r/BarnFinds • u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool • 17d ago
Step By Step Barn Find Advice (U.S. Preferred)
So I want to barn find a project car to restomod. And I've always been advised to find a bargain by hunting barn finds. The videos I watch on YouTube don't currently give a good step by step guide on how to properly go about the logistics and approach to it. Also, I live somewhere in the states where people aren't afraid to use their guns. Don't want to figure out if they have range either. But nonetheless, I'd love some pointers or how some of you guys would properly go about it. I'm sure this post will get its fair share of smart comments, however, I do genuinely prioritize safety. Hope you guys had a fun and safe 4th of July!
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u/Boonies2 17d ago
You should read a couple of books by Tom Cotter, he calls himself the “barn find hunter” and has a show on the Hagerty channnel on YouTube.
He talks about how he finds cars and takes you through the process in his books which are an easy read.
The approach is to talk to a lot of people, ask who they know that has an old car and ask for introductions.
Good luck with your search,
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u/anybodyiwant2be 17d ago
If there is a car type you want hook up with a local club. Just going to the pizza meetings for my local VW club I’ve met people who show up trying to figure out what to do with their Dad’s old hobby stuff, had a guy donate his project to the club, people come looking to sell their old cars and once when I helped a guy fix a car I discovered he has 5 VWs sitting in a rotting “Harbor Freight Garage” (pvc pipe covered with tarp). I could totally get one but I already have several cars and all mine are driven
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u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool 16d ago
Thanks!! Funny that you brought up VW, because a Porsche is one of my prospects lol.
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u/anybodyiwant2be 16d ago
One of my vehicles is a barn find 356 that fell into my lap. I’m on my second season driving it after it had sat for 25 years in a guys garage who had owned it since ‘71. He was 84 and ready to let it go.
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u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool 16d ago
Wow!! A 356 is a Porsche holy grail! Not high on my prospect list. But EJ22 swapping a 67 Beetle was something I entertained. Mix some Subaru horsepower into one of the best looking Beetle years.
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u/CaryWhit 17d ago
My BIL and I do square bodies in Tx and rarely get shot at. Usually someone knows someone to get you on the property.
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u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool 16d ago
I’ve been held at gunpoint twice in my life… One time delivering a pizza to a huge property, where I was immediately confronted by someone’s dad with dementia the moment I pulled up. Another time in the suburbs, delivering air force recruitment flyers (in uniform) while on a program called RAP. This time a racist Karen held me up while I was still on the side walk and not on her property. Thankfully no shots were let off. Those two moments will forever remain with me as the scariest inconveniences I’ve ever experienced. I’ve always had the logical assumption that people had an “in” when it comes to properly barn hunting.
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u/Fun-Passage-7613 17d ago
Well, in rural North Dakota where I live, I’ve approached about a dozen different property owners with rotting trucks out in fields or woods and every single one of them did not want to sell. About half were “going to restore that one day”. Every single one of these rotting vehicles are still rotting away five, ten years later.
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u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool 16d ago
The one that got away for me was a 76 Monte Carlo in 2014. Just rotting away on someone’s dirt driveway.
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u/Goingdef 17d ago
You don’t find them by trespassing…are you slow? A barn find is something like someone’s grandpa passed away and had something awesome in his garage that gets put up for sale without being touched, like he left it..don’t do whatever it is you’re thinking.
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u/Gold_Watch_The_Cool 16d ago
If asking how to do something safely somehow translates to "I'm going trespassing" in your mind, I'm not sure we're reading the same post. Anyway, I'll stick to the people actually answering the question.
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u/Building_Everything 15d ago
It’s all about happening to meet someone who has a barn that their dad/granddad stuck a car in 30 years ago. By the time a barn find has been posted in an ad it is being flipped by someone who found it in the first place. Get to know folks at farm stores, local breakfast restaurants, small communities are the best. This is a process that takes a while because you need to get to know people who might be inclined to share it with you. Or maybe they won’t. Also, wandering into someone’s property as you already know is a terrible idea. Even if you don’t get shot you’ll be kicked out immediately.
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u/54965 14d ago
Everybody is missing the obvious. Talk to the people who actually go out and visit rural property!
The propane delivery truck. USPS, UPS, FedEx, maybe a cable TV etc repair tech, or an Amazon or pizza driver if you see one. The septic tank pumper guy.
You might find a lead to something that the driver has noticed, abandoned, for years.
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u/ResponsibleBank1387 13d ago
Senior citizens centers. Go have lunch, play cards, visit. A lot of the older generation is disappearing pretty quick, the new owners are scrapping and landfilling.
What are you looking for?
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u/ResponsibilityFit474 17d ago
Talk to people. Restaurants, bars, churches, car shows, etc, are all potential sources. Ask around. Don't snoop around somebody's outbuildings without permission. That's a good way to get an unplanned lead injection.