Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of 14x6 chrome-reverse wheels for the Valiant off eBay. They were "pickup only" and the guy was only a couple of hours away, so today my friend Pete and I took a roadie to go fetch them. Pete wasn't real excited about it, because he's a Ford guy. I told him it looked like the guy had stuff from all different brands so there might be something for him there.
When we pulled into the yard, the first thing we saw was a '73 Firebird Formula 350 auto. There was no interior, but there wasn't any rust either. It was sitting on WS6 snowflake wheels. I swooned a bit, I've gotta be honest. Behind that was a '66 International TravelAll, again without a spot of rust. Pete started eyeballing that and a similar-condition '78 Bronco, then noticed the '79 Ford 2WD shortbox (almost) of his dreams near that. There's literally no rust on any of this stuff.
Dude introduced himself and we got after digging out my wheels. They're exactly as described and since I plan to blast and paint them anyhow, I wasn't concerned with the rust. I asked him what other kinds of Mopar treasures he might have lying around... "I guessed you had more so I brought extra cash." He smiled. I did not bring nearly enough cash.
"Most of the stuff in this building isn't for sale, but there's some parts in here anyhow." He opened the garage door and I beheld a '57 Belvedere convertible, still in its original paint... and totally rust-free. Nice interior, top was down so that's probably rough. "I told some guy 17 on this car, and he tried to offer me 15. Apparently he thought I meant hundred. Asked him what the hell was wrong with him." In front of that was a '70 'Cuda, E5 Rallye Red, 340/4-speed, black interior, with factory elastomeric bumpers. The next thing that jumped to the eye was the '69 Corvette convertible body literally on a shelf, up high. Perpendicular to the 'Cuda was a '70 Challenger convertible; it was originally a non-HP car but it has the entire drivetrain from a '71 'Cuda in it, 440 Six Pack and all. Next to that was a '70 'Cuda convertible, SubLime green. It was alongside a '67 Corvette convertible; "If I ever dig that thing out I'm putting a 4-speed in it." I wasn't asking much since this stuff wasn't for sale, so I didn't get too many details (and the cars are seriously buried) in parts. There was also a '67 Chevelle SS in there.
We were looking for "Plymouth Division" dog-dishes, so we went over to the building's addition. As he opened the door, he said, "I thought this would solve my space problems, but..." It was equally jammed with stuff. Parked inside the door was a'69 Cougar 351-4V auto. Perpendicular to that was a red '68 Bronco. "I've already turned down 25 [thousand] on that. Early Broncos are nuts." Between the two was a complete 409 engine, just lying there. I think that was the same area that held a '67 LeMans. The rafters were packed with parts. There was another Challenger in there, this one I believe a '71 but I couldn't even see it. The other thing I couldn't see, anywhere, was rust. I'd yet to encounter it anywhere except on the wheels I'd bought.
The search for the dog-dish hubcaps (we'd found one good one) turned into a full-blown tour. Another door, another treasure, variously: another E5 'Cuda (this one a '71), a '29 Model A, a '57 T-bird, another '67 Chevelle, a '39 Chevy. Still no rot. Everything buried in decades' worth of collected parts. We walked between two buildings, and finally I found rust! I call it "desert rust". It was '70 Barracuda with surface rust on the roof and tops of quarters, etc. A peek through the taillamp opening showed an incredible-condition trunk pan and extension. It was sitting next to a nice '67 Skylark. Both were missing parts but excellent projects; the fish was a factory Slant Six/console-shift car.
Next we walked around to the other end of that building, and between it and another. "That's actually a U.P. car," he said, indicating a slightly-rusted (comparatively speaking) '69 Mach 1 shell. It was sitting ahead of a rust-free early-'80s (solid axle) Toyota pickup, off one corner of which was a '67 Mustang fastback and the other another clean vintage Toyota truck.
It was really too much to all take in at once... my brain was overloaded so I can't remember everything I saw. I remember a completely-unfaded '70-'71 E-body Rallye cluster just sitting on something... maybe the hood of the red 'Cuda. Dude had not one, but two factory Comet drag-car fiberglass hoods... doesn't have a Comet. I even saw an NOS LH '71 'Cuda fender--yeah, with the gills--up on a shelf next to some other rust-free E-body sheetmetal. I've never seen that many original Torq-Thrust style wheels in one place, including swap meets.
From what I could gather, he left home around age 16 and bugged out to California. He lived out there for several years and made a lot of contacts and friends, including several scrapyard owners. As in, it was free. Anyhow, these guys call him up and tell him they have something old, so come and get it next time you're out here. That's how he got virtually all of this stuff; he's been running back and forth for decades with clean California cars.
He's just got so much cool stuff, and he's reasonably priced as well. Pete's all mental about that F150, and if he doesn't buy it another friend will so I'm sure I'll be back out there before too long. Hopefully I'll have a little more time (and maybe money) to burn. One reason is because, after showing me one he'd just got, he said there's "at least three or four more" 340s lying around somewhere, and he knows two of 'em are standard bore.
I did not take pictures. I didn't want him to think I didn't mean business or was just being a looky-loo. I bought a couple of additional parts from him and told him I'd be back. Next go-round, I'll bring the camera.
When we pulled into the yard, the first thing we saw was a '73 Firebird Formula 350 auto. There was no interior, but there wasn't any rust either. It was sitting on WS6 snowflake wheels. I swooned a bit, I've gotta be honest. Behind that was a '66 International TravelAll, again without a spot of rust. Pete started eyeballing that and a similar-condition '78 Bronco, then noticed the '79 Ford 2WD shortbox (almost) of his dreams near that. There's literally no rust on any of this stuff.
Dude introduced himself and we got after digging out my wheels. They're exactly as described and since I plan to blast and paint them anyhow, I wasn't concerned with the rust. I asked him what other kinds of Mopar treasures he might have lying around... "I guessed you had more so I brought extra cash." He smiled. I did not bring nearly enough cash.
"Most of the stuff in this building isn't for sale, but there's some parts in here anyhow." He opened the garage door and I beheld a '57 Belvedere convertible, still in its original paint... and totally rust-free. Nice interior, top was down so that's probably rough. "I told some guy 17 on this car, and he tried to offer me 15. Apparently he thought I meant hundred. Asked him what the hell was wrong with him." In front of that was a '70 'Cuda, E5 Rallye Red, 340/4-speed, black interior, with factory elastomeric bumpers. The next thing that jumped to the eye was the '69 Corvette convertible body literally on a shelf, up high. Perpendicular to the 'Cuda was a '70 Challenger convertible; it was originally a non-HP car but it has the entire drivetrain from a '71 'Cuda in it, 440 Six Pack and all. Next to that was a '70 'Cuda convertible, SubLime green. It was alongside a '67 Corvette convertible; "If I ever dig that thing out I'm putting a 4-speed in it." I wasn't asking much since this stuff wasn't for sale, so I didn't get too many details (and the cars are seriously buried) in parts. There was also a '67 Chevelle SS in there.
We were looking for "Plymouth Division" dog-dishes, so we went over to the building's addition. As he opened the door, he said, "I thought this would solve my space problems, but..." It was equally jammed with stuff. Parked inside the door was a'69 Cougar 351-4V auto. Perpendicular to that was a red '68 Bronco. "I've already turned down 25 [thousand] on that. Early Broncos are nuts." Between the two was a complete 409 engine, just lying there. I think that was the same area that held a '67 LeMans. The rafters were packed with parts. There was another Challenger in there, this one I believe a '71 but I couldn't even see it. The other thing I couldn't see, anywhere, was rust. I'd yet to encounter it anywhere except on the wheels I'd bought.
The search for the dog-dish hubcaps (we'd found one good one) turned into a full-blown tour. Another door, another treasure, variously: another E5 'Cuda (this one a '71), a '29 Model A, a '57 T-bird, another '67 Chevelle, a '39 Chevy. Still no rot. Everything buried in decades' worth of collected parts. We walked between two buildings, and finally I found rust! I call it "desert rust". It was '70 Barracuda with surface rust on the roof and tops of quarters, etc. A peek through the taillamp opening showed an incredible-condition trunk pan and extension. It was sitting next to a nice '67 Skylark. Both were missing parts but excellent projects; the fish was a factory Slant Six/console-shift car.
Next we walked around to the other end of that building, and between it and another. "That's actually a U.P. car," he said, indicating a slightly-rusted (comparatively speaking) '69 Mach 1 shell. It was sitting ahead of a rust-free early-'80s (solid axle) Toyota pickup, off one corner of which was a '67 Mustang fastback and the other another clean vintage Toyota truck.
It was really too much to all take in at once... my brain was overloaded so I can't remember everything I saw. I remember a completely-unfaded '70-'71 E-body Rallye cluster just sitting on something... maybe the hood of the red 'Cuda. Dude had not one, but two factory Comet drag-car fiberglass hoods... doesn't have a Comet. I even saw an NOS LH '71 'Cuda fender--yeah, with the gills--up on a shelf next to some other rust-free E-body sheetmetal. I've never seen that many original Torq-Thrust style wheels in one place, including swap meets.
From what I could gather, he left home around age 16 and bugged out to California. He lived out there for several years and made a lot of contacts and friends, including several scrapyard owners. As in, it was free. Anyhow, these guys call him up and tell him they have something old, so come and get it next time you're out here. That's how he got virtually all of this stuff; he's been running back and forth for decades with clean California cars.
He's just got so much cool stuff, and he's reasonably priced as well. Pete's all mental about that F150, and if he doesn't buy it another friend will so I'm sure I'll be back out there before too long. Hopefully I'll have a little more time (and maybe money) to burn. One reason is because, after showing me one he'd just got, he said there's "at least three or four more" 340s lying around somewhere, and he knows two of 'em are standard bore.
I did not take pictures. I didn't want him to think I didn't mean business or was just being a looky-loo. I bought a couple of additional parts from him and told him I'd be back. Next go-round, I'll bring the camera.
