Repurposed Parts

Last Friday, my brother and I were walking through San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood on the way to the hardware store. With the sun shining and the sky blue, we zigged and zagged through rows of colorful old houses, mid-century apartments, and businesses big and small. We admired the peaked roofs, bay windows, and the intricacies of gingerbread trim. Out on Turk Street, we stopped to look at a 1950 Chevy, a 1958 Oldsmobile and even a late-’50s Coronet, all of which were parked in the wild.

Our walk followed a route I’ve taken dozens—if not hundreds—of times before. It’s always enjoyable, although I feel that I have a pretty good handle on what we may or may not see. However, when we made our way north towards Clement, I spotted something new to me.

Note the planter to the left.

It was a sink. Not just any sink, but a long, white washbasin filled with a smattering of succulents in signature San Francisco style. Some sprouted high while others spilled over the side. Then I looked beneath it. “Wait a second,” I said. “Those are rusty axle bells!”

Through the years, I’ve seen axle bells used for a wide range of secondary applications. Back in October, I bought a pair of ’32 Ford axle bell jack stands from a local San Francisco hot rodder. He used them while servicing his channeled, pink Deuce roadster in the mid-’50s. Ever since then, I’ve been on the lookout for smart uses.

Although I can’t say for sure, my guess is that the sink-turned-flowerbed was originally built sometime in the ’40s or ’50s. Was it a hot rodder’s project? Possibly so. I always enjoy finding old car parts being used in creative ways. What interesting examples have you seen?

—Joey Ukrop