History Whatcha gonna do with that car old man?

I talk to wife about this stuff a lot . I have 50 years collection of name brand tools , 32 , 2 Harleys , and 3 OT cars and trucks , life time collection of guns , reloading supplies . I told her it’s all hers do as you wish , except I told her a few people that are to get nothing of mine ever .

 

When I'm done, it's done.

 

I plan on getting the goodie out of all my stuff. Won't be worth much so doesn't really matter.

 

Cars, parts, etc. It's all just stuff that I have an interest in but not so much for anyone else in the family. Probably will be a nightmare for any uneducated seller not knowing what the parts are or what the cars are worth. That's why I have been downsizing since the day I retired 22 years ago. It is a lot easier to accumulate than to sell. I no longer buy anything that I think I might use one day down the road. Haven't drug home any 'on deck' projects for several years. I was a notorious impulse buyer until I realized I couldn't possibly live long enough to complete the projects or make use of the parts.
My wife annexed my parts storage room and turned it into a greenhouse. I sold most of the parts stored there for much more than I had invested and that gave me the incentive to unload anything I hadn't earmarked for a current project.
There are lots of aging hotrodders out there and with a steady supply of cars and parts becoming available the cycle continues.

 

It’s funny, I’ll be 61 next month, and have things I know I’ll never use. My biggest issue with selling stuff is local flakes, and the hassle of spending a day off packing things up, shipping them and then tracking them till arrival.
I’m sure it’s the same for many, place a local ad, put something in it like “please only serious reply” etc, then the “I’ll be over on Saturday “ no show. Even after speaking on the phone.
Used to be pre internet, put an ad in the paper with your number, get a call. Rarely have a no show without a phone call early enough to not leave you hanging around and waiting.
Well, maybe it is time to just load the trailer and scrap stuff, sell a few easy things that bring enough $$ to kill the time to pack it and ship it.
Good thread to make folks think about stuff. It’s good to be reminded we won’t live forever.

 

Trying to clean out my stuff if possible, finish my truck, but my better half is going to inherit everything, including
the stuff I should have thrown out years ago. She is several years younger than I am so we have already put everything
in writing. She wants to kill me off, she gets to clean up the mess lol.

 

Like @Blues4U , the vintage guitars and amps will be the challenge. Leaving all of them to my daughter who will get fair prices. The cars will be easy as all the spare parts stuff will be gone, and family can sell the cars.

 

A thread I started 12 years ago..not quite as well received.
Where there's a Will..there's a | Page 2 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

Hello,

Growing up as little hot rod kids and then morphing into hot rod/drag racers we had some additional advantages over most of our friends during our school age days. We stayed interested in cars, motorcycles, surfing and modern age technology, which included computers, photographs and cars.


Our son was impressed with the old 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery we had when he was born. We showed him some photos later, when he could understand our old hot rod project time periods. But, his comment was “What did you do with it?” Well, we had to sell it to buy a less expensive house and pay off some accumulating bills. Since those rough times, we have been stable and provided a great environment for his growing up days. So, the old hot rod helped the family when we needed it the most.

He has seen various cool cars come and go in our garage. But when we asked him if he wanted a nice sedan with great looks and power for his first car, he looked at us like we were crazy. He said, no teenager wants a flashy/fast car for their own car to go to school. Ha! (tell that to some teenager in Long Beach, 62 years ago!!! ) Well, now the book was open for the future. Perhaps an old 1961 Mercury Comet with 15k miles? Nah… it was too old, despite the offer of new wheels and perhaps custom touches…

Jnaki

So, we knew what was ahead if we happened to hit the early soul train… He would sell all of the stuff out of our organized garage designs and put in his own. But, the basics are there from our choices. As far as an office, he has one built in to the three bedroom house. Small, but it functions well as any kind of home office.

Our current cars are paid for, so he probably would keep those and sell his own. (Reliablity and all with only 40k miles on them.) If we went ahead and bought another hot rod project, had it somewhat safe and road worthy, he would keep it to share with our granddaughter. Or, as he is not the hot rod build/mechanic, he might possibly sell it. They would both decide on that possibility.

Memories we all shared come from a long line of our family history and those he has kept up with the lineage. (Via written stories, computer digital hard drives for posterity, photos, artwork, journals of his life time and our granddaughter’s time with us…)

He and our granddaughter lead their own lives and will be fine for the future. Hopefully, that will be a long time away, as we are still happy, content, relaxed and lead a simple, low key, healthy life in So Cal.

 

Auctions have been the staple estate planning tool for farmers as long as I have been around. Hopefully my family will be in a place where they won’t have to rely on every last penny from my hobby to keep them going. I have outlived my favourite auctioneer, but that will likely be the go to for my survivors. My latest side hustle is vending at one flea market a year. It started with stuff I rescued from the dumpster from a couple of estates I helped clean up. You can really make someone’s day selling them a bargain on something you got for free. The complete cars and projects mostly have ownerships or titles, so hopefully they get the info right in the auction listing. I am glad my family endures my hobby and won’t be obligated to keep my things. If need be, take a picture for posterity and move the stuff on down the road. At our place you don’t have to like what I like- works for us, I think.

 

When my father in law passed he left a mess. Not a car guy but bank accounts, insurance policies and stuff like that were all unknown. At this time, I was talking it over with my father and I think he took the hint to get some info on paper so when the time comes. He did but we still had some questions that no one could answer, but it helped a lot. My parents had a trust/will set up but the trust laws had changed a lot over the years and we soon found out that some stuff had to be changed before he died. We got it done one day before that so all worked out. (this was never a fight as to who got what, it was about taxes and stuff like that)
I know I'm a little off topic here but I'm just saying that as you get older try to update stuff and leave as much info about our piles of stuff as you can, and do it while you still know what everything is and where it is. Someone said they have a list and update it each January, that is a great plan.
I have a son that is into old cars, son-in-law that is into old cars and two grandsons that like old cars also so the cars will go to good homes but I have to start putting the parts into groups that will go with each car. or at least put some I.D. on everything. Remember a little planning now will help your loved ones at some point.

 

LOL that's pretty funny.
Especially for this thread.

I'd like to start over, please.

The best to you all.

 

I got it taken care of where all my shit goes when my ticket gets punched. I just built a 30 x 40 x 12 pole barn on my son's property a half mile down the road from my place. All my stuff is now in a 30 x 36 shop, so he will have room to move the whole shebang to his place. I'm 72, but I ain't gettin' rid of anything yet. I'm still using it. My son will use it all.

 

Hello,

Don't worry about any of the stuff that will be left over. If your family has a living trust, then everything listed will automatically go to whoever is listed in order. If you want to be picky and list who gets what in a long line... so be it. It doesn't matter how many cars or stuff is listed, if is in a Trust, then the distribution goes fairly smoothly.

But, forget the standard will purchased at the local stores. That will looks good, tells everyone where stuff should go and seems legal. (even with a notary ID) But, a family Revocable Living Trust is the best for exactly where you want stuff to go and no one can challenge it.

And... the family left over stuff will not be sent to Probate in any state. That will cost you and your family as well as taking a long time doing paperwork. There is a short will form in the Revocable Living Trust, but, it is not "THE" number 1 legal paper involving your family and the heirs.

Jnaki

Just make sure you have a Revocable Living Trust and the stipulations are listed. (Hot rods included) Yes, it seems like a will, but wills seem to head to courts to get things done and distributed. Sometimes, without the Will, the whole family stuff just slides over to the wife and if she is gone, the rest of the family now has to figure out what is what. State Probate courts then take over.

Our friend had an extensive amount of stuff and including the big business company assets of the dad, the whole thing went to probate court and took three years to distribute. For some, it was a good thing, as people calmed down during the whole inane process. But, everything could have been finished within a month if a Revocable Living Trust had been in place.

Our dad had a will, but everything went to our mom. (it never went to probate.) When she was no longer with us, we had gotten a Revocable Living Trust to handle things from her stuff, we listed in order of importance and distribution. I was the executor and there was no one else to lay claim to the small remaining family stuff, it was a moot point. But, the trust is more powerful than just a will.

We have revised our own Revocable Living Trust and it is now set for distribution, if and when it is necessary. The sad thing is, the beneficiaries are listed, but we will never see the results in living color. It is insurance for the insurance for the family future... YRMV

 

A few years back, a local rodder passed away and he had a ton of stuff. His wife/family held a "hot rod yard sale". They contacted several local car clubs and had them spread the word to their members that on a certain weekend they were going to hold a yard sale/garage sale where friends and people with the hot rod persuasion were invited to come look for things they might want. I believe they had a pretty good turnout and moved a lot of the stuff for reasonable prices.

 

My wife and I have been building and repairing cars since I met her, in 1987. She is competent in all kinds of hot rod fab, also BMW & Porsche repair/maintenance.
She's not retired yet, (younger) but assures me that most of our 'projects' will be finished then, without ME 'in the way, slowing her down'!
Well, I never.
We have 3 grown daughters, and 6 grown sons, 3 of whom are serious gearheads.
More than enough for everybody, when wife Joey finishes whatever she wants...

 

Wife and I discuss this as well. She is younger and has the knowledge of what all this stuff is worth but at near 80 I have started downsizing my parts stash and other collectibles as well. Lots of 40 parts but kinda hard to let go as they are no longer available. The kids will get some items they want and help my wife get rid of the rest. I won't be here so no worries.

 

I'm 76 and sold my 61 F100 a year ago, still have the 63 Falcon and having a hard time deciding whether to sell it or not. Wife loves the car even though she can barely get in and out of it anymore due to mobility issues.

(I sold one convertible years ago without discussing it with her, probably best I let her decided when to sell this one )

No big pile of parts and no kids to worry about.

 

Had to laugh reflecting some 40 plus years back. Here’s a person my buddies and I ran into looking at a 57 Chevy Bel Air over the fence in an alley that pretty much matched the old man from the movie Christine except he was a biker and pushed his attitude about us looking over his fence real hard. We got so much lip from him but he would sell for a bull shit amount of money for back then.

 

I have collected “ stuff” for over sixty years! I have about 75 “ things” that move and three barns full of things that make things move. This was all planned out for my retirement! To have stuff to play with and also have stuff to sell, if I needed money. What I didn’t plan on was getting lazy after I retired! For the last ten years of my retirement I have actually accomplished very little in the car building area! I hang out with my friends , drink beer, go to races and travel! At 71 that takes most of my energy! Lol I started a few years ago to sell some of my higher dollar stuff, then my only son found out about it….he said he wanted those cars and trucks. So I didn’t sell anything! He will get it all……and he will watch it rust….like I did! The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, I guess!






Bones

 

I was 34 once and I wasn't worried about such things either. 44 years later and having to sort through deceased relative's belongings, I'm looking at the small collection of stuff I've accumulated and wondering what the hell to do with it all. The youngest son has all my woodworking stuff, the middle son isn't interested in any of the car stuff and the oldest has no idea of what any of it is worth and doesn't care as long as he gets it all (not going to happen). The two older girls and their kids don't care so that leaves the youngest daughter who's been my right hand since she came home to stay with us. She tries but doesn't really know which way the wrenches turn. Congratulations on being 34 but watch out, when you get to be 78, unless you're really careful, you're going to wonder where the time went and what did you do with it. Just saying.

 

Im sure. A few moves should keep my hoard light. I have the benefit of reading a lot of these stories and learning from them! Im gonna build a few, drive em and enjoy em. Not gonna get too crazy into hoarding. Buy and SELL, raise money to fumd what i enjoy doing. Build memories with my family

 

My mom did it right. She wanted my brother to get the house and the rest of us sorted out the rest. It was easy because she didn't hoard anything. With me, with no kids and a wife who doesn't know anything about this hobby, I'm really stuck without a solution.

 

My mom did it right. She wanted my brother to get the house and the rest of us sorted out the rest. It was easy because she didn't hoard anything. With me, with no kids and a wife who doesn't know anything about this hobby, I'm really stuck without a solution.

 

I resemble that remark

 

I have a pretty good idea where it's going, and I'm doing as much as I can with it!

 

People always ask
Where do the time go?
It goes into the past
And it don't go slow

 

I walk into my shop some days, look around and ask myself, " why the hell am I keeping that?".

Thru the yrs I've gotten rid of more stuff than I own now and kinda glad I did. Sure there are times I wish I still had some of it but I'd like to think that I have helped someone else move a little xloser to finishing their project.

The old saying you can't take it with you holds true and get even truer as l age. So I'd rather see something get used than sit on my shelf.

It's nice to see a car at a show or being driven and know some of the parts that were sitting on my shelf now have a new life, one of being used as it was originally intended.

Some of my stuff was rare and money wise definitely risen in price since I sold it but that's the game, my old 3 duece pontiac set up is on a old firebird show car, my original 67/68 camaro heavy 12 bolt with original 4 series posi unit is under a 67 show car etc so yeah I get a pay back every time I see them so that's good enough for me.

.

 

Was at a little family reunion a few weeks ago and was talking to my cousin Doug. We got talking about this subject, His brother Bob was a car and Harley nut just like him and myself. His brother was killed in a Motorcycle accident 20 years ago, His cars and bikes and tools had been sitting in the garage ever since, Doug said his sister in-law called awhile back and said she was thinking about selling the house because she is in her early 70s and not in good health, Doug said nobody has been in the garage in 20 years and everything has deteriorated into major projects, so he told her to take whatever offer she could get. Like he told me Bobby doesn't care anymore. So that's what she did and wishes she had done it 20 years ago when all his friends asked about them, now they are all in their 70's and in the same boat with their own stuff. As the next few years move on, more and more of these sales are coming up and prices will bottom out. I have been trying to minimize my collection, but the cost of going to swap meets and dealing with everybody not even taking time away from their phone to look. I figure my stuff is not worth worrying about. Larry