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Hot Rods So, where DOES stuff go in the garage?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by flynbrian48, Dec 2, 2021.

  1. flynbrian48
    Joined: Mar 10, 2008
    Posts: 8,220

    flynbrian48
    Member

    A7A29940-5EAD-4943-8A83-142392E991EC.jpeg Yesterday (my birthday, but that's not important right now) I was out in the garage working on the roadster. I wanted to take a break from prepping the body for primer (procrastinating) so I put the accessories that I'd painted black back on the little DeSoto hemi. The alternator, fan, pulleys, draft tube and so on. The alternator went on the original generator bracket with just slotting one of the holes, so I put the belt on, and then started looking for the adjustment strap, which I'd also rattle can painted black.

    Where was it? I'd had it in my hand the day before, I'm sure. It's not on the bench, not in one of the (many) boxes of parts. Not under the chassis on the lift, not in the body under sanding dust, not anywhere I could find.

    Finally in frustration after about half an hour of looking (in the same places half a dozen times), I put the brake pedal bracket and master cylinder on the frame, and the little push rod for the master evidently ran off with the generator strap. When I make new ones, of course I'll find them right in plain sight somewhere, along with a Phillips screwdriver, 1/2" box end and 10 MM socket...
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2021
    jnaki, R A Wrench, Butler 32 and 27 others like this.
  2. I only clean my garage and put away tools when I can't find something. It usually turns up after clearing away the mess.
     
  3. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,942

    squirrel
    Member

    I spent about 20 minutes looking for a camshaft last week, couldn't find it. Today, I was looking for some coilover spring, and there was the cam, on the shelf right where it belonged.

    But I have an excuse, my mom who has dementia is living with us now, so I've caught it from her.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2021
    deucemac, joel, Butler 32 and 42 others like this.
  4. lake_harley
    Joined: Jun 4, 2017
    Posts: 2,159

    lake_harley
    Member

    I can relate to looking for things that were JUST THERE!

    I spent 1000+ hours building an all wood ultralight airplane and I'm pretty sure 200 hours of that were looking for a screwdriver.

    Lynn
     

  5. flynbrian48
    Joined: Mar 10, 2008
    Posts: 8,220

    flynbrian48
    Member

    Hey! There's that tie rod end I was also looking for! :rolleyes:
     
    Stogy, dana barlow, Rickybop and 4 others like this.
  6. jim snow
    Joined: Feb 16, 2007
    Posts: 1,807

    jim snow
    Member

    I feel your pain. Happens to me all the time. Snowman ⛄️
     
    SlamIam, Stogy, dana barlow and 3 others like this.
  7. Glad it isn’t just me. :rolleyes:
     
    Butler 32, SlamIam, Stogy and 6 others like this.
  8. Jeff Norwell
    Joined: Aug 20, 2003
    Posts: 14,809

    Jeff Norwell
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    Ive been looking for a Pickle Fork for 8 months now....
     
    Stogy, 57 Fargo, dana barlow and 6 others like this.
  9. Gremlins hide in the shop, they are into cars after all, and they grab stuff and run off with it. Then they get together and laugh at us while we look for what they hid on us.
     
    Butler 32, Stogy, carpok and 5 others like this.
  10. Ebbsspeed
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 6,250

    Ebbsspeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    @flynbrian48 Good luck finding your parts! It seems like that happens to me a few times each week.

    About once a year I do a fairly thorough cleaning and arranging of the shop. Usually I end up with a box full of miscellaneous stuff that I just label "SORT" and stick it on a shelf along with the other boxes labelled "SORT". Two days ago I began to sort the stuff in the boxes. Holy crap, what is all this garbage that I thought I would need someday? I did end up with a few trays full of bolts, and only have about half the boxes sorted. 20211201_140716.jpg 20211201_140641.jpg 20211201_140632.jpg
     
  11. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    When I can't find something in the shop, it's usually because something else was laid on top of it.
     
    Stogy, Just Gary, seb fontana and 2 others like this.
  12. I hate buying a tool or part I know I have or have seen in the last month or two.
     
    Glitchy, SlamIam, Cosmo49 and 7 others like this.
  13. It happens to all of us Brian, I too will profess to being a procrastinator and at this moment in time my garage could pass for a bombed out scene in a war movie, minus the bodies.

    For the last two weeks I have searched unsuccessfully for one of the 3 quality tire gauges only to be skunked every time. HRP
     
    mgtstumpy, Stogy, dana barlow and 6 others like this.
  14. Rehpotsirhcj
    Joined: May 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,440

    Rehpotsirhcj
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. Northwest HAMBers

    I spent a ridiculous amount of time searching for a fuel pump pushrod. Months later I found I’d stupidly used it in a metal form. :)
    Anymore I use old amazon boxes and lots of ziplock bags to tag and store anything smaller than a bread box.
     
  15. What's worse is I needed a stock 37-41 axle to give to Nostalgia Sid to drop for me. Just 6 months prior we moved houses and I had been tripping over one of those axles for years, and had listed it for sale for like $25 many times, so I threw it away, that and a sway bar for the same axle. Of course I needed both right after they got tossed.

    So now I'm a hoarder and will never throw anything away!
     
  16. Pfffft.... old guys :rolleyes: I never lose anything! :D;) it's laying on the intake Brian, right there in the picture! :p
     
  17. oldsman41
    Joined: Jun 25, 2010
    Posts: 1,556

    oldsman41
    Member

    I tag and bag everything that I will reuse if painting parts they are in the paint room hanging up I get it when needed, so parts don’t walk away. Now that doesn’t mean I’m organized I still have 4 of every tool in the shop cause I keep on misplacing them.
     
  18. Rehpotsirhcj
    Joined: May 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,440

    Rehpotsirhcj
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. Northwest HAMBers

    Tape measures, f-ing tape measures. I just keep buying them.
     
  19. j hansen
    Joined: Dec 22, 2012
    Posts: 5,217

    j hansen
    Member

    Now that I have a smartphone (7 months) I take pics of everything I disassemble,,,,,,but was does it help when I can not find the parts.:(
     
    Rickybop and loudbang like this.
  20. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    When you have a lot of crap and little space. This is my battery filing cabinet. And one corner of the garage. IMG_20211017_0004.jpg IMG_20211018_0001.jpg
     
  21. williebill
    Joined: Mar 1, 2004
    Posts: 3,274

    williebill
    Member

    It's not losing tools for me....
    It's not remembering that I've already bought the same tool years ago, thinking I was about ready to need it.
    Original tool isn't lost, I just haven't seen it in a while. It's actually in the right place, but I don't remember.
    Lots of duplicates in my garage.
     
  22. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,916

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    If any of you guys find the seat belts out of my '67 Corvette or the box of pictures of my first Hot Rod, PM me. They're sure not in my shop any more.:(
     
  23. Yup, couldn't find a half-inch drive, 12-inch socket extension for an hour the other day. Looked four times at all the places I thought I might have left it, then looked one more time and it was exactly where I thought I'd left it, taunting me by saying, "I was here all along, dumbass!" I also misplaced a treasured (inherited from my grandad) Starritt one-inch micrometer for 10 months and found it in a drawer where I would never have looked for it.
    On the flip side, I've got a 10mm Snap-on combination wrench with someone's initials on it that I discovered after doing a transmission overhaul a decade ago. Don't know who it belongs to, as the initials aren't anyone I know. I also have a nice flat-jawed Vice-grips that was on a tie-rod end for years (??!!) and two days ago found a right-angle pick in the vent area/windshield wiper between the hood and windshield of a friend's car while we were talking in the parking lot of the parts store. He didn't want it, so I immediately put it to work after I got home, fishing around inside the transfer case drain hole to see if there were metal fragments. Bonus: no fragments, no glitter, just some really stinky black gear lube.
     
    williebill, Rickybop and loudbang like this.
  24. arkiehotrods
    Joined: Mar 9, 2006
    Posts: 6,803

    arkiehotrods
    Member

    It seems like every time I'm out in my shop, looking for that tool or part I "just set down a minute ago," I find something I did not remember I even owned: "Wow, I didn't know I had that!" It's like Christmas, every day!
     
  25. finn
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,280

    finn
    Member

    The humbling part of it all happens when, in a desperate moment, you ask your wife to help you find it.

    Invariably, she locates the errant object after looking for maybe five minutes max.

    She usually spends less time looking than it took to explain to her what she should be looking for.
     
  26. And why is it that every damn thing you drop rolls under the car??? When I walk in the shop I pick up 2 things and put them in my pocket... the blow valve and my telescopic magnet lol...
     
  27. oldiron 440
    Joined: Dec 12, 2018
    Posts: 3,301

    oldiron 440
    Member

    Years ago I was working on a project that needed to be gas welded so I was wearing a pair of goggles. About this time I got distracted by a customer for sometime. After the interruption I went back to my project but I couldn't find my goggles. I completely went through the shop looking for them, gave up and went on to something else. About an hour later I stopped to use the restroom and apond cleaning up I noticed the clown in the mirror had a pair of welding goggles on his forehead. Lol
     
  28. Wanderlust
    Joined: Oct 27, 2019
    Posts: 788

    Wanderlust

    I probably spend half my time looking for stuff I just had, drives me insane. On the bright side I get twice as much exercise as I would otherwise.
     
  29. I lost an entire T5 tranny for over a week. Found it in the safe place I stored it.
     
  30. I seemed to have omitted the fact that I bought a new tire gauge at the parts house last week and it had a magnet made to the back of the gauge, when I got home I checked the tire on my daughters car and Brenda's wagon, when I finish I walked over to my big roll around tool box and stuck the new gauge to the side of the top box, low and behold one of the missing ones was alread there.

    Now I have 4 and today I know where two of them are.:rolleyes: HRP
     
    lostone, Tim, 302GMC and 9 others like this.

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