classic car forum header
Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
Register     Posting Photographs     Privacy     F/book OCC Facebook     OCC on Patreon

Do you hang on to too much stuff?
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> Classic & Vintage Cars, Lorries, Vans, Motorcycles etc - General Chat
Author Message
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:00 pm    Post subject: Do you hang on to too much stuff? Reply with quote

I find myself keeping things that will never have any earthly use, which are even too far gone to be considered "pop it on the shelf just in case" material.

Is it me?

For example, wooden pieces of framework from big Dodge, I've kept various sections as I find their shapes quite interesting, and some pieces still bear original traces of paint from its use during the war. They have no possible use, other than introducing woodworm to something useful. But I find myself loathed to bin them, or use them on the fire.

I also kept all six of the original 9.00x20 tyres - some could be original fitment, bearing War Department markings on them, whereas other are from long-forgotten US & British manufacturers, or have interesting remould action on them. They take up a lot of space, but somehow I can't bring myself to bin these pieces of history either.

Do I need help?!?! Smile

I'm not a full-on hoarder in case anyone wonders, and I regularly bin "proper" rubbish, but anything with a shred of history to it, I find myself very attached to.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MVPeters



Joined: 28 Aug 2008
Posts: 822
Location: Northern MA, USA

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it viable to make "wall art" of some parts?

Reduces the volume.
Adds interest to a garage wall.
Gets them up & out of the way.
Relatively minimal cost & effort involved.

& bin the bits left over........! If you can bring yourself to do so!
_________________
Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Penman



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4751
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
Rick; Tyres hung on the wall can not only be "Wall Art" but also a useful storage facility. Very Happy
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BigJohn



Joined: 01 Jan 2011
Posts: 954
Location: Wem, Shropshire

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After I moved into my new build 40'x13' garage I intended to fit shelving for my workshop manual and book collection. Then the sheer volume became apparent, I sold a few boxfuls, gave some away and today I donated 8 large cardboard banana boxes full to here: http://www.britishcommercialvehiclemuseum.com, Some of the 30's to 50's stuff for their archives, some to sell in the shop. This is the last of a wall of books in boxes which went 10' long x 4' high across the new garage floor. I have been collecting them since I was a teenager, I'm now 63. I was sad, but what a cathartic feeling, the extra space is great, I can now see my work bench clearly.
_________________
1974 Mk1 Escort.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Penman wrote:
Hi
Rick; Tyres hung on the wall can not only be "Wall Art" but also a useful storage facility. Very Happy


Hehe the weight of all six hanging on the wall might pull it down!! Smile

Prompted by my own thread, I went out this evening and did indeed manage to bin-off some of the smaller and clearly useless wooden off-cuts - this, after managing to lose my footing and fall forward, hand straight onto one of said pieces of wood, with various nails sticking up out of it. I knew that no good would come of having a tidy-up
Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Penguin45



Joined: 28 Jul 2014
Posts: 381
Location: Padiham

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm in the process of retiring. House sold and down-sizing, If the kids behave, we might even tell them where we're going.

My garage...... Half of it's going in the skip, no two ways about it. All those "might be useful" bits. Well, they haven't been so far. Rusty sections of metal, so useful for creating patterns from. Yup, got the patterns. All those medium sized off cuts... Why have i got 8 Lucas M38 starter motors? And that irrepairable 1800 block? And so much more.

Scrap man's going to love me.

P45.
_________________
'67 Wolseley MkI 18/85, '70 Austin MkII 1800 The Landcrab Forum.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 2464
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I keep far too much stuff. A mate of mine has loads of car magazines dating back to the 50s, and has recently mentioned that he's binning them. So of course, I said "well, give them me, I'll have a quick look through, and bin the ones I don't want anything out of" - just because it's not an era I'm familiar with, and sometimes something interesting is in there. So far what I've done is spend time putting them in date order, reading them when I should be doing proper work, and little else. None have been thrown away. Given that I already have too many magazines of my own, this is perhaps a poor idea.

Interesting, though - I thumbed through a magazine from 1966, and topics covered included Ford experimenting with an electric car, an article criticising the slow road-building programme and various complaints about how overcrowded the road system is. So, no change there then.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes I've a weakness for magazines too. Not long ago I relieved a local enthusiast of his extensive collection, many of which are stashed away around my knees under the desk I'm sitting at. I try and stick to a rule of not keeping any magazines later than the 1970s, but it doesn't always work.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another thing I'd hung onto was an original red Dunlop inner tube, full of holes and splits, that had been fitted to big Dodge's trailer. Why hang on to it? It had a nicely printed "RACING" legend on it, in addition to the maker's name, tube size and so on. It must date to the 1940s or early 1950s. As part of yesterday evening's cull, I disposed of the tube in the bin - but only after I'd carefully removed the section with the writing on it, that piece can live on in the back of the truck I think.

Obsessive?

Smile

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Keith D



Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Posts: 1127
Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I've 'sinned' even more than you, Rick.

Like you, I cannot bear to throw anything away. Even the corroded water pump off my A40 that I changed a couple of weeks ago is sitting proudly and blatantly on a shelf in my workshop, 'just in case' I need something off it. For crying out loud, the thing is completely useless. Why can't I just pick it up and bin it?

Even worse. A car club I belonged to a number of years ago, lost it's spare parts shed when the owner of the barn used, sold his farm. All members were asked to take as many bits as possible and store them at their individual homes for future club use. Muggins here went along and grabbed as many Austin parts as I could store in an empty 10' x 10' shed. About six full trailer loads. Engines, clutches, horns, jewellery, lights, mudguards. I can't get inside the shed now and it's been like that for about ten years. In that time not one member has ever contacted me for any bits, although the club spare parts man has a list of what is where.

I must be crazy!

Keith
_________________
1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rootes75



Joined: 30 Apr 2013
Posts: 3788
Location: The Somerset Levels

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I replaced all the rotten sections on the bed of my Commer lorry I did for some reason keep a lot of the offcuts, They are piled up in a corner but why I kept them I don't know.
_________________
Various Rootes Vehicles.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rootes75 wrote:
When I replaced all the rotten sections on the bed of my Commer lorry I did for some reason keep a lot of the offcuts, They are piled up in a corner but why I kept them I don't know.


I think part of my reason for hanging on to original bits from big Dodge, is that one day, early in its restoration, I called by the workshop only to see them smashing out, with crowbars and so on, all the original old flooring out of the back. Timber that a) wasn't wormy b) just needed planing back and could have been re-used. I wasn't too happy, as my plan had been to re-use as much of the original vehicle as possible.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
lowdrag



Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 1585
Location: Le Mans

PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Beware folks! Be very careful! I had a massive clear out several years back. Now I am searching for pieces I know I had but can't find.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
badhuis



Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 1390
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is a type of FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. A psychological term used for a form of stress. I think we, as classic car part hoarders, are suffering from it.
I know I am. Like many of you, I have lots of parts (new, used, broken) knowing they might never be used but kept as "you never know". I also have some examples where I had to find and buy something that I knew I had thrown away before.

My biggest fear was having to move to another place in the future. Luckily I do not see this ever coming because my house, which is too large now that the children have (just) left, can be reworked, split and a part sold. Which leaves a perfect house for two persons for any length of time.
_________________
a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
lowdrag



Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 1585
Location: Le Mans

PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

badhuis wrote:


My biggest fear was having to move to another place in the future. Luckily I do not see this ever coming because my house, which is too large now that the children have (just) left


A fear I thought of 20 years back when I moved to France. it took an age to find a suitable property, but while we have a mezzanine and bedroom above we live totally on the ground floor. That means that, as old ages bites (and it is starting to) we have eliminated the need to move.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> Classic & Vintage Cars, Lorries, Vans, Motorcycles etc - General Chat All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
OCC Merch link
Forum T&C


php BB powered © php BB Grp.