Two Ammo Boxes -

If ya haven't read the "Two Ammo Boxes" post on the JJ you ought to. Sometimes having tools are just not enough to get you off of the side of the road! It's something I have overlooked in the past.

Anyway great list of items. I definately need to find the parts I might need for the just in case box. I have access to some room in the rear fender of my 57 wagon that I have been planning to create a couple of saddle bag style boxes in. They will defiantely be full of the necessities!

Thanks for the list Ryan! It got me thinking.

cody

 

what is cool is that I have always used ammo boxes for the tools. It is a great list just tweak to your car.

 

Some thoughts: Ignition and carb bits, hoses, belts, etc. can be the ones you replaced at tuneup if they are still basically functional.
If you have the parts, carb and distrib can just be complete units so you can change and go with little work by the road; particularly on Ryan's '42 distributor, that can even be timed in advance and changed completely in 30 seconds!
Think about your last tuneup, belt change, etc. Were the parts in stock at the East Nowhere NAPA or did you have to wait three days for them or even order from Obsolete Parts.com?? If basics are hard to get, you NEED to carry spares, new or used.
If you used odds and ends from various applications for your rod--you have a '68 Chevy headlight switch, you discovered a Datsun radiator hose fit from your Cad engine to your Ford radiator hose...write down application and if possible actual part numbers in a notebook!
On long trips, carry an engine gasket set flat under the seat if your engine is obsolete or weird.
Are there any odd tools needed? Does your jack actually fit and work? If your tires are odd...5:00-16 front and dirt track knobbies in back, say, and the requisite spares won't fit in your roadster...have a PLAN for use of something you can get on the road. This might be as simple as carrying a '38 Hudson to late Chevy wheel adaptor so you can buy a junk wheel and modern limp-home tire at a gas station to replace your widened Kelsey Divco Wide 7.
If you are worried about big stuff--LaSalle trans blowing up in Resume Speed Nevada, say...keep your spare at home accessible and labeled so that any wife/neighbor/friend stupid enough to get involved with your idiotic self-inflicted problems could drag the lump to UPS and express it to you in the hobo camp under the bypass.
Look over your stash of spare engines and running gear--pull 2 or 3 of each type of bolt, especially tuneup related, and a set of small screws for distributor and carb, etc., and keep them in a coffee can in the car. Walmart does not stock satisfactory hardware...a dropped screw in the gravel should not become cause for suicide.

 

Kansas from the Chrome Czars has the best tool box in the business. I'm sure he has a 4 post lift in there somewhere.

The JJ editorial was a fresh read (as they all are) and a good reminder!

 

I usually carry a tool box with most all the tools that I need to use on the side of the road. My problem is maintaining the tool box.
Case in point, last year coming back from Daytona, I had a rear tire start to seperate. No problem, I had a spare, but what I could not find was my 1/2" drive pull handle and socket for the lugs. I ended up using a 3/8" drive rachet with a spark plug socket to change the tire. It took twice as long and I had to replace the rachet as I stripped it on the last lug nut going back on.
Before every trip, I now empty the box and make sure I have the right tools.

 

I've been carrying an ammo box with tools and parts for 30 years, and even if you don't use them for yourself, you can be a lifesaver for someone else. We went to Tulsa in '76 and were rebuilding a friends 38 Buick all the way there and back, but didn't lose any real time because we had all the stuff to do it with (little parts). I used to carry anything that would leave me by the side of the road ;hose, belt, alternator/regulator, electrical parts, fasteners and a selected assortment of tools. I didn't have many problems, but ended up giving most of it away at times to someone else that did. I tend to build cars that use modified structures to accept off-the-shelf parts, because it's easier to replace the part than make a new one in the middle of nowhere.

 

CHICKEN!
I'm using a smaller ammo box between my seats for my 'glovebox'. Also will be using two larger ones mounted in each corner of the bed for tools, parts, and general storage......ie...BEER....

 

Tools: The longer you own a car, the more efficient you can make the tool kit--you eventually learn about the one really big socket you need, and get rid of the other six that don't fit anything on the car, and put in that slightly tweaked 1/2" box needed to get the last carb bolt, and so on.
If you have a Ford, carry an original tool kit--it's not a bad start! I had little else than my '48's original kit when I was young...and if the crank still fits your setup, you sure don't need those starter spares!

Sportsmansguide.com has some WWII 50 caliber cans in their surplus list right now...along with the M44 goggles and tanker's cloth helmet needed for roadstering...

I am migrating to high quality 1940--1965 vintage SnapOn and Plomb tools as much as possible. Can't ever get enough Plomb, so substitute the lesser SnapOn stuff...hate letting modern tools touch olde iron. Blasted Plomb guy doesn't answer his phone any more.

 

GREAT POST!!! Just spent the better part of yesterday on the side of the road. I have a 54 ford f100 with air suspension. One of the fittings blew and the rear dropped rock bottom. The fuel tank is mounted way too low and the fuel line scraped pavement and started leaking gas onto the road. My exhaust was actually in the leaking gas for a while. I had no tools at all. So it took 6 hrs to get the car home. Luckily I had my cell phone. My wife and brother came out to help. My wife ran to the local firehouse to get some absorbent for the fuel leak. My brother brought a floor jack some tools and a fire extinguisher. We were able to stop the leak by cutting the fuel line and shoving a golf tee into the line. I couldn't get a floor jack under the rear end since the rear was bottomed out. We used the jack from my brothers Toyota to raise one frame rail just enough to get the floor jack under the car. After numerous failed attempts to fix the air leak we put wood blocks between the rear end and frame rail to hold the suspension up. This got me home - barely. Unfortunately, all this could have been avoided or at least fixed faster if only I was prepared!!!!

Sorry about the long post but hopefully my mishap with the air system will help others think about what they need to carry. Oh, and a flashlight came in really handy.

aloha,
rustfarmer

 

Here, found'em:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=288301

Looks like good price, easy way to spare yourself the shame of being seen with tacky modern ammo boxes...or Tupperware.

Also, if you are closer to the Martha Stewart approach than to the "deep, dark box full of filthy, sharp objects", Cheaper than dirt .com sells "Ammo can organizers", fitted plastic trays that stack in there so you don't find your spare condenser impaled on the awl...

And if you have a Flathead, Joblotauto.com just put out a new sale catalog full of those little electrical bits. If you don't have a flathead, go suck on a rock or something. Ammo box stuffers for Christmas! Hang an ammo box on the mantel for your dog and maybe kids too!

 

great post, I keep an amo box filled with me at al time in my roadster, but trying to find space for a second box is tough when you have a passenger..

 

Ryan you mentioned ideas for a battery holder. I dont know where you have yours mounted but
this is what we did with the Whiskeyrunner truck..
Its one of those space saver batteries.. fits right in there.
Bruce... i liked the "suck a rock" comment.

 

Hey!
This is a great post, and nobody's here and it's gone to page 897 so people can discuss patina and foreign car steerings...
SO--why don't you AAA card carrying, gold-chaining bedwetters discuss what you would carry in ammo boxes if you were,hypothetically, to own any tools and spare parts??

 

sportsmans guide had a cool medics box (big) thats great for the bigger items seals water tight and was cheap.good for a pick-up.
steele

 

One thing that Ive put in my car is a jack stand, cause if your on the soft shoulder of a highway or something Id want a little more support. Or if your rear end is so low you have to have a jack for the frame and a small bottle jack to wedge inbetween the springs and the frame so you can get your rear tire off.

 

I got my ammo boxes at the local surplus store. Stacks of 'em invarious sizes.
I like to keep a pair of wire crimpers/strippers, terminals and a piece of 16ga wire for electrical repairs.

 

You guys are just way too fancy.

My "parts store"? It's an, ahem, 'liberated' milk crate.

Of course, with a 10 passenger '63 Galaxie wagon, I can fold the rear two rows of seats flat and just camp out until the flatbed comes if things get too bad!

As for the tools, I wimped out and bought the 200 piece Craftsman set. I know, I know. But it's easy to move one box from car to car and all the little trays help me when I forget and leave a socket on the ground.

Great post. Really learning a lot.

 

For 15 years, I've kept my art supplies -- paint, paintbrushes, etc. -- in 50 caliber ammo boxes, you know, to make all of my gay supplies feel a little tougher.

 

I learned when I lived in Wyoming in the 'Eighties to carry everything you could think of that you might need because there's a lotta nothin' between Point A and Point B in Wyoming.
And the outfit I worked for bought a lot of its equipment from gov't surplus so hell yeah we used ammo boxes.
And rainh8ter makes a really good point, it's extra-cool if you can stop and help someone else who's stuck in the middle of nowhere.

 

I use an ammo box for my air brush and striping stuff, holds all I need(except air compressor). But any way, their great for stuff other than just tools. Also its just a nice touch when ya got an ammo box in the back seat of the hot rod.

 

Wonderful article. Another item to add. I experienced a throttle cable failure the other day; the lead plug on the end pulled out. Luckily I was near a Tractor Supply and was able to get a Crimp Fence Wire Splice to get me home (Hell, its still on there). Lowes actually carries a single Aluminum Cap that cen be spliced.

I also have:

Silicone Self Adhesive wrap: for wiring and hose repair
quality flashlight

 

There are a couple of things I always make sure I have. 1. A piece of 3/4" plywood 16 x 16. and I always have a roll of 200 mph tape. other things that are nice to have are a small tarp 6x8 and a blanket. They don't take up much room and I have needed all of them at one time or another.

 

My dad always had an ammo box full of tools. It came back home from Vietnam (he didn't serve, but it was given to him)...but he bloody well lost it in the outback a couple of years ago! Somewhere there's an aboriginal dude wondering what the hell to do with a both full of 9/16th's spanners!

I keep my tools in the same type of boxes, as do my brothers....I just grew up assuming that's what you put them in.

 

I was getting ready to head out on my very first "long distance" rod run back in 1979 and I was going by myself. I wasn't sure what the hell I should pack in my 40 so I just threw my whole tool box in the trunk. Now it wasn't a big tool box, one of those Montgomery Ward type boxes that looked like an oversized tackle box, but still it didn't have any business taking up residence in the trunk of a 40 Ford. Its still in the trunk after all these years and has everything in it from push rods and rocker arms to wheel bearings to spare electric fuel pump. I'm kind of afraid to take it out to put something smaller in there as it has been kind of a good luck charm. Over the years the tools and extra parts have been used more for other people than myself. In the 28 years I have had the car, it only left me one time when I couldn't fix it on the side of the road. Looked awful funny on that rollback....................

 

This is not traditional so I guess I will need to hide it in the bottom of the ammo box. I picked up some of those wind-up flashlights at Menards this past week. Safe way to prevent the, have a flashlight but dead batteries senario.

Just now have to figure how to keep it in the car and not in the kids' club house. I know, I bought four.

Neal

 

Crow has the best ammo box full of tools ...he can put more tools in there than i can fit in my craftsman tool box!..its like a magic trick what he pulls out of there!

 

1 more item for the list of things to do with ammo boxes,use 'em in your exhaust as a quick way to uncork it. Lots faster than unscrewing stuff.

 

How many of you carry a spare tire?
The reason I ask, back in 97, coming from Pigeon Forge (Shades of The Past), I had to help a guy from Ohio. His rear wheel broke all of the studs out coming off of a light. He told me it had been making noise for a while, but he could not figure out what it was. He has no jack, no tools and no way to get it off of the street. Put my jack under it, got two bolts back in it so he could pull it off the road and left it with him and a couple of buddies that were running with him. Did I mention, none of them had any tools with them also.
Maybe I am paranoid, but I do not leave the house in any of my cars, daily drivers included, without tools and jacks and spare tires.