Stories from the past

[38 coupe]

My past isn't as long ago as many here. Twenty years ago I was in my early 20s making less than $10 an hour. I found a Mercury crank while I was walking the Rosanky swap meet. I couldn't afford a usable 4" crank, but what the heck ask the price. The seller says $100, but be warned someone turned the rod journals way down and drilled a lot of weight out of the counterweights to balance it. Sure enough, I got a 4 1/8 stroke crank for $100.

[Westernswede]

Good story Ron. Keep them coming. I should be near my 9 required posts by now.

[BoxCar Tom]

Back in the mid sixties there was a business in Oradell NJ known as Carl's Model A Junk Yard. I visited it once when a friend bought an original damage, rust free, complete, running, driving, 30 coupe for $125.00. There were a few complete running cars to choose from and many disassembled T's A's and a few 32's available for parts picking. Eventually the yard was closed and sold because the area was being developed. Years later I found that all of the salvageable cars and parts were relocated to a dairy barn in Nanuet NY. In order to get everything into the barn the complete cars were disassembled in a reverse assembly line. When the "cars" got to the back of the barn the bare frames were tilted up against the wall. I learned all this from the man who bought the “junk” from Carl. Unfortunately he was also forced to sell everything because the dairy farm was sold and the property was destined to become a shopping mall. The barn that he was renting was scheduled to be torn down and he had to remove everything. The clearance sale was advertised in the classifieds in the NY Times. After reading it for three weeks, i got curious and visited. I had no intention of buying anything but I ended up buying a pair of very good 32 Ford welled front fenders with complete side mount brackets for $12.00, a nice pair of usable bumpers with brackets and bolts for $6.00, a pair of 3W door handles and deck lid handle for $1.00. A week later the ad appeared again, this time with the new threat "EVERYTHING MUST GO". I went back, the seller knew I had a 32 so he walked around picking up random 32 parts and giving them to me at dirt cheep prices or free. The more I bought the more he gave me. I spent another $20.00. I remember a set of front fenders, a horn, a head light bar and a wiper motor and much more as I had trouble getting everything into my Corvair van. He was actually asking me to take any and all 32 parts as possible because he was desperate to empty the barn. He asked me if I wanted a 32 frame, front end, rear end, trans, engine? At the time I had no no place to keep all the stuff he offered for free. He was NOT kidding. He brought me outside to show me a huge hole dug along side the barn. He said that the barn and anything left inside would be plowed into the hole by the end of the week. We put a few more freebees in the van. Next week, no ad in the Times, so I went back for the third time to see if the frame was still available. The barn was gone and the bulldozers were packing the ground solid.

[19Fordy]

Reminds me of:
"Those were the days my friend. I thought they'd never end but, THEY DID."

[fordor41]

In about '69 we sold our GTO and bought a house and I needed a car. My brother-in-law said he had a car I could buy. '57 Ford wagon Y-block auto & running. I asked him how much and he said just what I paid for it. $5. Put it on the road and drove the h**l out if it.

[Newc]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

In the wrecking yard, there was a new '67 GTO, with 'cheater' slicks on it. Wow, I bought them and mounted them on my new '67 Mustang. Two months later I drove thru a puddle -spun out and wrecked that Mustang! Those slicks got two new muscle cars , by street running them. Newc