Art & Inspiration Metal files, files, the art of Zen

Hello,

Body work on old cars was not our thing. The worst body, which was a Model A coupe was relatively nice. The fenders were old looking, but they did not have any serious dings. The same for the body and doors. The trunk had a small dent, but that was the least of our worries. We wanted to modify it for a new SBC motor and a LaSalle transmission. That idea worked for a couple of weeks. Then, my brother sold it to a friend to supplement his purchase of a new 58 Impala.

The next old car we bought for a complete modification upgrade was a 1940 Willys Coupe. It had been sitting under a canvas tarp for over a year and the body, fenders, hood, trunk, doors and chrome accessories/bumpers were pristine. It looked like a used car with a turn the key and drive down the street situation. We had to tow it home, but within days, it was turn the key and get the motor running for future sale purposes.

When we did the complete take apart of the Willys Coupe, my brother was glad that minimal sanding would be necessary for the red primer coat for all surfaces. Any body work was unnecessary. So, the one thing my brother did not like doing was bodywork. So, he was a happy camper. We had both worked on fiberglass repair of surfboards and making a board or two. the process was totally fun, but the steps included shaping and molding the fiberglass cloth, shards, resin combo and that was not the best situations for such a fun sport. UGH!

Jnaki

Since we had a nice set of smoothing files and a couple of medium teeth files, those could be used for filing welding stuff. But, not for any unnecessary bodywork. We had enough of fiberglass shards flying all over the place (from finishing the steps in surfboard manufacturing) and on to creating an itchy situation.

Ever since then, the separate files small and large were in a separate silverware drawer separator, in its own section. That was a nice place for them. But over the many house/garage moves and purchasing more tools of all kinds, those files started to get missing or hard to find. So, we put them in their own shoebox for any quick access. They got used quite a lot and it was handy for to find them in their own shoebox. As our house/garage moves increased, so did our garage organization.

Now, the shoeboxes took a back seat and separate small plastic clear containers were used to keep the files separate and not under a bunch of stuff placed on top of them. As drawers go, I even tried to put the small files in their “Most used” section of a model car drawer. That got covered up with another round of stuff, so, finally those trusty files medium to small, round to triangular to flat all fit in a nice clear tall container that took up a corner of a deep drawer.

Now, anytime I want a file for any reason, I know where it is, as I have only 4 deep drawers for tools and stuff. Two of which are the big tools, whereas, the other deep drawers are used as a miscellaneous depository.

Inside of the special file container is the oldest file from 1959. It is a smooth tooth fine model and has been with us since our hot rod days. Also, a fairly small medium tooth shaper file from the surfboard days. It is old home week in that clear plastic container.

These days, it is filing small soldering blobs, smoothing custom jewelry, and custom body work with minimal effort on small die cast cars. The idea that for all of these years, it was one thing that was there waiting, but was not used as much, since both my brother and I did not like body work or repairs on any level.

Zen, the practice of seeking and achieving enlightenment. It applies to all forms of a lifestyle that you create for yourselves.