Remember the times, in Hot Roding, when we didn’t have cherry picker engine hoist and if we had a garage we used a come-a-long and the rafters or if we didn’t have a garage we used tree limbs or maybe an old swing set? How about all the times you crawled under a car in the dirt while it was sitting up on blocks. Well we don’t operate like that anymore. We all have large spaced garages with cement floors that’s heated in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. We have Floor jacks for lifting our cars, not bumper jacks, Hydraulic engine and transmission lifts, Car lifts in some cases, and nice sturdy 2 ton stands to hold our cars up when needed. (Yea right) That would be the ideal world that I dream about living in, but here in my 60’s I find myself operating similar to what I did over 40 years ago. My garage is actually a 16x22 dirt floor open sided car canopy and it not really a garage but more of a workshop. The only vehicle it houses is a small farm tractor. But under the roof I have two Gang Boxes (construction site tool boxes) to store and secure my hand power tools. I have a 13” vertical band saw, a small Horizontal Band saw, a small Drill Press, air compressor and 6’ wood top workbench on one side and a 10 foot steel top workbench down the other side. Located near the center is a 3x4 welding table. I have a Small Lincoln Mig welder sitting on a modified 4 wheel wagon to serve as a cart, and a set of oxy/accel tanks on a large two wheel steel cart. Where do I work on my cars? Just like I did when I was 15, out in the open on the God made ground. I do use some modern connivances, but they have been modified for outside use. The MIG welder is an example. I built a structure to sit it on, and then welded it to a garden wagon that had a mesh deck and 8” pneumatic tires, this way I can drag it anywhere my extension cord will reach. And If I want to go further then I have two portable generators to chose from. Jack stands that don’t work too well on soft ground work great when they have a flat plate welded for the legs to sit on (old dirt racer trick). The engine lift has always been a pain. Since 3” steel wheels don’t work worth a damn in dirt, normally the stand would be positioned where a car could be push up to it (like a tree limb), engine lifted, car moved out of the way, truck backed up and engine lowered into bed of truck. I used to have a larger tractor that I could use to lift the engine with the boom pole and set it in a shed where I could work on it, but I downsized on the tractor. This last weekend I put some Shade Tree Mechanic theory to work. I replace the front wheel extensions, on the engine lift, with some that I made and mounted some skids on. The rear wheel extensions were removed and I constructed some “L” shaped extensions that would adapt to the lift bars on my tractors 3 point hitch. [SIZE] I next welded some tabs to the engine lift upright to attach the adjustable top link of the 3 point hitch. [SIZE] Now I can lift the rear of the engine lift, adjust the top link to lift and level the front legs and back the lift, with the tractor, any where I wish. If the engine is too heavy, for the tractor to lift, all I do is raise the rear a little and drag the stand on its front skids. My engine lift has become mobile in the great outdoors.[SIZE] [/FONT] And a little paint finishes it off.[SIZE] What’s the saying about Old age and Wisdom? Having to figure out how to do 2 and 3 man jobs by yourself helps at times. There once was a time when we couldn’t just go out and buy or find whatever we wanted and we figured out how to do it the best we could. Today it seems as if whatever you need someone has already thought of and all you need to do is buy it. On the average the common guy has quit being creative and relies on others too much. Same with Hot Rods, instead of going to a junk yard and finding something that you can adapt, most people go straight to a catalog and look for what they need.[SIZE]
You should ask around at the garagejournal.com They got lots of great idea's there about getting buy with the garage you have.
That's the ticket! My friend who is 78 had a stroke a few years ago and after a year and a half of recovery found himself dreaming up all manner of longcuts to allow one man to do a two or even three or four man job. He says he does pretty well for a guy with only good hand one good leg. We got his 23 T Track Car he originally built in 1969 redone from its vacation in the field covered by a camper top for several years after we returned from our trip in the two roadsters to Minneapolis for the 20TH NSRA Nationals. We built a gl*** 32 3W coupe since then as well as the gl*** Mullins Trailer we're currently finishing up. I get up to his place in the country for a few days each month and that helps with some of the heavy stuff. He's got all kinds of jigs for putting things together, stands for painting wheels, fenders, rollaround everything(tables, chairs, tool stands), and a crane boom in the building door for the body up and down stuff since he got weaked out. The Kuboda tractor with front end loader does lots of yeoman's work with frames, engines etc, too. The best thing he ever did was have a 30X40 building built up there before he retired with a nice big concrete front apron to work on. Last year his son-in-law helped him add a 17X28 additon to the building so we could move all the woodworking and steel cutting tools into the addition plus a bunch of parts on the walls on pegboard. They also added a nice cover over the apron out front which makes those sunny baking hot days tolerable. That leaves us with his 28-29 Closed Cab Pickup project, redoing my Old Roadster, building me a Track Car, 2 more Mullins trailers, my 28-29 A Tudor, and a 26-27 T speedster. Projects are keeping him going and we still attend a few swap meets a year so the old guys won't think he died!
One of my best memories is pulling a flathead out of my 40 Hudson custom using a limb of a tree in the back yard! O for the simpler days.
Yes I grew up in Florida where the live oaks always provided you with at least one good limb plus a whole lot of shade. We had one that when I left, for the Navy, had a chain loop the tree had grown around. Looked like a chain was just hanging out of the bottom of the limb.
Very cool ideas. In the past when using a cherry picker on dirt I always had a sheet or two of plywood to throw under the wheels. The plywood also doubled as a mobile shop floor. It's only been in the last few years that I have had a concrete floor to work on, it's just about heaven to me. I'm thankful to have it.
I think most of us old average guys all did about the same thing and had about the same equipment. We did get the job done though and always had to figure a way to do it by our self. I now have the ac and heated shop and some nice equipment to work with but for the most still alone and having to figure a way to get it done. I guess I would find it hard to work with any one since I always was somewhat a loner but at the end of the day I am ready for the easy chair. I think your post hit home to many of us and like you wont forget the old good times.
Yup I used a tree once (in the neighbor's yard while they weren't home, no less). We couldn't get things lined up perfectly, so I had my body weight against the come-along cable to torque and jiggle the motor around. 30 years later I still have the scar on my chin from when the motor broke free and the come-along spun around and socked me in the jaw. Another time I used a tree with a friend to pull an O/T early Honda Civic engine. Once we got it out we tried like hell to lower it into the trunk of my 68 Impala and couldn't line it up without damaging my trunk. We later discovered that 2 guys could simply lift the aluminum 4 banger and carry it by hand (who needs a stinkin' cherry picker?).
HAAHAHAHA we were gonna use my dad's tractor this weekend to pull an engine out the back of my truck cuz the cherry picker was leaking oil
I don't have have a garage but, I do have a big *** tarp that I can lay on so I don't have to lay in the dirt. I get pretty far with what I have. Believe me though, not much work gets done in the dead of winter. If it does, it gets done in a hurry.
When the wife and I were first married we lived in a trailor park. I had a small Craftsman tool box a set of drive up ramps I built out of used 2x8's and an extension cord run out of a hole in the kitchen window to work at night. Looking back it's amazing the projects I did under those conditions. Now it's a 40'X80' two story shop with an office and full bathroom, 150,000 BTU furnace, 2 200amp electrical services, an inground hoist, paint booth, 2 air compressors plumbed to every corner, cable TV and refrigerator and microwave. Also 4 double stack tool boxes filled with every tool imaginable and a machine shop area with a Bridgeport mill, surface grinder, 3 drill presses, 2 lathes, a verticle and horizontal cutoff saws, 2 mig welders and a tig welder, 2 sheet metal brakes and a power shear. Theres more but you get the idea. Most of the equipment is from my last business doing fabrication work for Howe Racing Enterprises and a high performance engine shop I had. It's sure nice to go out there now and just "play" since being forced into retirement. Frank
It'll work fine with a boom pole as long as the tactor has some m***. I tried moving a FE 390+C6 but all my little tractor would do is lift most the weight and then wheelie. I ended up draging the engine with the tractor acting like it was at a tractor pull with the front end about 3" off the ground.
I have a dirt driveway and I just covered a 12' x 24' with exterior 3/4" plywood which I painted both sides with porch enamel, been down for 5 years with no problems yet.
That gives me an idea for my cherry picker... what of all the wheels were replaced with blocks of nylon? it would slide around a lot easier AND be low enough to get under my drop axle.... Which would mean the car could move (no jackstands) out of the way instead of the picker... OK, gotta call McMaster-Carr!!!
I'm a traditional hot rodder. I still lay in the dirt and work outside! I like the skid idea, don't have a tractor though. I have a cherry picker and just work it where I need it.
I have a good concrete floor (although in a cramped one car garage) and a perfectly good creeper, but I'd still rather use a big ol' cardboard box than the creeper. It gives me a couple more inches of clearance for my fat carc*** getting under stuff.
I raid the local furnature store for big card board boxes to get under my rigs. I've got a 100.00 padded SnapOn creeper but can't get a vehicle in the one car garage to use it. My engine lift/chain hoist hanger is made of a piece of surplus aluminum I beam bolted to surplus steel tubing legs I welded up. I had just used it and the cherry picker at the front to swap the roof over on the van. And yes that is my normal workspace where I use the above mentioned cardboard yard creeper.
OK, I finally discovered what the hell you were trying to tell me on the mobile phone. You are on creative Mother Yada!!!!!! Please tell Laura and her twins I said Hi!!!!!!!!!
Where there is a will there is a way.....if you want it or need it bad enough you will make it happen , slow but sure, If I had a tre I would of used it,,, I improvised last Friday night
Boy I can remember a few times pulling a transmission, lying on the bare ground when the temp outside was about 38 degrees. Or ... rigging up some kind of A-frame to pull an engine. I can also remember using a flashlight to do both on occasion. I also walked to school bothways ... up hill .... uh, now I'm lyin' .... I've always admired guys who found ingenous ways to get things done ... especially doing things single-handed that would usually take two or more guys. Great job with the hoist.
Nothing wrong with doing it the old fashioned way. Yes I know the truck is OT but I do not have any pics of it in use on our rods. plus I needed a parts chaser so I built one. but you can see my dady chevelle in the background (kinda) Also, anybody else ever loaded a car on a trailer when you could not afford ratchet straps/load binders? I have done this a few times. Load it on the trailer, let the air out of the tires, chain it down as tight as possible, then blow the tires back up. tight as anything & no movement.
I think I'm in love... Though I once pulled a 327 with a 2" x 4" x 10' and a buddy to balance the motor, I have graduated to a modest 2 car garage with a decent supply of tools and equipment. I am amazed at how many of my friends show up at my place to work on their cars on a concrete floor with a roof over their heads. I only ask that they keep the beer fridge stocked while they are using my ****.
Sadly, I did this in reverse..sold my spread in San Antonio, eight bay garage, even had my own gas pump..fled to Austin and am back working underneath a sturdy oak tree, at least until I get my new garage built...I remember back in the old days you would have a car jacked up on stands, lay out a piece of cardboard underneath it and calculate how long you had to do the job till the fireants found you...
Gives me the warm fuzzies every time I go into pops shop... yeah barn behind the house and see the 2x6's scabbed together with chain hanging around them from 20+ years ago... and think back about all that's been worked on in that shop... usin' myself as transmission hoist, havin to let the air outta the tires to get the truck out after lifting it... Good times...
The Jalopy Journal
