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That bad week with my 78 F-150 changed my mind about barn finds
I spent six months tracking down a '78 F-150 that was supposedly sitting in a barn near Des Moines. The guy sent me photos that looked solid, just surface rust on the cab corners. Got there at 8 AM last Saturday and the frame had a crack clean through near the rear spring hanger, plus the floors were Swiss cheese under some carpet he'd laid down. I walked away after driving six hours, but on the way home I stopped at a junkyard in Joliet and found a '77 with a good frame for $400. That cracked frame made me realize I'd rather start with a rotted body on a straight frame than the other way around. Has anyone else had a deal sour on them and found a better path because of it?
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skylerm5514d ago
Jumped right into a similar situation last year with a Chrysler that taught me the same lesson. @alice808 is right that barn finds can fool you but I've found the real trick is looking for stuff stored in dry climates even if the body looks rough. That Joliet junkyard deal proves the universe sometimes reroutes you to something better when you're too stubborn to see the cracks in the road. My buddy picked up a '78 frame from a salvage yard in Arizona for $300 and the only rust was on the exhaust hangers.
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