Well since Dennis, pintoplumber, outed me (see his post A Sighting), I might as well come clean and go public. I took my 55 F350 on a road trip today from Lock Haven in North Central PA to Manheim in Lancaster county in southern PA.

Reason? On December 3rd I went to the closed junkyard near me where I've gotten parts in the past. There is a huge pile of hubcaps from the 50s to the early 80s.


The deceased owners daughter has been scrapping cars and cleaning it up. I told her two years ago I'd be interested in the hubcaps. So after calling used hubcap dealers around the state to see if there is a market my son and I went up to get a load on December 3rd. We loaded 400 plus hubcaps and that wasn't even half of the pile.

To make a long story short, they all backed out except two. A guy 2.5 hours away said he'd give me $500. Another guy said he hates to see old stuff get scrapped said he'd give me $250-350 depending on quality but I'd have to deliver. He says the old stuff doesn't sell. The first guy finally backed out so today I went to Manheim, 135 miles away and a 3 hour drive to recoup my money. If I scrapped them I'd lose money at .12 per pound. Here's the load.


I drove 278 miles round trip. I came home a different way and that was when Dennis saw me heading towards Hershey. The truck ran fine. I figured the hubcaps wieghed about 600lbs.
Early this morning on route 80 East.


Short cut over the mountain to stay off the interstate. It is rain, not snow, but very foggy. Thank goodness for Rainex!


I got off route 283 in Lancaster County to get gas. Instead of getting back on 283 I went through Mt. Joy to get to Manheim. So I drove through Stauffertown. Most of the older houses in this village were built by my Great grandfather, so it's named after him.


So all told after having 400 hubcaps on my truck for 6 weeks, making lots of phone calls and driving 6 hours today and paying for gas, I made about $90. The rest of the caps can stay in the junk yard! And she can scrap them. I am out of the used hubcap business.

 

Abe, you did your part to prolong American design and style from getting melted down and turned into disposable consumer goods in Asia.

And in 278 miles you probably made 500 people smile and admire your truck along the way.
A 90 dollar bonus.
Well done.
Tom

 

Hey Abe, I enjoyed reading about your adventure. The pictures added interest. I guess the dozen or so hubcaps I inherited from my Dad are worth about $1.44. Good to know.

Jim

 

Depends on the condi, year, make, and if they reproduce them. They will always be good for wall hangers or garage art.

 

Great experience Abe. Here's another hub cap story. I remember her store in Seattle, it was in an old church.

 

Abe, with the remaining caps still at the junk yard, you could be well on your way to becoming a Hubcap King--like Annie. I'd give you my caps. You could ease out of maintaining soccer fields, and into cap collecting. You have a truck--you like car shows--you live close to Hershey--It would be perfect! LOL.

Jim

 

Ha! No thanks. Look on eBay to see what old hubcaps bring. I had a really nice 1954 Pontiac hubcap on eBay. It sold for $12 plus $13 to ship to Texas. I do sell things at Ford Carlisle. I picked out the good Ford car and truck hubcaps to sell there. Last year at carlisle I ended up selling large hubcaps for $10 and small ones for $5. There's just not enough money in it.

 

A great story indeed....thanks for sharing abe......don't forget if you get down here again call me we can do lunch......I never met Dennis ,pinto plumber...I think he's closer to me...

 

Nice to see your truck gets used as intended. Neat story.

 

Great story. It's more about the adventure.
What is cruising speed on your F350?

 

I stayed off interstate 80 as much as possible. I was on it for 7 miles. But I could not avoid highways around Harrisburg. So on the highways I tried to keep it at 60mph, if my speedo is correct. I went 65 if I had to. Was that too many rpms? I don't know.

But this morning I really realized how much I had driven the old 239. I drove 3 hours down, one half hour to unload, then 3 hours back. The engine was off only while we unloaded. So basically it was a 6 hour trip. Not bad for the old truck. The heater and defroster worked good. My butt got a little tired on the standard cab seat, however!

 

Got any pictures of your fender mounted turning signal lamps? I know you posted some a while back, but I can't remember where to look.

 

Awesome Abe what an adventure! Sounds like you have a very reliable truck.

 

Yes, it is. I was very pleased with the way it ran. On the way down when I was on a 4 lane hi-way it seemed to be cutting out a bit when climbing a grade, like I couldn't keep my speed up to 60mph. When the road leveled off again it ran strong. Then I remembered I was hauling 600+lbs. That problem did not re-occur on the way home.

 

Here are some pics of the ones on my truck now. I will post more later.