Art & Inspiration did some cleaning in the shop today

Hello vtwhead, I'm the Jason who purchased 1934coupe's Olds engines/parts. I may be interested in the flywheel. Still deciding what trans to put behind the Olds. I'll send you a private message. Thanks!

Thanks to 1934coupe also. It was a pleasure meeting you and talking cars for a bit. Wish I could have stayed longer! Glad to help you clean up the shop a little bit. Now mine's a complete mess!

 

RV that bench is looking good! Just a little more. My problem would be that there would not be very many things to put in their home, and lots that do not have a home..... And the stuff from relations, or friends of relations!!! ARGG!! Feel like this the county dump! They don't want it, but to good to throw away!

 

Yes Grumpy, "things that do not have a home" is a real problem. In the shop I can just say it needs to go out to the barn, but once I get there, you stand there for a minute looking around thinking maybe over there...or on that pile, or in that box, ......makes your head spin until you "temporarily" put it in the wrong place, to make another mess for another day. This time I am scraping more than I have in the past, that should help

 

I hope the bench is brand new. If not, you have a sick mind! My last new bench looked like that for oh, about 2 hours. And that is a conservative estimate...

Nice looking small block! How about some details?

 

Dave G: That bench is in my woodshop and stays clean. The one I built for working on cars is dirty but uncluttered. I made them about 15 years ago so I can work around them 360 degrees when needed.
The motor is a restoration type of rebuild. The block and heads are 1966, 275HP. The intake and carb are 1962, 300HP. Photo is about 3 years old. Motor purrs like a kitten.

 

Hauled 2 more loads to the scrapyard this week. 10 more and it might start looking like there is room in the building.
Have started a new policy. If it isn't worth $20 it goes on the trailer. Hard to do, looking at a part and thinking someone could use this and throwing it out.

 

Nice! My project is getting a 327 with 462 heads when done. I'm getting so anxious...

 

I'm making great progress getting the garage neat, clean, and orderly. Hopefully I can find stuff now that it's almost done. I have my doubts...

 

My friends say I have issues!
I just can't work in a clutter.

 

I wish I could say that I'm the same. I could say it, but it's not true. I'm always cleaning up and making a new mess at the same time...

 

The most amazing thing happened today! I needed to do a little project in the vise. First, I did not have to shove the pile over just to find a flat spot for the beer can, then, All 3 tools I needed were put away where they are supposed to be, no searching around and wearing out my brain with the "where did I use it last" theory, and then, really amazing, when I set down a tool, I could just look down and pick it up!!! None of the usual "where's Waldo" looking at a pile of crap for the tool you just had in your hand one minute ago! F'n incredible !! god bless America, I get it now...but to keep it that way..........

 

Praise be, you've seen the light! Or at least the bench top and vise.

 

WOW! It works that well? I've got to get better at this cleaning 'stic'!

 

I read your reply reguarding a bubble balance machine you had balance instructions. I was wondering if you knew what kind of oil is used below the bubble head I have the same machine but I cannot find anything on how to use or setup the balancer. Thanks for your help and posting your balance instruction sheet. Rodney

 

Yep lol... the pile nest to the vice has as it's base a set of heads, with two more layers on top. Sheesh...

 

Thats getting a pretty steep slope angle there Gene ^^^^^. Whats the matter, you're little crane thing wont reach that far ?

 

My problem is that no matter how minor the project, pretty soon every tool I own is out.

 

I will look to see if there is anything on the instructions. But it looks like glycerin as used in liquid filled gauges.

 

Carguy; PM sent.

 

I think I spent too many hours cleaning VW sheet metal leaning over a carb acid tainted varsol tank as a teenager. Whenever I "organize" my shop, I'm guaranteed that in the next few days I'll need that oddball bracket that was originally chucked into that medium sized milk crate with the broken side and stashed under my workbench - but in my organizing frenzy I put that bracket 'someplace smart' with all the other similar oddball parts - and now I can't find just where that smart place is.

 

@steveu812 , aint that the truth. put the special part in such a special place that you never see it again. UNTIL YOU DO THE COMPLETE CLEAN UP ! Which is why I am here, to check in on my JHA progress. I last state that we would see a clean table next time...well, not so. I do however have about 1/4 done and wiped clean. You will see i still have the hardware to put away, but heck you need a clean space just to sort it all out. As you see, the special Ford pile near the vise, the nuts and bolts to be filed later scattered along the edge. My table was built about 30 years ago, was a nice smooth top. I had a fire in 2010, and the top is now all pockmarked. Not sure why, oil spots got hotter ? The bad news is, when I got my new roadster home there was no nut on the sector shaft. Not a problem I thought, I have about a dozen old ford column's and boxes, go look, and every one is missing the nut! Very early in this madness I spotted the special lock washer that goes with it, so, one would assume the nut is here in the mess too, but no luck so far. Its ok, not done yet, and the floor could yield many more treasures to come. How about that cutter tool ? came with some tooling I bought years ago, wood planer ? metal cutter? anyone need it? I'll be back

 

Impressive

 

I have a cluttered shed I would call it, to small for my ambitions and stuff but,,,
I clean up almost every night putting tools and bits away before I head inside,
I hate the idea of going out there the next day or evening and starting in a mess.

 

A strip of bricks, a strip of dirt, covered by a tree for shade out in the back yard. That's where it all happens.

 

Maybe a welding / fixture table would help with the small clutter collection. All of those 5/8 holes drilled on a 2" center pattern would have to make nuts and bolts difficult to collect on the table.

 

A couple good laughs while reading this thread!! Laughing because I'm in the same boat. Too much stuff and too little room.
My benches (3) all have little flat surfaces left on them. Shelving stacked and packed with all kinds of goodies I can't throw away. Engines, trannies (the automotive kind), rearends, frontends, all stuffed under the benches. SBC, early Ford, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac parts fill most voids in my two car garage. Sheet metal is in rafters of garage and in the shed I had to build to accommodate all this stuff. Every visitor or new friend has heard me say " the garage is a disaster, please be careful. I need to clean in here wicked bad!"
I will say that I always clean and put my tools away before I go into the house and I still know where everything is. It is fairly rare that I cannot find something I know I have. One exception is the piece of my shrinker/stretcher that fell of the bench into the abyss under said bench.

 

This picture makes me shake my head. It doesn't look like that now. But I have hope. No motivation, but hope. I want that workbench clean again. Gary

 

Sign on my shop wall reads “A Creative Mess is better than Tidy Idleness”. I’m sticking with that. And I know where everything is!

 

What needs scraping? And do you just use a putty knife for scraping or do you have special scraping tools?

 

sorry for my hillbilly english, Scrap, as in scrap iron. I got all the way across the bench tonight, perhaps finish tomorrow. Sorry if it keeps you awake tonight waiting for a picture !