Buried Car

Ran into a buried '56 Chevy today, not sure what’s left of it, but I figure digging it up should prove interesting regardless.  I'm not sure how quickly it would rust underground, but it was used for some kind of "fence post" on the edge of a river.  I also have a couple shots of a '58 Chevy that remained submerged, with little sheet metal surviving below the water level.  I got permission to dig to my heart's content, so I'll probably dig out the driver's side door to satisfy my curiosity and dig on if much of it survived.




 

Wonder if those cars were flood survivors of some sort and just abandoned where they were at?  

I was assured they'd been abandoned for at least 30 years, and at some point he let somebody take the trim off the '56.  I didn't understand the story I was told about why they were on the river, but he claimed they'd somehow been used to fence in a watering area for pigs.  I also saw a frame with some coil springs in the river, so there might could have been several more used to settle the water.

I doubt it was in great condition if somebody just stripped it before it was completely buried, but pretty much every house down the road has old cars lying about and one even had a dozen Chevy's that had been used to fill a ditch that somebody eventually bought and hauled off.  So there had been plenty of other cars to choose from.  (I did see a solid 40's Dodge in another front yard along with quite a few "modern" cars.  I ought to get a picture next time...)

Based on the trees I'm definitely not getting anything beyond the cowl and the roots could have gone anywhere.  I'm wondering if the thicker metal teamed up with lead primer and paint could have preserved much of the body.  If there's enough left it would make for great practice in bodywork, but I guess that's a tad optimistic yet.  

Well have you dug it up yet.  
Professonal hi-performance engine builder

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