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MrEarl's Barnfind Adventure


MrEarl

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OK, where was I? We had loaded up the 38 and Ken had decided to take the '40 home with him (and I was wondering "why did I just do that" Answer " Because he is such a nice guy and appreciates the 1940 big bodies so"  So I bring the '38 slant back home to Buick Sales and Service Garage and back her up to her stall. IMG_3880.JPGIMG_3881.JPGIMG_3887.JPGIMG_3882.JPGIMG_3884.JPG

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It's always great seeing such fantastic cars being cared for again.  Someone cared for them for a while, let them get a little dusty and dirty, and now someone else gets to shine them up (you know you want to clean them all!)  for some more fun and enjoyment!  What a neat find!  

Edited by 39BuickEight (see edit history)
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And then it was time to go back after the '53 Special and the '54 Century. My good friend Brad (Brad54 here on the forum some time back) met me there and we loaded these two up. I was beginning to gain a real respect for Mr Gilmer's selection of these old Buicks back in the late 70's to mid 80's as each one of them had a couple of things in common. They were all solid and had as best I could tell No Rust. They were all from the North East Georgia/Toccoa area and most had been purchased right there in Toccoa from Tabor Buick Company. Most were purchased from families and friends including mostly little old ladies.

 

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And then there was the '53 Super that resided in a field the last 20 or so years. It had at one time proudly served as the Tugalo Gas Company company car. First as a prestigious executive car driving around the three states where the gas company had dealerships. Later it became a "service truck" transporting tools and parts to maintain the fleet of propane gas trucks of the company. This car has probably one of the cleanest 322 engines to be found in a '53 Super as it was ran on propane gas. As Toms dad Ed, as well Tom and Ray themselves were airplane pilots, I was also told that all the gas in all of the old cars was aviation fuel and could possibly still be good as it contained no alcohol to evaporate. We will see. Ray and I literally pulled this old gal out of a huge briar patch with one of the companies still running 70's Ford crane trucks which is still used to lift and load propane tanks.  The tires would no inflate so had to bring some from home to put on it in order to load and haul. This one went to my parts car pasture. The dash, banjo style steering wheel, some of the glass and chrome, window visors and the 322 with the one year only style plug covers, water and exhaust manifolds and a few other unique parts definitely made it worth bringing home. IMG_3945.JPGIMG_3953.JPGIMG_3960.JPG

 

Note the propane gas convertor to the right of the carburetor

 

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And the aviation type tires found on this '53, I also saw quite a few more mounted on 30's/40's wheels. And they appear to be RECAPS!!!   What the ?

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2 hours ago, Kosage Chavis said:

The garage is looking awesome since the time my family and I visited Mr Lamar.  Congrats on the huge find of all those Buicks too.  

 

Kosage, thanks for the compliment on the garage and the congrats on my good fortune. 

1 hour ago, 39BuickEight said:

It's always great seeing such fantastic cars being cared for again.  Someone cared for them for a while, let them get a little dusty and dirty, and now someone else gets to shine them up (you know you want to clean them all!)  for some more fun and enjoyment!  What a neat find!  

Billy, Ed Gilmer, the founder of the Tugalo Gas Company loved working on and preserving all these old Buicks. Whenever anyone in town had a Buick they no longer wanted or if someone died and left their Buick, if it was solid and of relative low miles, he would buy it, pull it into his shop, put new tires on it and in some instances paint it. I have not seen any rust through on anything yet. While yes I would love to see them all cleaned and spiffed up, I am still undecided as to what extent I am going to get into cleaning and getting them roadworthy though. 

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"Mr. Earl",you are really making me drool over that '38 ! Wish I was a little closer,it looks like you could use some help,my specialty has always been cleaning up cars to bring them back.What a great find,things that are what my dreams are made of.Check out my LeSabre in profile about me section,she looked like your dusty collection when I brought her home.Just saying,she could go with "Helen" if you decide.

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On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 2:20 PM, MrEarl said:

 

Would love to Dave but lots to consider. My new garage plans didn't take a long nose 38 into consideration. So we all know what that means don't we. :(

 

I'll bring my tool belt and we'll add a shed on the back side to accommodate the nose of that '38.

See you very soon.

Grasshopper

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On 3/29/2017 at 2:52 PM, avgwarhawk said:

 

That is really something!   The 53 is very unique in the entire bunch!  

 

It is a cool car, and a shame it sat out so long. They said it was stored in a barn up until the barn had to be torn down.

 

23 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

The '63 gives me flashbacks of my first car.  A '63 beige Special station wagon with a/c and the small aluminum V8.

 

Flashbacks? ... I can make it happen for real for ya Larry.:)

 

22 hours ago, FLYER15015 said:

 

I'll bring my tool belt and we'll add a shed on the back side to accommodate the nose of that '38.

See you very soon.

Grasshopper

 

Me thinks I have made accommodations Grasshopper. But bring your tool belt anyway, there is electrical work to do

 

22 hours ago, GARY F said:

Mr earl, Congratz on your find. everyones dream. any pics of the Electra?

 

Thanks Gary, it has indeed been like a dream. Electra pics coming shortly

21 minutes ago, 1967 - 1997 Riviera said:

That 1940 looks a lot like a 1941 Chevrolet owned by my Father's maternal aunt, and her husband, until the day she passed away in the late 1960s. (Don't know what happened to the car.)

 

Does resemble a Chevy a bit doesn't it. In fact I have trouble distinguishing the differences between most of the makes prior to the 40's.

 

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50 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

 

 

Does resemble a Chevy a bit doesn't it. In fact I have trouble distinguishing the differences between most of the makes prior to the 40's.

 

 

Grin. That'll change soon now that you have joined the ranks of pre-war Buick owners. 

 

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The last time I hauled anything bigger than a '54 Roadmaster on my little trailer was when I went after a '76 Buick Estate wagon down in Mobile, Alabama. That trip left a permanent crease in the drivers side seat bottom and I swore I would never do anything that stupid again. Sooo, I decided to enlist the help of my friend Ken and his super nice long aluminum car trailer that had just a few days prior hauled the '40 Super out of the warehouse and home with him. So I loaded up the little Special on my old trailer.

 

This little Special only has around 43,000 miles and the nicest interior you ever seen. (except for the headliner which has come unsewn.

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Me, trying to stretch my trailer in hopes that maybe the LeSabre will fit. Din't work.

 

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Then we loaded up the '63 Lesabre. This big girl only has 49,000 miles and like the Special the interior is awesome. Absolutely love the color too. I think it is called Willow Mist? Like new hubcaps are in the trunk. 

 

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Dropped off the little Special at the house and headed back with Ken for the '63 Electra 225. Got her loaded, stopped by M&J Country cooking for Friday night fish dinner and to flirt with the waitresses then headed home. It's funny, every time I've been in the restaurant I've been a dusty, dirty, greasy mess. If I ever go back in there cleaned up, they probably won't even recognize me. LOL 

 

This poor girl had it rough before she got stored away. It belonged to a lady and had had an engine fire. Ed bought it from her as the interior was pretty nice and the car is solid. While they were working on getting the engine back going, it locked down on them. They bought another 401 Wildcat engine with transmission for it but never got put in before Ed passed away. Sweet 4 door hard top with potential though.

 

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I love the colour of the LeSabre. That Special would be a great car to get young folks into the hobby...or for someone who likes driving an old Buick but wants to get better fuel economy. 

 

My youngest wants a car, but I don't think that is what he's after. Besides, he's broke and I'm pretty much out of space until I can move some pace cars to the old shop. 

 

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More awesome pics. You have been blessed my friend. No adventure like this would be complete without a good reliable friendly place to eat like M&J Country restaurant. How about some pics of the restaurant and maybe the waitresses to complete the image of your adventures?

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On 3/30/2017 at 4:04 PM, MrEarl said:

Does resemble a Chevy a bit doesn't it. In fact I have trouble distinguishing the differences between most of the makes prior to the 40's.

 

 From afar, the '40 Chevy grill joins in the center, the '40 Buick grill has a separation of about 3-inches.  Both '41 Chevy and Buick grills join in the center, but the Chevy has a horizontal chrome feature above the grill.

'40 Chevy Chevy grill.jpg  '40 Buick buick grill.jpg

'41 Chevy 41 chevy grill.jpg '41 Buick 41 buick grill.jpg

 

Edited by kgreen
spelling of course! (see edit history)
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So everything is home and put away for the time being. Thanks again to Dandy Dave for his professional help in unloading the two engines. Made it so much easier and safer too!!!

The back yard of the Buick Sales and Service Garage is beginning to look like a mid 60's Buick dealer used car lot. I am actually getting worried that the county zoning or tax folks are going to be paying me a visit.

 

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and thankfully I never tore down the old goat sheds, knew they would come in handy for storing something some day. Like a couple of spare '38 doors and fenders, 2 "53 doors, a spare '38 rear end and front chassis. Oh and a 55 Buick AC evaporator box. (there's more 55 AC parts in a couple of the other cars trunks)

 

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and for easy access to unload, unloaded a spare '38 straight eight and the 401 nailhead to replace the seized one in the 62 Electra in back of the Old Buick Barn.

 

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and a sweet little water can that didn't have Buick on it but Tom threw it in too.

 

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So you noticed ehh Chris? Good golly is right,  it's turned into a full time job. Looks like I may need to spend all my profits to hire a grounds keeper to keep up with maintaining Buick Gardens as Rita is beginning to get on my case that the grass hasn't been mowed yet this season. and the pine straw spread. and the annual chain saw day has passed and no chain sawing done, and as a matter of fact half of last years leaves are still in the patio. But so what, I'd rather be playing with Buicks.

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5 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

So you noticed ehh Chris? Good golly is right,  it's turned into a full time job. Looks like I may need to spend all my profits to hire a grounds keeper to keep up with maintaining Buick Gardens as Rita is beginning to get on my case that the grass hasn't been mowed yet this season. and the pine straw spread. and the annual chain saw day has passed and no chain sawing done, and as a matter of fact half of last years leaves are still in the patio. But so what, I'd rather be playing with Buicks.

 

 

I know the feeling!!!!   I use the "honey do list" to wipe the oil dipstick clean before replacing back in the block.  That's when the trouble started. :D

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and then we get a weather report for Monday and Wednesday of "Strong thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms."  LARGE HAIL,  now that could put a hurt on these three babies. I have a couple of covers ordered for them  but they haven't arrived yet. So after considering buying such things as carpet padding or moving blankets and cheap Walmart covers decided to rent some blankets from U-haul and bought a roll of saran wrap from Lowes. My sweet Reet helped me wrap them all up in the wind and rain. 

 

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and Elvis, well he just couldn't figure out what the heck was going on

 

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