3macboys Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 The big accomplishment today was tackling this pile of windshield and coolant tanks, aluminum heads and fans. The pile on the left of the first picture has already been stripped and is ready to go for scrap. One more head was added to that pile and the next day that's decent that pile will be off for scrap and a couple of bucks in my pocket. Sometimes you have decide how much your time is worth and whether the effort is worth the payoff. At the end of the day most of that pile on the right ended up as scrap or garbage. I'm just happy to have it all cleaned up and gone as I've been tripping over it all in the lower shop for the last 3 1/2 years. Late in the afternoon I turned my attention to the chassis of the 30 Dodge in the showroom. It's been neglected for the last bit. At some point the body and rad will be coming back and I want to have it all set for both when they do. I had run all new lines and now need to fix up and couple of the fittings to ensure the system is leak free. I had put all new crush washers on the banjos at the wheel cylinders, but it looks like they need a bit more crush as they all leaked at the washer but at this point that appeared to be the only issue. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 OK, so that you can go to work on your 1967 Evinrude 18 hp outboard. Tune up kit PN 172522 From Bombardier (Amazon)includes points and condensers. Coils may have to be after market (there are two) Sierra PN 18-5181 (get two coils) You will need a smallish puller that will pull on the three 1/4 inch holes in the flywheel. I usually loosen (not remove) the large nut on the crankshaft first. When installing the coils, you will see that the bottom edge of the coils will want to sit flush on the mounts before you tighten the screws. Set the points at .020. There are special tools that make it even easier but these tips will suffice. If changing the gear oil get some real boat gear lube. It is important that you take out the two large, slotted screws and NOT the smaller screw which is usually a Phillips head. It fills from the bottom until it comes out of the top. put the top plug in first while still holding the pressure on the bottom, then quickly install the bottom plug. Fun stuff. Amazon.com: 2Pcs 0584477 Ignition Coil for 584477 582995 580416 Sierra 18-5181 OMC Johnson Evinrude Outboard Engines : Automotive Amazon.com: OEM Evinrude Johnson BRP Outboard Ignition Tune-Up Kit 172522 : Everything Else Amazon.com: Johnson/Evinrude/OMC HPF PRO Gearcase Gear Oil Lube Qt Kit & Pump 0778754 778754 : Automotive 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 34 minutes ago, JACK M said: OK, so that you can go to work on your 1967 Evinrude 18 hp outboard. Tune up kit PN 172522 From Bombardier (Amazon)includes points and condensers. Coils may have to be after market (there are two) Sierra PN 18-5181 (get two coils) You will need a smallish puller that will pull on the three 1/4 inch holes in the flywheel. I usually loosen (not remove) the large nut on the crankshaft first. When installing the coils, you will see that the bottom edge of the coils will want to sit flush on the mounts before you tighten the screws. Set the points at .020. There are special tools that make it even easier but these tips will suffice. If changing the gear oil get some real boat gear lube. It is important that you take out the two large, slotted screws and NOT the smaller screw which is usually a Phillips head. It fills from the bottom until it comes out of the top. put the top plug in first while still holding the pressure on the bottom, then quickly install the bottom plug. Fun stuff. Amazon.com: 2Pcs 0584477 Ignition Coil for 584477 582995 580416 Sierra 18-5181 OMC Johnson Evinrude Outboard Engines : Automotive Amazon.com: OEM Evinrude Johnson BRP Outboard Ignition Tune-Up Kit 172522 : Everything Else Amazon.com: Johnson/Evinrude/OMC HPF PRO Gearcase Gear Oil Lube Qt Kit & Pump 0778754 778754 : Automotive Thank you so much! I didn't expect you to also source the parts for us but greatly appreciated along with the advice! I'll report back on our efforts. Don 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 A short day in the shop - I had a rush online order - who knew that selling 20 year old parts online could make for rushed orders! I also wanted to beat the weather that is in the forecast that is supposed to hit in an hour or two. One step forward and two back on mounting the power steering pump - there is no way this line is going to clear the block so it will be back to the parts store for a different one. I have no idea if GM lines are different that Chrysler ones but the one on another pump that we have definitely makes the initial bend closer to the pump so I'll see what I can find. On a positive note I gave the bolts on the banjos of the 30 Dodge another tightening and that seems to have sealed them up. Bits and pieces I'll keep chipping away at it. Now who doesn't have work bench that looks like this at times? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 So I've started in that corner and I'll work my way down the bench that runs the length of the shop After a little effort there's some progress 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 You know that you are in Canada when...... Actually we can't complain around here, this is the first real snow of the winter that will actually stick around for awhile. Considering the original forecast was for 8 inches and we only got about 3 and not the blizzard conditions it's all good. I don't know who invented the snow blower all I can say is thank you! Funny, my wife offers to cut the grass with the riding mower but she never wants to use the snowblower. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I admire your dedication to clearing things up. You seem to be getting parts organized and put into location at an incredible rate. BUT, I would imagine your workbench is like mine. For some reason it will only stay clear for a day or two, at the least for as long as I am out of the shop. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 On 1/13/2024 at 2:24 PM, 3macboys said: Funny, my wife offers to cut the grass with the riding mower but she never wants to use the snowblower. Easy explanation for that one! After one is done mowing, its great to kick back with a beer, sitting in a lawn chair in the hot sun, smelling the fresh-cut grass all around you! In winter, one can't get back into the nice warm house or shop after an hour in the cold. Craig 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I like snow in the winter. Unfortunately we're not getting it lately in Hamilton, ON. I can play with my walk- behind snowblower all day long, breathing fresh clean winter air while getting some exercise, instead of going to sweaty gym and paying for that. And as opposite I hate to cut the grass, even on riding mover. You can call me crazy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 8 hours ago, TAKerry said: I admire your dedication to clearing things up. You seem to be getting parts organized and put into location at an incredible rate. BUT, I would imagine your workbench is like mine. For some reason it will only stay clear for a day or two, at the least for as long as I am out of the shop. The big issue in our shop is that there had been 3 generations sharing the space. That has its good points and its bad points - the biggest downside is that if one person doesn't put stuff away the next one can't find it. Two of the three were also known for hanging their tools up on the floor. I'm firmly convinced that keeping stuff organized skips a generation, just like cooking. My mother learned to cook from her grandmother (my great grandmother) and both were/are excellent cooks - my grandmother on the other hand was terrible. I was fortunate to marry the right generation of my wife's family! A big part of my motivation to get it cleaned up quickly is so that I can get to work on some of the vehicle projects. Buried in here is the back of the cab to the 30 Ford AA truck that needs a small bit of metal work and some of the wood replace. Not a huge job but it will take some space to do it. Some days when I look back on the pictures I think that we could start a game of "I spy" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 Today started off a little bit later as the first restoration of the year came back home. I can tell you that apparently piano restoration is much faster than cars - the piano was picked up on January 2 and returned today the 15th. I've mentioned this before on here that the piano was a present to my wife from her parents when she turned 16 - something she never expected and it had been part of a joke list including a Lamborghini. She was hesitant about getting the work done but I compared it to the money that gets spent on the cars and that's what she gets enjoyment from. Somehow old cars and old houses go together - the window above the piano had been covered over when we bought the house, I made the trim and window frame for the leaded window when we opened it back up. If you think sourcing parts can be tough the original trim in the house is chestnut. But now back to the task at hand - I kept working down the work bench to get it cleaned up and discovered a few tools buried under the empty parts boxes and other debris. I think there was a period of time that my father bought every battery charger that he saw - I think I'm up to 4 so far and only about halfway down the bench! I know that we can all be thrifty at times but this Red Green broom just comes down to being cheap! It is now gone! This last picture shows one of the issues that you come up against when you buy obsolete parts in bulk. I hate to toss brand new parts but so far I haven't found any part numbers on all these ball joints - they aren't big dollar parts and it is always a debate as to how much time to spend on identifying parts vs the financial reward. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Unfortunately I married the wrong generation! My shop looks messy but is actually fairly well organized. Not as much as in the past but pretty close. I can almost tell you where anything is. In my old shop I knew where everything was at all times, no matter how cluttered it looked, still getting that honed in with the new shop though. When I was in business with my brothers we had a shop at one of their homes. I always tried to keep things organized and put away where it belonged. My one brother saw an empty spot on the floor and thats where things went. Nice piano and Im impressed with the turnaround time. We refinished and repaired a bit of veneer for an upright a number of years ago for my brother. I had that blasted thing in my shop for 6 months. I enjoy doing woodwork and especially veneer but I hope to never see a piano again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 3 hours ago, TAKerry said: Nice piano and Im impressed with the turnaround time It was the equivalent of a frame off restoration - 2 1/2 guys straight for the two weeks - and just like cars, we really had no idea what all was going to be involved until the pictures starting coming back of the work in progress. The piano is definitely my wife's thing - I'm a life member of that not so well known band - The Tone Deaf and No Rhythms! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, 3macboys said: It was the equivalent of a frame off restoration - 2 1/2 guys straight for the two weeks - and just like cars, we really had no idea what all was going to be involved I inherited my dad's piano that I lived with for most of my life. He played kinda like me, with no one around to hear. But a few riffs that no one else knows. Dad had it refinished many years ago and it looks great. But I don't think the strings have been touched since 1872. It's a Chickering box grand and I remember my dad saying that it came around the horn sometime before he got it in his youth. When I sit at a modern piano it sounds so crisp, the deeper tones especially are way better than the old Chickering. I have never shopped for tuning or string work as the rare occasions that I stumble onto discussions about this kind of work I get scared off really quick. I suspect the cost of skilled labor for 2 1/2 guys for two weeks (plus parts) is what scares me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, 3macboys said: It was the equivalent of a frame off restoration - 2 1/2 guys straight for the two weeks - and just like cars, we really had no idea what all was going to be involved I my dreams I would walk into a giant mall and do this. boogie piano - Google Search 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 40 minutes ago, JACK M said: I suspect the cost of skilled labor for 2 1/2 guys for two weeks (plus parts) is what scares me. About the same as recoring a 20's or 30's rad - but considering it's nearly 40 years old and this is the only repair work we've had done I can't really complain. I should find out the name of the fellow that polished it though and get him to do a couple of the cars - there were scratches that I was pretty sure weren't going to come out and the top looks like new! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Today I finally got the power steering pump reinstalled and both lines run in the 51 Plymouth. The high pressure line doesn't run quite as nice as I'd like but it's the best of what available on the market at the moment. I almost forgot to put the return line on but caught myself before calling it a success. That's my father's preferred car to drive so other than an oil change in the spring he should be good to go. The shop is already feeling better to work in with the space that has been cleared - I actually feel more productive and the tools are easy to find and at hand again. To keep pushing forward I moved back to the centre aisle. When last seen it looked like this: With a little effort over the last couple of days the Star is almost free of being buried. This is another case of some stuff is now online and some is in the back of the 64 as scrap. With it being handy it makes it an easy decision to toss things over the side! Those wire baskets were a bit of an auction mistake. They are Ice Cream baskets from an area dairy that a local auction house was selling by the skid of 48 of them and they had 5 skids. I put a bid on each skid figuring that I would get outbid on most of them and might get one of them. Well no one else bid so I ended up with 240 of them! Turns out that service manuals fit perfectly in them and they are handy for housing parts and taking stuff to swap meets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 The last project of the day was one of those "we'll get to it someday". I'd give my father the air hose reel a few years and and it's been mounted for at least 3 years now. While cleaning the bench on the other side of the shop I found an old piece of air hose coiled up underneath the bench. I had stuck the hose by the compressor then thinking I'll get to the reel eventually, well today I looked at it as I was getting ready to leave and thought "I wonder if I've got everything to connect it?" Sure enough, what I needed was on hand and after 15 minutes it was finally connected. There's too many of those "another day" projects waiting to get completed and truthfully we've likely spent more time talking about doing them just getting our act together and doing it! The stupid part of this is how close the compressor is to the reel, but of course there's another line that we could make do with even though it always turned into a skipping rope trip hazard every time you drag it out. And another little thing off the list... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemi Joel Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 (edited) I can relate. You have a lot of stuff to get rid of. It's hard to throw stuff away that we know is useful to us or someone else, somewhere, at some time. But you are right on the value of time thing. Should we spend 10 hours working through a pile of stuff that is easily available and worth $50 bucks? At some point we have to conclude that it is dumpster time. My shop got so full at one point that I couldn't work in it. I filled my 28' box trailer to the ceiling and hauled it to the automotive swap meet, committed to bring nothing home regardless of price. I was actually pretty fun giving people good deals and making them happy with their score You have an awesome shop there, I think it's great that you are documenting it here. Good luck with your continued efforts! Edited January 21 by Hemi Joel fat fingers, little keyboard (see edit history) 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 For those of you following along you'll notice that there's been a lot of "We'll get to it tomorrow" sort of projects that I've been tackling. A word of caution to you all - tomorrow might not come. My father always talked about a family friend of my in-laws who had a couple of British cars and every time dad talked to him he said that he was going to get to them someday. Well one day at age 55 he didn't wake up. Fast forward to last year and my father finally retired from his second career and he admits now that he waited to long and he's no longer able to work on any of the cars, though he is still able to drive them despite his mobility being severally affected in the last couple of years. Not the way he was planning on spending his retirement years but at least he can still enjoy the hobby even on a limited basis. All I'm saying is if you are able to, do those things today that you want to accomplish, be it with cars, travel or family. Now let me get down off my soap box and let me say that the modern stuff can at times be more frustrating than the old stuff. My parents park their 2013 Challenger every winter and with all the electronics it needs to be started every now and then. Yesterday I tried to the start the car and the message comes up on the dash that it can't read the fob for the push button start. I'm guessing that it's likely just the battery in the fob since it won't even unlock/lock the doors, so I order up fresh batteries from Amazon and they came by lunch today - beats having to go to Walmart! Load up the new battery in the fob and same message, so I hook up the battery charger figuring that's the issue and the battery must just be really low and sure enough it was pretty flat. It charges up over 50% no problem but then just sits there. My next step was to hook up the battery tester and after running through it's thing it tells me to start the car, of course it still won't recognize the fob so I pop out the push button start button and use the fob like a good old fashion key and it fires right up! Not sure yet if the fob is the issue or the car just needs a really good charge but at least it's back running and I can move it if I need to. It still has the original factory battery so one of these days a new one will be in order. I keep working down the centre aisle today and though visually the first picture might not tell much of a story, it was actually a very successful day as I can finally get to the hoist after about 2 or 3 years of it being blocked in which is going to be a huge change in being able to complete some of the maintenance that needs to be done on the fleet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Love that wagon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 27 minutes ago, JACK M said: Love that wagon. It's a 70 Plymouth Belvedere with a Road Runner front clip on it - not quite AACA material as it has a slightly built Mopar small block. The car was originally a 318 car. My one niece ran a race truck a number of years ago at Delaware Speedway just outside of London, Ont and the motor was the last one out of the truck. My father and the same niece found the car at Moparfest and decided we had to have it. In typing this I just realized that was at least 15 years ago. A couple of years later it got traded on the paint and body work for the 64 D300 and then we ended up buying it back again from the painter after he picked up an early 70's Monte Carlo and needed the space. Upside is in the time he had it, he did the bit of body work it needed and got it in primer. You have to love how the car world works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 My shop only has 'we'll get to it tomorrow' stuff! Like the wagon. There is a guy that runs a local car cruise that did the same basic thing. Im not a mopar guy so I dont know the details but he put something like a charger front or something on a regular wagon. Said its a one of one! I guess not, LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 44 minutes ago, TAKerry said: My shop only has 'we'll get to it tomorrow' stuff! Like the wagon. There is a guy that runs a local car cruise that did the same basic thing. Im not a mopar guy so I dont know the details but he put something like a charger front or something on a regular wagon. Said its a one of one! I guess not, LOL. The one thing I've learned with cars is if you think you have a factory one of one you haven't looked hard enough and if you've built something that you think is unique some other guy has had the same idea. A fellow local to us had done up a really nice 66 or 67 Dodge Coronet wagon and had the best license plate on it 1 of None, it sure looked stock but Chrysler never built what he had done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Down the outside wall, beside the work bench is a row of engines of various ages and completeness including these teens to early 20's ones that I picked up from a fellow just south of Chatham, Ontario along the Lake Erie shoreline not too far from RM Restorations. It was an interesting place to say the least and I ended up dragging two truck loads of stuff I didn't need to save it from going for scrap. There were a lot of interesting cars and military vehicles spread across the property. I should have taken pictures of the place. I'll post up these in the What Is It section and yes they need to find a new home. BTW the rule of thumb at our place is if you see a black, modern Chrysler product out front, the door is generally open, just walk in and say hello! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Today pretty well marked the end of processing 5 skids of parts that I had picked up just over a month ago. The mess of boxes and what not on the floor in the centre is pretty well done. Next will be tackling those wire bins that are mostly full of Mopar parts. Thanks to @Layden B and @Oldtech I have a pretty good idea what I'm dealing with as far as those engines are concerned. I will say that the pile for swap meets is getting larger though. I'm sure hoping for good weather in the spring to be able to hit a couple of sales to thin down the pile. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Not much in the way of progress today unless you count pulling stuff for a local Nostalgia Show in Woodstock on Sunday. It's not really obvious to others, but I have managed to pack away a lot of the antique and oil and gas stuff in an organized fashion. Well at least organized in my mine. The show is all of about 10 blocks from my house and the doors don't open until 9:30 so it doesn't need to be an early morning and it's all done by 3. I'll be there about 7:30 and should be backing into my lane by about 3:30. They advertise the show as over 200 tables and they have an interesting way of pricing for entry fees, $10 at the opening, $5 starting at 10:30 and then $3 after 1 pm. It seems to spread the crowd out over day and you can actually get a good look at everything. I'll try to get some pictures on Sunday but for anyone in the area it's a good show and feel free to stop by and say hello - look for the bald guy with the Yellow Donkey brewery hoodie. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 It was a good day at the Nostalgia Show today, being local I got to catch up with a lot of people that I hadn't seen since the weather turned and as a bonus got to put a face to a name and a nice chat with @playswithbrass and his wife. This was the load going in And then spread out on my two tables, I actually took more than I could display but I guess that's better than not having enough to fill them, somehow even though I sold a bunch of stuff it didn't all go back in the truck the same way and I even kept my hands in my pockets and didn't buy anything myself. A couple of pictures of some of the other vendors. The first picture is a booth that was set up by a young couple who were both very knowledgeable on signs. There was actually a good number of young people both buying and selling. The vendors came from far and wide with the fellow directly beside me being from Buffalo I believe and one fellow directly behind me from Peterborough (some how that city keeps coming up and turns out he lives across the street from my son's apartment building) and then a mother and son team from Kingston. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playswithbrass Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Donald was great meeting you as well , always nice to put a face to a name. Now if you only had some brass in your inventory to sell! Cheers Pete 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Not a whole of visual progress today. My most notable accomplishment was getting everything from the sale yesterday put back away and up on shelving. The one thing about doing those sales is every time what I take gets more organized and the boxes get labeled making them easier to find the next time. Now if it ever worked out that I come back with an empty truck! My friend with the TR6 had a much more productive day getting his steering realigned so that the turn signal cancels and the steering wheel is now properly centred. He had excellent guidance by the way of Phil Allen keeping an eye over his shoulder and giving expert advice. Phil is a super nice man who is always more than willing to share and pass along his knowledge, a true gentleman. Many in the British car world will know Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 It was a bit of a late start on the day at the shop today. Started off with both of us (my wife and I) getting our shingles vaccine shot and I took a little bit of pride of letting the nurse know our next vaccines aren't due for 10 years. Then it was on to doing a bit of book work and starting to gather everything for doing taxes for the year. All those Ebay sales are claimed, but so are the expenses of the shop so there's always that trade off but there's no other way that we could have a shop like this and it certainly helps with paying for the expenses with the cars as well. One of my selling features to my wife is that I can winter her outdoor plants in the showroom. Just don't tell her that I'm not always as successful as she may want.... The 64 D300 got a little touch up with the side step/gas tanks. I have to say that POR15 in a spray can is fantastic. So far no clogging after use and great coverage. This is the 4th time that I've used the same can and I can't say that I can get that out of any other product. The rest of the time that I had I spent giving the 51 a cleaning along with my parents Challenger. Both will be given a good wax later, before the driving season but I needed to get the worse of the dust and road spray off them before covering them for now. Can you see the difference from side to side? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Other than picking and shipping yesterday I didn't really didn't get anything accomplished. That vaccine shot kind of had me dragging my butt all day, but I'd rather loose a day like than get shingles! Back to normal today and back at it. I'm in a bit of a lull for the cars waiting on some parts so it was a continuing to clean out stuff. I'm sort of at a point now that I need to clean up a bit more downstairs before I can get much more of the main shop cleaned out. My main focus was this area: At the back side of those bins was a stack of three bins filled with parts out of that old Volvo dealership. So the advantage now of having that cleaned off work bench is those bins were emptied on to it And after less than an hour it was sorted and down to this with a few other parts soaking in a bucket of soap and water overnight It really is amazing how much more efficient the shop is now that there is some working space. The mechanic or owner of that Volvo dealership did tag a lot of the used parts and often times there were notes like this one which made the decision on what to do with it really easy. Which makes you wonder why they kept in the first place. Though my favourite find of the day was the internals of a turbo Every blade was damage which makes you wonder what it swallowed and how loud that was when it happened. A real simple decision on that one on if I should scrap it or not. At the end of the day the original pile was moved back and there's a bunch more open floor space. It doesn't look like much in the pictures but to walk through it the open space is now about twice as wide. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 After today I finally have a parts department that is looking a little more like it should. Still a ways to go behind the counter but a good portion of what is there is labeled and sorted. The long term plan will see it stocked with spare parts for our cars and some parts for display purposes that are in Mopar boxes. The light bulb cabinet came out of the showroom so that also cleared up some clutter from there. The two Weatherhead cabinets actually have various fittings that we use so they are staying put as well. It is slowing turning into a functioning parts department. The wall behind the telephone is shelving that holds a fairly complete set of service manuals and parts catalogs from the beginning of Dodge in 1914 until about 1974 or so which covers off everything we have, or expect to have. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 This is the wall of manuals in the parts department - those are actually organized by year, truck/car and service manuals and parts catalogs. As I've gotten in more lots of manuals, I keep cherry picking the best ones to put into my collection. Today was the day that I finally had enough of looking at the top of the one display cabinet in the showroom. I had it in my mind that the sheet of melamine was there because there a problem with the top of the cabinet. With the unfinished edge though it just looked unfinished. Turns out the top of the cabinet was fine and we were probably just looking for someplace to stick that sheet to get it out of the way. Now to keep that top clear! I started to organize the display area in the cabinet as well with what is the "Keeper" pieces. The Parts and Service sign came out of the old Woodstock Chrysler building at the corner of Wilson and Peel in Woodstock, Ont before the building was torn down. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 I didn't accomplish a whole lot yesterday. The downstairs shop was just too cold to work in. The outside temp was right around freezing but it takes a day or two for the inside to warm up down there as there's no heat. Today was much better and though pictures wouldn't do justice to the extra space that was made there's slowly more areas where you can comfortably walk through without feeling like you are going to run into something. Pizza anyone? A friend of mine had offered up a ton of boxes from his business over the last few years that I could use a free shipping supplies. (Those are actually boxes from computer motherboards turned inside out) It benefited him as he didn't have to deal with the hassle of recycling them and his shop was right across the street from my old office so I could stop by after work, load up and it was a win win. Turns out that I don't go through the volume of those boxes that I do of other sizes and I've got hundreds of spread around the downstairs shop. Not that the service manuals don't absorb moisture from the air but cardboard seems to have it's own special way of holding it. Long story short is after about 15 minutes that pile became this recycling bin worth and I've gotten back several cubic feet of space. I'll keep reducing the number that I have until it's a reasonable number to keep on hand. Getting rid of those boxes has given me the space to move all the empty wire baskets into one location instead of piled all over the place. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 The last couple of days has been taken up with general tidying up and taking pictures of manuals and parts to list on Ebay. I'm making good head way at getting through the back log of parts that I've accumulated over the last few years. Today was a run to pick up a small lot from an online auction a little over an hour away. It came from a former school bus operator and was all International manuals and special service tools. Another small lot that will keep the doors open and pay for a few parts for the cars. And of course being a true Canadian, who can't refuse a deal on an old wooden toboggan? My wife may lay claim to that one for decorating next Christmas. Actually I'm hoping by buying that it guarantees that winter is over, not that we've had much winter so far this year and it's supposed to be 8 C (46f) and sunny on Sunday so just maybe the cars will get a little exercise next week! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 (edited) I was back tackling the downstairs shop today. This bit of floor space had held the last of the used Volvo parts that I hadn't sorted through. I haven't been able to have a clear view to this bottom shelf for several years. Most of what was left was cast aluminum brackets for engines mounts and the like along with a bunch of gauge clusters. The brackets are all in the parts washer to be cleaned up awaiting a new owner. As I've stated before the dealership where this stuff came out of must have run their own wrecking yard from their used car lot. I don't know what is good is what is bad but I've broken down the clusters into their various assemblies and I'll test what I can. I set up a bit of disassembly line which made quick work of them. Having that clear bench space really is nice. I've kept all the dash bulbs and a few other parts- some of this stuff is getting harder and harder to find. Not big dollar stuff but will be good to pass along to someone in need. This message is the reason why simply parting out these clusters makes the most sense - that and how big is the market for used clusters for mid 80's Volvos in Canada - the speedo's are all metric! Psss.....wanna buy a clock? I think that I've learned more about cars by parting them out than I have any other way. Even as silly as it seems those clocks all have the same part number but there are two different mounts for them. Edited February 6 by 3macboys (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3macboys Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 The weather here has been pretty decent for the last few days and I figured that the scrap yard should be dry or at least drier by now so I loaded up this pile of cast aluminum and off I went. Boy was I wrong about the scrap yard - apparently there was more frost in the ground than I thought. I should have grabbed a pic of the soup bowl where most of the scrap had to be dropped. Fortunately for me, all I had to do was drive over the scale and then back up a concrete ramp to unload, no mud bog involved. Floor cleaned up and a 66 bucks in my pocket - I don't know what it is about taking in the scrap but it always seems like you are getting paid for garbage and you are getting free money. The yard is on my way from the house to the shop so never out of the way, nor a special trip. Next up was this corner of the downstairs shop, home of the library. It's not so much that everything is moved out of there, but more that the chaos is gone and I can walk through and see things without having to move piles of other stuff. Not perfect but a far cry from where I started. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I like seeing your behind the scenes look of a parts re-seller. I often see things on ebay and such for say a shop manual for a 74 whatever. The ad will say something like 'only 10 left'. I think to myself 'who has 11 of these laying around?' Now I know, LOL. Most of the work we do is in occupied higher end homes. Rarely does my truck get off a paved road, hence it stays nice and clean most of the time and I keep it parked inside. Had some scrap to get rid of, went to the scrap yard and it was about 3" deep wet mud! I can relate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 You should try Lindsay Swap meet that is worth the extra drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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