Looking into getting a truck soon and think I'm going to go to kansas from so cal looking for a Body or Bodies. I think theres a lot in south dakota but it's all snowed in I think. Where do you guys find the best stuff? Or at least vaguely(no need to give up secrets).
no replies...wonder why not? One piece of advice, sometimes a state of total drug and alcohol-induced intoxication changes your luck and makes real eccentric people want to be your friend...maybe one will be that old widow with the 36 3 window. You did ask what state.
I know lots of people here who got their cars from Montana. It's hot and dry in the summer and they don't salt the roads like they do in the midwest. They're snowed in too, but just a thought
Take the northern route thru the plains/badland states. Still an amazing amount of prewar just begging. Do a search on the various finds from those states. I wish I lived closer. Just be prepared for a totally different enviroment than the coast, these people define "rural" There is still a lot in northern New England that has been off the road since before salt was used. But the large abundance of foliage (deep woods) makes it almost impossible for a stranger to find during a drive by.
Aren't all the rust free cars in SO-CAL???????? Some of the best old car shoppin to be found is Mossouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. I used to live in N.W. Missouri and you couldn't toss a rock with out hittin some sheetmetal. Most stuff is what I consider to be "normal" rust. Not perfect and not too shitty. I picked up my Model A body from a guy around Kansas City for 500 bucks eight years ago. You know what he gets for a decent sedan body these days? 500 bucks. It's out there. You just have to look for it. What are you looking for, anyway? -Abone.
One year, my brother and I went to speedweek from Omaha. We drove straight through, had a great time watching salt racers and left 2 days early when it got rained out. We used the extra return time taking the "blue hiways" back to Omaha, looking for V.T. [vintage tin}..in the deserts of Utah and Wyoming. We did pretty good, too! I scored the cab back for my 29 closed-cab pickup, found loose 40 ford front fenders, a good, solid 34-35 chevy 5 window coupe door on a body stuck in a creekbank and found several stashes of 30'40's cars and pickups sitting in the sagebrush. Stopped at an abandoned town where the one remaining resident on one side of the main street hated the only other remaining resident, who lived on the other side of the only street in the town....both guys had V.T. stashes on their respective side of town and got into a bidding war when asked about prices....it was funny as hell.
This is absolutely stupid but I'm going to toss it out there anyway. In 1993 somewhere off I-40 between Texas and California I saw a '20's Model A-looking body just sitting. Maybe 75 yards off the interstate in a wide open span of.... nothing. Surprised me that it was still there with all the traffic blowing by everyday. I guess, like me, everyone that ever noticed it was in too big of a hurry to stop.
nothing real specific but if you take a highway and other roads instead of the interestate-- if time alows-- youll find quite a bit. its amazing what you find when you take the dirt roads home instead of the highways, even if its a place your ben to and from a million times. nothing specific but hey its a tip thats preety universal "up here" lol later tim
I'd head up to wherever 29EHV8 lives in Canada, he's always selling something cool, there must be a huge market up there.
Yeah, we have 32s just sitting in every farm yard out here!!!! Ts and As are used as sandboxes for the kids. The tin is just not out here like it was before LBJ (Lady Bird Johnson). I doubt an outsider can just drive up to some guys ranch and get anywhere doing a cold call. The stuff we do drag in is sometimes a several month detective search to even find it. Add to that the old car dealers in this region as well as others that have been hauling shit out of the Midwest for severl years. Your best bet is if you have family in the Midwest. Ask them about any old cars they might know of. It will help you in your search.
I just got back from the 4-state area. There were tons of cars trucks etc lying around in NE oklahoma and SE Kansas. There's a '46 chev p/u in pittsburg, KS for sale. old cars were everywhere and alot looked to be in decent shape. Plus you can stop by the Starbird museum while you're there.
You said a mouthfull there Tim, I know where tons of shit is at (being a home delivery driver for the last 10 years) and there is still alot of shit here in Mo, BUT everyone has seen an "OLD CAR" sell for 30grand and they all think thier 49 dodge is worth just as much! Can you imagine what they want for thier 34 fords? I know of a 34-5 window that has been in the same garage the last 50 years but all I can do is wait for the estate auction and hope I`m the only one wanting it!!!!!
I buy about a car a year from dry Dallas - Oklahoma - Southern Colorado and bring it back to rusty, picked over Houston. Drive it for a while then sell it for a profit. I usually look for a '50 - '72 popular car or truck. Usually running, or complete and almost running.
Dont know what year/model truck you are looking for. I am assuminmg old tin. US,69 south from Vinita, Ok to the Texas/Ok line. Look both sides of the road. Jim
hey V8, long shot, but try this first: there's this guy up in Spokane, WA (closer to you than Kansas) he has tons of old shit. he calls his little operation 'International Friends' (whatever)... anyway, i looked into a '59 Lincoln a couple years back and that's how i found this guy. like stated above by several people, you have to do some research first as opposed to just 'happening' across a car and an owner willing to sell, so call this fella. his name is Rick, if he can't help you, ask for a referral of someone who can or who he thinks might be able to. IMHO, that's the key: networking. sounds gay, but beats the frustration that goes along with looking for an old piece somewhere and trying to acquire it. here's the numbers: 509.921.9475 or 509.892.1048 and definetly let me know how this all works out for you! later. Von Tred.
Its not so much the state, its the country. Take a trip to Mexico, There are tons of old cars there. The problem is getting them out of there. Dont laugh, this is the real deal. The smaller the town the better. I took a trip to the east side of baja and came home with lots of parts. Youre pretty close, go look. Youll be surprised. My secret is out, sort of. Anyway, if you dont find anything, you can still have a good time.
Thanks for the replies.WHAT WOULD I LIKE TO FIND? well I'd like to find an old 32 roadster that some grandma says her and her husband got from a friend who's husband owned it and built it in the fifties with.......anyways, just anything. Check this out. About 3 months ago I had some buick body pieces in the back of a buddies truck and some lady(late fifties)said cool, is that a model a?No its a buick....and so on and she said she'd seen an old roadster runnign around and I told her it was me and then she said, ya we got one of those in a barn(literally, a barn)but it has a convertable top and it is not a 29 like mine, IT WAS A 32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(her grandpas who had passed away)So, I tried not to piss my pants and told her I just sold my roadster and was looking for a 32 to restore to stock. I then answered her questions about the value like,I would ahve to see it,and it depends on how the body is, but I would give you a few grand. I gave her my number(not sure where she lives)but the bisnatch never called me. Anyways thats the kind of lady I want to run into somewhere. Just planning on taking a trip and asking lots of questions,just didn't know where.Sounds like going through the south to oklahoma kansa area is the way to go...
I'm looking forward to the day when Cuba is open to free trade with the US. None of the US-made cars there are newer than '59. Bet They'd trade a half-dozen shoebox Fords for my wife's 2-year-old Subaru...
not sure wayfarer... like i said, it's been a little while since i've spoken to him, but i know he had lincolns out the ass, and a few trucks. come to think of it, that's where i saw that mercury turnpike cruiser... hmmm, i just had an idea... tred.
give him a call wayfarer, and let me know how it turns out. if ya run into a dead end, lemme know. i'll help you out. tred.