Barn Find B.S. Or What ?

[RustyRatRod]

I think for the most part terms like "barn find" "mint" "rare" and so on are simply so people can sucker folks into paying more for something.

 

[Dako]

I wish that old garage between Mechanicsville and La Plata on RT 6 up in your area was still open. Those guys had hundreds and hundreds of old cars going back to the 1940s sitting in barns, garages, in the woods, in fields, and everywhere else you could stick them! Best of all they sold parts at great prices.

I was sorry to find out they closed down.

Passed it many times, but I never did stop there...then they had the building fire. 'Some' stuff is still there, but the times I have been by I haven't seen anybody. Suppose if I stopp and start snooping around someone will show up? hmmm... :eusa_think:

 

[RustyRatRod]

Suppose if I stopp and start snooping around someone will show up? hmmm... :eusa_think:

Hopefully not with a shotgun and rock salt.

 

[Cranky]

My 74 Roadrunner was a barn find. The directions I got from the owner were take 301 South to Hawthorne, make a right onto the four lane road, make a left onto a two lane road, make a right onto a dirt road, go to where you see two ruts in the grass and follow those around to a barn with a horse and a female pit bull outside. I got to the barn and there was the car... dirty, dented, dinged, covered in hay, grass, and dust, and pretty much in pieces from the cabin forward.

To answer one of your concerns, I went there with the full intention of buying that car, not to do a photoshoot. I didn't bring a camera as I had no need for one since I would be placing the old Mk I Mod 0 eyeballs on it. The owner agreed to put the car back into driving condition for me and I would be back in two weeks.

I came back two weeks later and the car was still a dinged up dirty mess but it was a dinged up dirty mess that was all in one piece. It was still dirty and nasty, but my focus at that time still wasn't doing a photoshoot, rather it was on wondering if A: the car was going to make it the 50 or so miles back to my house; and B, if I would get busted for making said trip with an illegal tag on the car.

I didn't take my first pictures of the car until it was sitting in my driveway back at casa de Bruzilla, and by then all the dust, dirt, leaves, and other crap had long been blown off by a lot of 70-80 MPH winds encountered while driving back up US 301. ;) I guess if I were a documentary film maker, or working on an article for a magazine, I would have been more focused on visually documenting each step of the process, but my focus was on getting the car and getting it back home.

Bought a 70 383 Cuda with a similar story. Difference was that it was wrecked but running but had a busted radiator. The badly crunched fender was removed but the rest of the mangled front end was still on it but I drove it off anyways with several milk jugs of water. 5 miles is about all it would go before having to add water and I had to go 25. It also had expired registration and after getting about 1/2 way home and looking at driving on roads with more traffic and more lights, I decided to call a wrecker to take it the rest of the way.

 

[Bruzilla]

Passed it many times, but I never did stop there...then they had the building fire. 'Some' stuff is still there, but the times I have been by I haven't seen anybody. Suppose if I stopp and start snooping around someone will show up? hmmm... :eusa_think:

You couldn't see the good stuff from the road, which was why I never paid much attention to the place. Then I was at Brandywine Auto Parts on the off chance they might have parts for a Torino I was working on, and a guy told me about that garage. I told him they've got nothing there, but he said to check it out. I went there, got out of the car, and went behind the buildings and there were just old cars for as far as you could see. After hearing "what's a Gran Torino?" everywhere else, when I asked for Gran Torino parts there the reply was "what year, body style, and engine size you looking for?"

There's a house on the other side of the road, just down from the garage buildings, where I was told the owners live. I don't know if that's still the case, but it might be worth checking out.

 

[Bruzilla]

Bought a 70 383 Cuda with a similar story. Difference was that it was wrecked but running but had a busted radiator. The badly crunched fender was removed but the rest of the mangled front end was still on it but I drove it off anyways with several milk jugs of water. 5 miles is about all it would go before having to add water and I had to go 25. It also had expired registration and after getting about 1/2 way home and looking at driving on roads with more traffic and more lights, I decided to call a wrecker to take it the rest of the way.

It's fun though isn't it? Mine was missing pretty much all the interior, and the driver's seat was a bucket out of an SUV that was so high my head was rubbing against the bare roof. The brakes were spongy, and worst of all the guy said the gas gauge only works sometimes and he didn't know how much gas was in there. The nearest station was about 10 miles or so away, so the pucker factor was a bit high until we got to the station.

 

[Bruzilla]

I think for the most part terms like "barn find" "mint" "rare" and so on are simply so people can sucker folks into paying more for something.

Could be, but they are out there. My father-in-law has a barn/garage on his property and next to the tractors and yard gear is a great 1966 Mustang drop top with leather pony interior and maroon metallic paint that was fully restored in 1990 and has been sitting under piles of rags, old window treatments, and junk ever since. He also has a 1931 Ford delivery truck sitting in there that is filthy but in excellent physical and mechanical condition. You could clean up either one and feel fine taking them right to a show.

 

[Hemi Rebel]

"non-the-less, finding that 6,000 mile original LO23 68 SS hemi dart covered in pigeon **** thats been hiding in a barn for the last 40 + years is one of my fantasies."
LOL!
There is a barracuda sitting in a barn near where I grew up in Westminster MD. You can see the *** end of it hanging out. Its a 67 or 68 notch back, covered in dust and bird droppings. The guy wont budge either. I don't get out that way much anymore, but when I do I always look over and sure enough there it is.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Could be, but they are out there. My father-in-law has a barn/garage on his property and next to the tractors and yard gear is a great 1966 Mustang drop top with leather pony interior and maroon metallic paint that was fully restored in 1990 and has been sitting under piles of rags, old window treatments, and junk ever since. He also has a 1931 Ford delivery truck sitting in there that is filthy but in excellent physical and mechanical condition. You could clean up either one and feel fine taking them right to a show.

Oh yeah. I wasn't sayin everybody used the terms like that.....they're just overused I think. You could classify the Chevelle I am working on as a barn find I reckon. Known the guy all my life that bought it new. 70 SS454 LS5 car. I've had it about a year and a half now. It sat in the same spot 27 years. Now I have it in pieces. Frame here, body there engine and trans my shop already built. Just got the frame back from the powder coater. Yeah, I never heard of anybody doin that, but that's what he wanted. I'll be assemblin the chassis soon I reckon.

 

[Bruzilla]

OMG! You have a Chevelle! My concept of reality is utterly destroyed! Next you'll be telling me you've got a couple 70 Camaros sitting around.

 

[WP29440SE]

Oh yeah. I wasn't sayin everybody used the terms like that.....they're just overused I think. You could classify the Chevelle I am working on as a barn find I reckon. Known the guy all my life that bought it new. 70 SS454 LS5 car. I've had it about a year and a half now. It sat in the same spot 27 years. Now I have it in pieces. Frame here, body there engine and trans my shop already built. Just got the frame back from the powder coater. Yeah, I never heard of anybody doin that, but that's what he wanted. I'll be assemblin the chassis soon I reckon.

are you building it for someone Rob , or did you trade the coronet for it LOL

 

[Benji]

FWIW here is my "barn" find. About 8 years ago my mother called me and asked me if I wanted a free car! I asked her if she knew what it was but she wasn't sure and thought my younger brother may know so I called him. He said he had not seen the car since sometime in the 1980s but thought it was a Cutlass. The car was in a basement garage next door to my mother's home. The owner had died and his widow was in a nursing home with Alzheimers, they had no children and the taxes had not been paid on the old place for several years so the sheriff held a tax sale and mom bought the place for the back taxes! I drove up there and met my brother at the house bolt cutters in hand. The former owner had double padlocked the garage door shut around 1985 and it had not been opened since. Inside was a 1971 442 with 71000 miles in pretty good shape. I got a wrecker to haul it to my house!

Ben

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'd call my '68 Hemi Charger a garage find. While the freshly painted body was stored in a plastic bubble for 8 years, the rest of the parts were out in the open and have a thick layer of nasty brown dust on top.

 

[roadrunnerman]

How long can i keep my cars in storage before i can classify them as barn finds?

 

[MoparMikey]

My buddy's 1969 Charger 500 has been sitting in a barn for 29 years and the dust is about 1/8th of an inch thick on it. The dust is very fine and sticks to everything. If the car was stored outdoors there wouldn't be any dust as the rain would keep it from collecting. The Charger below has only 30,500 miles, has virtually no rust except for a little behind the rear tires and is a "real" barn find! :icon_mrgreen:

Ben

Learn me, I thought all 69 Chargers had hide away headlights/grill

 

[RustyRatRod]

Alright. The whole story for the Chevelle cracks. lol I've been a member of a small Methodist church ALL my life. Grandparents started goin there in 1947. Mama and Daddy were married there in 51 in the old building before it burned. My Aunt and Uncle were married there in 69. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt I've worn the same choir robe as Daddy did at one time or another. Gotta lotta history there.

Anyway, my friend, David, bought the car NEW in 1970 from Dunlap Chevrolet in Macon, Georgia. I remember the car WELL rumbling through the parking lot at church. When I worked at the burger king when I was in the 10th grade, I had a 73 340 Rallye Charger. All original and stock. Numbers matching car. David was active duty Army (a drill Sergeant) and was always gone. So his dad, Gene (we called him mean Gene) would always come through the drive through talkin smack through the drive through how he wanted some of that "piece of ****" Dodge in the parking lot. lol He was a cool old guy. I miss him a lot.

Anyway, me and all my high school friends used to ride by the house and I'd brag about knowing the guy who owned it, blah blah blah and of course they never believed me. So, one day I got tired of it and whooped in the driveway. This was probably about 1981. We all got out and I knocked on the door and asked mean Gene to fire up the Chevelle. He walked out, opened the door, stuck his right foot in mashed the gas to set the choke and busted it off. It instantly sucked the cowl induction door shut and sounded nasty. I actually laid 8K cash on the hood about a year later and old Gene just laughed at me.

We all always drooled over that car because it was just badass. Chevy or not. So, about a year and a half ago, David comes up to me in church and says "So when are you comin to get the car? I'm ready to do it." So that's where we are now. Had it towed out here. Motor locked up. I pulled it all out, built the turbo 400, sat it under the work bench. Got the engine apart had all the machine work done. Since he'll never sell the car, he decided to build it like he wanted it. So I put a Comp 282 hydraulic roller in it with the stock 10.25:1 compression, Edelbrock RPM intake don't know which carb yet and a nice set of headers. Got it off the frame now. It's sittin on the ground in front of the body freshly powder coated. Got all the suspension parts at the shop fixin to bust all the bushings out so they can go in for powder coating next. I think I am going to completely assemble the whole chassis and drive train then roll it back under the car.

Kinda funny. I always pined for that car for a long time. Now I get to do the restoration on it. It's slow going because I'm disabled now and am getting help. My good friend Bobby Goddard will be doing the body and paint work. Never fear. He has probably the damed best General Lee Charger you ever saw. Even has John Schnieder's signature on the dash. lol

SO, that's the Chevelle story. I feel pretty honored to even be working on it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Here's the car about a week after we had it towed out. My son cleaned the hell out of it. That paint is real close to 30 years old. He had it repainted and then basically it sat for 27 years, because his parents health was failing. Thank goodness he had a carport.

 

[Ron 73]

Nice looking 70 Rusty!

 

[70RR]

Barn Find

I love Mopars, but I like all cars of the late 60's to early 70's era and that SS is nice ..The color combo is Great...Does a Barn find get any better than that.?..Looks almost new in that photo...
:sunny:

had it towed out. My son cleaned the hell out of it. That paint is real close to 30 years old. He had it repainted and then basically it sat for 27 years, because his parents health was failing. Thank goodness he had a carport.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Benji]

Learn me, I thought all 69 Chargers had hide away headlights/grill

All but the Charger 500's (and obviously the Daytonas.) The 500's had (IMHO ugly) Coronet grilles and the sloped back glass (which I actually like.) Seems the hideaway headlamp type of grill created a wind dam which slowed the car down and the set back rear glass that Chrysler stole from the 1966-67 GTO created problems with the wind as it slipped through the air, so they "corrected" them. It was probably the last time Chrysler stole an idea from GM. They should have known better.

Ben