Took a walk in the woods this afternoon

Know a guy logging some property he owns, has some rusty old cars on it. My son and I took a walk to check them out. One 34 Ford fordor sedan, four 39 Chevy sedans, couple 49ish Mercs, couple 49ish Buicks, a couple shoebox Fords and one Studebaker. Now here are some pictures.

 

Awesome.R.I.P. May they Rust In Peace.

 

If he is scrapping it haul every bit of it home.

 

What would it bring on the scales?

 

Not enough,better to save^^^^^.Some useable metal there.

 

There are no drive lines in the whole lot. Makes you wonder home that many car bodies end up in the middle of the woods, a bit of work just to put them there.

 

In my "hobby/business" I have pulled many cars from the wood. My observations are this. Cars were bought there to scrap out. Notice they are upside down. Flipped over to get frames,engines. Frames most likely used as hay carts,trailers, etc. Engines for resale, power equipment, etc. Bodies left as scrap. Notice the trees in photos. None older then 50 years. area was clear cut in 50's/60's. When put there, no trees (driven in?). Also many years ago, cars could not be scrapped unless burned first. So remove heavy metal (frame,tranny,engine) and leave light (body) metal. This gave scrappers clean steel to scrap.
I have found hundreds of old cars in the woods in upstate New York like this.

I JUST FOUND MY 3RD 1932 FORD IN THE WOOD IN THE PAST 5 YEARS.

I would like to write about how I have found so many cars and what others should look for. Anyone who would like to type it up for me? Typing is painful for me.
Example:
Met a guy who owned 60 acres on a gently rolling slope. One look at property and I said - There is an old homestead down there and are there any old cars there. I pointed to a location about 1000 feet from the road side. His jaw dropped. How'd you know that, you been on my land? Nope, number and type of trees clued me in. I could tell it had been a farm field ~ 60 years earlier. Grove of taller trees (hardwoods) surrounded by scrub and shorter (softwood) trees meant this. House was where hardwoods where(growing when house was up for shade). Softwoods grew in when field abandoned. Found a 32 BB as parked with keys in ignition, 37 chevy upside down and 36 fordor upside down. No drive lines in upside down cars. Found old hay wagon made from 37 frame. Also got a ton of nice bottles and crocks.

 

More info:
At old home sites you may find one or more 4 X 4 patches of dark earth east/south east of the foundation, usually 30 - 50 feet out. Dig in these patches. You may find some great stuff.
OH the patches are old out house locations. Down wind of house. People would dump cool old items in the sh#t hole !!!

 

Maybe the bottoms of the door are still good.

 

1936 fordor had perfect door skins from beltline down. frame decent. Sunk in sandy loam 6 inches. waterfall saved, top of dash rotted.

 

If you look at the fifth photo, the door bottoms are definitely usable !!

 

Good observations oldtinpusher. About 30 years ago, my cousin and I found an old home place exactly like that. The owner was a Buick fan, there were Buick's from a 1942 up to a 56 model scattered about the old grown up fields. None were savable, but we got many parts off of them. There was also a 36 Ford pickup cab I saved, as well as a 27 T Tudor that still had the running gear in it, and a late 40's CJ Jeep. Almost all the Buick's were rusted out hulks that had been stripped of engines and transmissions. By looking at the trees, you could tell where the fields had been, as well as the old home site. There was a 12" pine grown up between the bumper and frame of the 36 pickup. I thought I was going to have to cut it, but was able to twist the bumper bolts off easily.
I ended up selling or trading off everything I drug out of there.

 

I'd be all over that 33-34 stuff, every piece of it.

 

Find a few newer junkers to trade for them and save them for anything but scrap.
I don't ever remember them for sale new.

 

old stuff is all over the place hidden by Mother Nature

 

Oldtinpusher
Please share your stories, pics etc.
A new thread would be great.
Your typing will get less painful the more you type ( hopefully).

 

Every bit of that 34 would be in my Garage.

 

Your very brave!! Last time I walked in the woods I heard a Banjo playing!! Didn't know my fat arse could run that fast!! Pete

 

Lots of good parts on the 34.

 

Is any of that 34 really usable? What is there is so thin it folds up like aluminum foil.

 

Any pictures of the Mercs? The '34 would at least have door hinges and stuff like that which could be sold, and are valuable. Inner door skins also have some value, lots were cut out for stock cars and such.

 

Here is the best merc, the other was scattered by a log skidder. I talked to the guy, I can pull the 34 outta there if was of use to someone.

 

Looks like several parts are salvageable, get to work, nice find.

 

If you have time to mess with it, there's a lot of partial panels there that could be sold or traded to other guys doing cars. If you don't have the time, please pass it along, I would think someone local would pick them up.

 

That Merc appears to be a '50, I'd check it over real good, anything intact from those cars is valuable, especially the grille surround, even if it's super rough. Hood and trunk hinges, ect are also sought after, even if the sheetmetal is shot.

 

I'll take the door hinges from the 34...

 

The stainless trim , hinges , the studie hood for wall art .

 

I see at least $500 in chunks left on that '34. And as said, the '49-50 Merc grille surrounds are also gold, even if a little bent.

 

I'd haul that 34 dash home if anything and hang on the wall!