Quote Originally Posted by lamin8r
Some of those cars dont look too bad.I dont know what the rust problem is like in Arkansas,but back here in New Zealand some of those early bodies would be quite welcome,or should I say,would have been welcome a few years back.Because of the rust problem we have in parts of the country,anything left outside for a year or ten has usually rotted into the ground.There is a large yard in the middle of the North Island at a place called Horopito.Just about all the old iron has a healthy coat of moss and lichen covering it,and has started to settle into the ground.What you guys have up there still appears to be good rebuild material.Most of the truck cabs I have seen in pix are still better than what we have down here,as most of our trucks have been driven into the ground,but hard!!
Kiwis have always been known to do the impossible when rebuilding our cars,because they were always harder to get,therefore had to last as long as we could get them to,then,usually,got another rebuild. The flood gates opened some years back,with the news we were allowed to import almost what we wanted from USA,hence,there is a wave of old 50s and 60s cruisers coming in.Fact is,I think us Kiwis are getting lazy,we would rather find a good rust free body now, than rebuild a rusty example,plus,the powers that be in this country,are making it hard to bring in a car/truck with a bit of rust in it,they still havent figured it out,that us enthusiasts are willing to do the hard yards to make that car/truck roadworthy.When I see pix of those 30s 40s and 50s cars crouching among the trees,I wish that I had the time/space/money/another 50 odd years to do something about it.
Lamin8r
I know what you mean. If I'm not mistaken a certain Kiwi celeb Burt Munro, not only kept a 1920 Indian Scout Motorcycle alive and well, but went to the History books with a still Standing World Speed record at the Bonneville Salt flats!
T42 - There's a nice 48-50 Ford Panel truck there too! What a stash. They are probably worth the scrap metal price he wants. Some of these old characters will play with you. One day its all for sale the next well it 's price may have gone up!. Instead of the restorer collector, hot rodder approach, send in a friend who wants it all for scrap metal. Tell him the vehicles ave. weight and what iron is going for, say the hazardous fees asociated with the seats, tires etc, to low ball him, and say you'd take it all for say 50 bucks less, but it's not worth you time or gas to come back, wait until the last week of the month(before the next check comes in the mail), you'd be surprised how he might sell the same thing for half the price!
We have a few guys out here in the country that will literally let some beauties rot, before they'd sell for something like 30 years, then one day, it's like they are a different person, and they give the stuff away! Go figure!