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

Thankfully, my newer set of hearing aids. I don`t have to take them out when talking on the phone. I used to misplace them in the shop 2 to 3 times a week Now I just loose them(sometimes) when I fall asleep in the recliner.

 

Somewhere I have, or once did have, a heavily reworked early Cadillac intake. No one else around here would have any use for. Been searching for it on and off for 5 years.

 

That episode sounds familiar. When my boy was little he poured hands full of sand into the torque converter of my AOD. Yeah, the spanking was the only one I ever handed out. He's helped out in the garage for years, and always helps me keep track of my tools. That'll come in handy as he's in medical school now and just started a two-month rotation in general surgery. Rule #1 in that profession: Account for all your tools before you wrap it up for the day.

 

And shop rags too, or what ever fancy name the medico's call them.

 

Sorry to hear it, I have dealt with it before, Never easy...

Our version that I call it, "SOMETIMERS" Sometimes we remember, sometimes we don't We got alot going on so sometimes things don't matter enough to retain.

 

Right under the car when every tool is out of the tool box, a bolt falls and finds the portal to another dimension, never to be found again, even after all the cleanup is done. It mysteriously shows up a month later on top of the tool box...

 

Last summer cleaning my shop I found about ten dodge distributor caps, all new. Four Holley carbs have “appeared” in the last year, no idea where they came from. Hell I found a complete big block dodge I forgot I had.

 

My wife's Mother passed last week. We had an unseasonably warm weekend just past. We all went over to clean up the yard and straighten up the house some. My 10 year old Grandson was helping clean up some mud in the driveway. he went looking in the garage for a bucket or something to put the dirt in. My wife comes out with a square of rock salt that was in the bottom of a bucket he was going to use. She holds it up and asks me, "what the hell is this"? I take a look and low and behold it's (or it was) the original Quadrajet off my 442. I have been looking for it since I got out of the service in 1980! I knew I had put it on a shelf !! Mystery solved! Now it's in the trash! Joe

 

Hello,

We have come a long way from our 20 something days of boxes of parts and a counter in the small two car garage. When we started with the 327 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, there were boxes of parts ready to be installed or just hording for when it was necessary. (Two small outside mirrors, another tail light, nuts and bolts, broken hood latch, hood supports, etc.) What we thought was necessary parts for the sedan delivery somewhere down the line.

Another box held some interior parts, chrome handles, knobs, another glove box door, etc. So, it all came with the purchase and our scouring the local swap meets at the Long Beach Veteran’s Stadium, near LBCC. What we could not find and store away, we had access to a lot of local small shops that had N.O.S. stuff.

It was amazing that our small garage held those boxes, along with a couple of longboards and a modified 8 foot speed surfboard and repair stuff. But the topper was, another corner shelf held all of my darkroom equipment for developing (Stainless reels, bags, stainless developing cans and printing supplies.) and using the enlarger to make prints, etc. They were all covered in plastic sheets and an enlarger custom slip on cover.

The garage was a darkroom, sealed light tight, a hot rod workplace when necessary, and a surfboard repair location when it was needed. a lot of storage space and for two cars. But, stuff tended to disappear with multiple usage of the small two car garage.

Jnaki

As we moved to different houses in the next 30 years, those supplies went with us and got stashed on some shelves. At the time of our first real house, no one made nice cabinets and wooden shelves hanging on metal supports were the only thing available. So, what we could not put in boxes, were displayed on the shelves, dust and all.

Finally, we purchased a small bathroom cabinet to have a storage place for stuff that our toddler son could not get into and get hurt. We created a lock to keep prying hands of the inquisitive toddler out. But, the rest of the “stuff” was still on shelves higher than our toddler son could reach.

House after house, the home improvement places started carrying nicer pre made cabinets and that helped in hiding all of the exposed stuff. It was the start of getting organized and making the garage clean and like another room in the house.

Finally, the garage looked like another room of the house, drywall insulated walls, a built in fire suppression system, tall cabinets for big stuff, and a ton of counter space for car work and home projects. We even had a small TV, Stereo, and a treadmill in place. A three car garage does wonders for organization and of course, hoarding a lot of unused stuff. (We might need it another day… ha!)

So, here we are in the last house for the both of us. It is someplace we see everyday. My wife and I decided to get some cabinets to line the walls and two work counters. That lasted 10 years. So, in our last stage of cleaning up our act, one final garage makeover was done.

The thicker shelves (no sag) were put in place, better rolling drawers, shallow and several that are deep to keep the large tools, too. But, as we did work in place, we tended to leave something out on the counter and those things started to pile up. So, we, being neat and clean, have kept the projects going, but we have decided to store away any left overs to keep the garage clean and nice. Another finished room of our house.

Since our insurance company has deemed the garage as part of the built in structure, despite the sprinkler fire system installed, and the higher cost, we are happy with the end result of the functionality of the garage. Double sealed/insulated roll up door, heavy duty cabinet build, hidden water heater corner, a full epoxy coating on the floor, and a nice long counter that is our current final work place. In the summer, it is like an air conditioned room without the actual A/C. It is too bad these were not around 30 years ago… YRMV
minimalist, neutral colors, texture, no clutter and the feeling of Zen…

In the early stages of the pandemic when no one came into the house, social distancing and 6 plus feet away was the normal situations/locations. The heated garage was the location for my wife's sister's visits and a little color made is pleasurable as the situation dictated in 2020.
YRMV

 

Always a good idea to check. In 30+ years of doing surgery, I never left anything inside a patient, but I have cleaned up after some who did. When I was in vet school, we were taught to count everything before we closed an incision-instruments, suture needles,gauze sponges. One professor would ADD gauze sponges to your instrument tray when you were not looking. It can really freak you out as a student to end up with MORE things than you started with-but it trains you to be observant!

 

If you ever want to hide something from me, just put it in plain sight... right about eye level... I'll never find the son of a bitch!

 

Especially if it is in the refrigerator!

 

I'm lucky to have a great wife ,loves all I do .
Sometimes she will clean up the shop for me and takes me , a long time to find some stuff without going into the house to ask where she may have put it , Usually easier to find where she put stuff than when I put stuff away!!!