1947 Crosley Recovery

[harleyboy]

Hey Guys, I'm going to post a little story of a recovery of a 47 Crosley from a barn that's leaning and unless cleaned out soon will probably fall and crush thousands of dollars worth of car history. An 83 year old lady that my wife and I help out has 15 to 20 50's and below cars and many, many, many parts. I passed a barn while mowing and saw a 47 Crosley sitting in it. The barn is leaning badly and I'm afraid it's going to fall soon. I asked her if she would like for me to try to get the car out and she said "sure". My brother-in-law and I spent 3 hours cleaning parts out of the way just to get a clear path to be able to pull it out. I had to drag several motors out of the front door. There are 15 or 20 sets of fender skirts (brand new) stacked on top of the car. Each one of them is for a different car. I have seen at least two brand new FOMOCO fenders and two new bumpers for a 65 Mustang all wrapped in the brown paper that they came in. A lot of Chevy BB gasket sets but haven't found the BB yet. If I find a 427 I'll probably die on the spot. There are boxes and boxes and boxes of new parts from 50 years ago. Wooden Model T wheels, fenders from ? I don't know. The floor has fallen in and the Crosley is leaning to the passengers side and pressing against a bare stud wall. I'm ready to pull on it on Monday. The lady's daughter is coming from Richmond for Christmas and said that she would like to see it pulled out. I'm going to ask about all the parts, but they have never sold anything yet. Her husband had an auto service here for 50 years and died about 3 years ago. There is so much stuff over there it's almost unbelieveable. I'll post these pics now and the rest when it comes out on Monday.

 

[harleyboy]

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[Gastrick]

I think I'd go crazy getting to snoop around in a place like that. What's in the crate marked "1929 Jalopy Junk Bench". The Crosley looks like a complete car. Ya know Tripper on here has a Crosley.

 

[24dodge]

you should make an offer on the lot , those fenders (in primer hanging up) look like International pickup rear fenders

 

[harleyboy]

Gastrick, I don't know what's in that box. My brother in law pulled it out and I meant to look in it but didn't.
24, I think I'll ask the daughter if I can clean the whole place out and try to market the stuff on ebay and split or take a %. She may give it all to me if I tear the barn down. I don't know if that would be a deal or not as it's a two story barn. I haven't even been upstairs yet, I'm afraid. She gave me the 50 Chevy truck that I'm working on but I didn't feel right about it so I'm working it off. This lady is so sharp she remembers everything. She has 8 Metropolitans and can tell you all the history on everyone of them. She drove on of them for as long as I can remember. They never came with auto trans so her husband put a Mazda motor and auto trans in one so she could drive after a crippling fall. I'm going to take pics of a 41 Caddy parts car that I may be able to get and rat rod it. The rear fenders are gone and it is rusty but I think with a chopped top it would be cool.

 

[Tripper]

Cute little c-dan!

Yeah... that's a cute little c-dan! Probably start right up! ; - > What is the last year is was licensed? I'd definitely b lookin' around for that BB!!!

BoB

 

[cycledog]

I believe I would wet myself if I came across something like that.

 

[Tripper]

VW fender!

Like any good parts cache... I see an old Vdub fender in there!!! ; - >

 

[hotrodron]

Great pics. I love hearing those stories and seein pics like that. I bet you're havin a ton of fun out there.

 

[donsrods]

Makes you wonder how many other places there are around the country just like this one. What's worse is the people never seem to want to sell any of it so it rots into the ground or the barn caves in on it.

My Son's have a good friend whose Dad died years ago, he owned a gas station/auto repair business. He had built a big extension on their existing home garage and filled it with tons and tons of stuff. Among that stuff are about 3 Mustangs from the mid 60's (one is a 64 1/2 convertible and one is a 65 fastback) but the crown jewel is a '32 five window coupe body that is standing up against one wall. It is mint, and has been in there since I can remember seeing it in the mid 80's. They refuse to talk about selling anything, especially the Deuce because the one Son "is going to build it one day." That Son had made no attempt to do zip with it in all these years and never will.

I have offered to buy it or the fastback Mustang, but they won't even discuss it. So eventually the garage will cave in and the scrap man will get it all probably.

Don

 

[harleyboy]

The last state inspection went dead in May 92. I raised the hood and looked at the motor and it looks good, small but good. Once I get it out I'll put it under a shelter at her house and then I can tinker with it. I'm sure it will run, most everything there will run right now. There is a perfect model A that I crank and drive around the block every 2 weeks. It's all original. I think I have a pic of it.

 

[Tripper]

Awesome A

HB,
Man... that A is awesome!!! Tankin' 'bout a barn find!!!

BoB

 

[harleyboy]

Vdub

Hey Tripper, He must have had a thing for Vdubs because there are about 6 doors and a bunch of Vdub fenders in this same barn. All kind of Vdub glass. I bet there are 6 or 8 rear fold out windows. I guess he thought they would be scarce one day. He never threw anything away and I'm glad.

 

[garvinzoom]

Very cool pictures. Looking forward to seeing the crosley in the light of day.

 

[Bonehead]

This is a great story, fun to follow along on this. I would bet there are thousands of old barns across the country with this kind of stuff in them. People not long ago did not throw anything out because it was too hard to come by getting things to just throw them out.

 

[BruceR&C]

I believe I would wet myself if I came across something like that.

I'm sure I would, too. If not worse !

 

[Todd]

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The red thing in the middle is part of an old wheel balancer. We had one at the Bear Alignment shop I worked at. The boss noticed it coming loose as a mechanic was using it, went to push the guys arms away and it came off -cut his middle finger clean off.

 

[harleyboy]

The Crosley is out!!!!!!!!!!

I had planned to try to pull the Crosley out before Christmas, but the owners daughter wanted to be here to see it come out. I planned to do it on Monday after Christmas but it rained all day that day. Today was the day!!! It was leaning against a wall that had come loose from the ceiling and the floor had fallen in on the pass side. My helper and Josh, my semi adopted son from Honduras picked up the rear end and moved it 3 feet to the left and then picked up the front end and moved it accordingly. We pumped up the tires and hooked it to my tractor. Josh sat in it and steered it out while I pulled. That thing came along without any problem at all. In the next few weeks I'm going to see if I can get it started. The motor turns freely so I know it will run.

 

[harleyboy]

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First bath in 16 years

 

[harleyboy]

Owners daughter

Owner

Harleyboy