car show this summer, a really nicely turned out restoration. I'm a little surprised that aren't a few more of them around this part of the country. Think they were built down around Cincinatti as well as Marion, Indiana. But I'd guess that the winters around here were pretty hard on them.

    IMG_10193.JPG

    At a tractor and engine show a couple years ago they had a huge stationary engine on display. The thing ran a big generator or pumping station at one time. A V-12 I think, called a Hercules or a Goliath or an Atlas or a Mammoth or some similar name. They started this monster with a single car battery, attached to the starter on a Crosley engine. After the Crosley started there was a hand operated clucth which engaged it to turn over the big V-12. It probably took all 22 hp from the Crosley to spin it over too! :eek:
     
  20. barry wny
    Joined: Dec 31, 2009
    Posts: 451

    barry wny
    Member

    A local rocketship
     

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  21. redo32
    Joined: Jul 16, 2008
    Posts: 2,137

    redo32
    Member

    Here's a couple from Puyallup last year
     

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  22. lippy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2006
    Posts: 6,825

    lippy
    Member
    from Ks

    Thats a mean looking little F*&^$r.:D
     
  23. donut29
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 1,518

    donut29
    Member
    from canton MI


    Thats Elwoods car it still looks the same not sure when the last time they ran it was but Iv seen it make a few pretty hairy trips down the strip.
     
  24. skidsteer
    Joined: Mar 19, 2007
    Posts: 1,251

    skidsteer
    Member

    You could always take it to the salt ............


    [​IMG]
     
  25. no weight - go fast...
     

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  26. I've always liked these on rails with zoomies protruding from the front wheelwells! Downright NASTY!

    I really like isettajohn's b/w pic!
     
  27. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    I took some pics of this little jewel today. Its rough, but all at the same time, it has potential.
     
  28. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    Trying to post pics...........
     

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  29. racerdaddy1
    Joined: Dec 30, 2008
    Posts: 137

    racerdaddy1
    Member

    Perhaps a few more....
     

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