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Why do we keep the junk we do?

603 views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  **DONOTDELETE** 
#1 ·
This weekend was clean the garage weekend. It started out as straightening up the shelves, and lead to "why did I keep this?" about a hundred times. There are still things that I kept after the purge, but I had stuff like this: A grinder that the smoke came out of about a year ago (I tried--it still doesn't work), old axle u-bolts, a dented steering stabilizer, a steering wheel, about 10 pounds of old rusted bolts and nails, a cracked carb base plate. You get the picture. It took all afternoon on Saturday, and the garage doesn't look any better! I know that there was a reason for keeping all that crap, but I just can't remember what it was. Some of it is an obvious byproduct of Jeep ownership, but why do we do it? What was I possibly thinking when I kept that old rubber tranny mount?

Ken

 
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#3 ·
Don't worry, you'll remember what you had in mind for all that stuff. About 5 min after the garbage truck picks it up. My wife gives me a really hard time about all the "junk" I have pack ratted away in the garage. Every once in a while though, I suprise her my making a new whatzit out of that old broken thingama-bob and a modified what-the-hell-was-that-anyway.

September 11, 2001- We will not forget! We will not forgive!
 
#5 ·
/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif Jeepchick has a real aversion to "crud", and I get endlessly petitioned to dump this or that to make the garage just a bare cavity with a vehicle sitting in it. I, on the other hand believe that you have to have a certain amount of crud just to operate, since it is the raw material from which GOOD stuff can be made. I draw the line at keeping old spark plugs, and old fan belts that are cracked, and I usually strip all the good fasteners and cords off defunct power tools before I toss them. If it is a power drill, I take off the chuck before it goes in the trash can./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif I use a file box system for storage and the boxes are numbered so AT LEAST I can find the crud that I am looking for and the garage has a halfway neat appearance. Box # 131.....carbs; box # 127.....grinder parts. etc. etc.

CJDave
A Jeep Skunkworks run by Moonguys/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif, buildin' the ultimate SNOJEEP!
 
#6 ·
I'm the same way, only I have a MASSIVE barn to store it all in, and it's MINE, ALL MINE.

I like building things, like the brush guard from electric stove cooking grates, the Hi-Lift mount from stopsign channel, tow lights and mount from odds and ends (spent $4 on the cable ends), you get the idea. I just love fabricating items, and if I can do it at little to no cost, it makes me feel good, and I can usually build it stronger than the production counterpart.

BTW, those old axle U-bolts also make great steps, just take some pipe of a larger diameter, weld them to the bottom of the door opening (at the rocker panel), bend the U-bolt with a torch, and slide them in place when the wife needs to get in the jeep. Then you just reach down, remove them, and throw them in the jeep for wheeling.

As to the grinder, I have found little parts and pieces to refurbish another one, like a switch or center shaft, so I keep them around, but don't stock up on them.

BTW DAve, those old fan belts and spark plugs are good for, uh, um, nothing, I throw them out as well. After all, we don't want to have junk laying around with all the good spare parts.

JEEPN
Winter Harbor, Maine
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled, It's a Jeep, Chevy, IHC kinda thing!
'88.5 Zuki, 7" Lift, Locked, Swamped, Rolled, and just generally broken in right!
 
#7 ·
yep same here.. its amazing all the crap i have in my little storage shed.. thank god for work.. where they drink coffee like water.. so i get all the old large cans.. and throw my small crap into.. and label.. i now have almost a whole coffee can of wheel studs.. where the hell did i get all these wheel studs???? then i have my nuts and bolts sorted by size and thread..
i get all of this from my families dna.. nobody in my family throws anything away... not even the women folk.. /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

http://www.jeepgod.net

survival is instinct, but living takes guts
 
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#8 ·
I've only got a small garage that barely fits two cars. We've already got to "weave around" the lawn mower to park, and it's just a push mower! Nonetheless, stuffed in all the nooks and crannies are things like a Jeep 4cyl radiator with a pin-hole leak, misc. scraps of metal for bracketry, assortment of unmatching nuts and bolts, washers and rings, front driveshaft that's too short, etc. etc. and that's just the Jeep stuff!

Who needs a road...if there's a perfectly good JEEP trail somewhere else!?
 
#10 ·
Hi Ken

My name is Jeff and I`m a part-a-holic :) I`m the same way but I don`t dare toss anything out , I know for a fact as soon as I do , I will need a piece of that old u-bolt for making a latch for my spare tire carrier or something . It never fails Ken , you will always need something off of what you tossed away last week .Buy a metal shed and toss it all in there /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

Jeff



O|||O /wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif
 
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#11 ·
my wife claims i am a pack rat! i keep al sorts of stuff. dented/bent steering stabilizer...got one under the work table. old u-bolts.....got them too a bunch of them. they come in handy if you have a metal shop like i do i have my linclon 225 arc welder hanging from a couple and a couple more welded on right below that. they are good for coiling my welding leads and hanging them on. i use "junk" for all sorts of junk. my wife hates that i keep all this crap but she thinks it is kinda neet when i turn "junk" into something usefull. power to the pack rats!

brian wilson
80 cj5 "high 5"
stretched to 100" wb
vortec350/4L80E/d300/d60fr/14br/detroits/4.56/38's
 
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#12 ·
The old parts I keep are a reminder to the ones still in the jeep. It is more of a parts heaven/Hell system good parts are placed on shelves, and enjoy the after life. The very luck get reincarnated as other parts and return to life. The bad parts are smashed, melted, left in the rain, and given an unceremonious trip to the garbage can.

For example spun 2 piece AMC 20 axles are cut apart in front of other axles as a warning. Non spun axles are displayed as a reward for not failing despite design flaws.

bandhmo

 
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