Greetings, do any of you have a system for labeling parts and keeping an inventory, such as part number, description, year(s), location (example: Bin A-4)? Any ideas would be appreciated!
I keep it in my head, just like the guy who owned the junkyard I used to work at did. Problem is my brain don't work as good as it used to. I spend a lot of time looking for stuff that I gave away a long time ago!
Man if you saw my ba*****t and the spare room you would blow your mind.I don't know how I find anything.I have parts bins and shelves but 90 percent is in boxes piled high. If you can find a miracle cure for keeping track please let us all know.....
Exactly! I'm going through this as well and looking for alternatives, as well as keeping track of things for insurance and/or exit plan purposes. Who was that said "my biggest fear in death is that my wife will sell all my toys for what I told her I paid for them"?
Seriously, this is probably a real good idea for many of us "older" members. I am 68 now, and I have collected a lot of stuff over the years, some of which may be pretty rare. The best example I can think of is a "****on" flywheel that was used when my dirt car ran an Olds Rocket. This is used to couple the engine to a CAE in-out box, with early Ford spline and bolt pattern. I ran across this just yesterday when I was looking for something else. I doubt there are more than a dozen people on this planet who would know what it is by just looking at it. However, there is a real good chance that someone out there may need it some day when doing a vintage race car restoration, etc. Seeing this thread set my mind in motion and tomorrow, I am going to see if I can find some of those cardboard tags with attachment wire on them. I plan to keep a stack of them in my shop. Then, when I come across something like this, I'll write what it is on the tag so that others will know what the part is and what it fits. Hopefully, after I'm gone, my stuff will end up going to someone who could use it rather than being thrown in the trash. I am toying with the idea of a rating system so the relative rarity can be indicated on the tag. (Something like 1 to 5 stars; I would rate this piece at 4 stars because it is a purpose made race only part for an obsolete but still relatively popular engine. In the same vein, there is a thread going around the web called "Guidance for Trustee" that is advice for what the survivors should do when an older enthusiast p***es. A lot of older rodders (and enthusiasts in many hobbies, gun collectors, wooden boat guys, etc.), have acquired collections that are quite large and valuable over the years. It would be a shame to see them dispersed willy-nilly. Sorry hijacking this thread, but I think this is important.
I use the tags and it works well. I tagged a bunch of parts and then boxed them with a little reasoning (electrical, trim, etc.) then I stacked the boxes in my shop attic. The biggest thing is to label the boxes. If you can write an "inventory list" on the side of the box with a sharpie and cross it off as you use/ sell it. I don't have a whole lot, but with 4 different cars, tractors, motorcycles, it helps to keep the spares in track.
"In the same vein, there is a thread going around the web called "Guidance for Trustee" that is advice for what the survivors should do when an older enthusiast p***es." Would you have a link to that tread by any chance? It sounds like a good idea. Back to the topic at hand, I cut up old file folders into tag sized bits and punch a hole at one end, then get a roll of wire tie wrap stuff from the dollar store and throw them all together with a Sharpie in a ZipLoc bag. The roll of wire ties lets me wrap a tag around big stuff. I mark and tag everything in sight, and to be honest, this is as much for my own sake as it is for anybody else. The older I get the more I thank myself when I'm looking for something I forgot I had.
You have to write on the part itself what it is and a dollar value of what its worth. However, it may be that much of what we have may be considered as not so valuable by those we leave behind. They will just want it "gone." With that view, I plan to sell or give away my parts while I am alive so as not to burden any family or friends. Be honest, some of this I know I will never use. Get rid of it while you can. Hope I,m wrong.
I used to work GM parts.... My stuff ( which I dont have much of) will be set up in the following way. I am going to build a shelving system in both my attic and my eventual storage shed. Each shelving section will be be a letter, A B C and so on. Each shelf will be numbered 1 on top progressively bigger on the way down. then I plan on building a Data base that is search able. I plan on basing it all on a GM group number and parts segregated by like parts... IE 0.**X is engine 9.**x is HVAC that way like parts are together. I know this sounds WAY complicated and Im not sure I would want to go into do a whole shop that is stuff and organize that, but... being that my part stash is small, It will be easy to start out that way. I do like the idea of giving parts a value or value range, makes thing easier in bad cir***stances. and Im not talking nuts and bolts and consumables... just major parts and asmy's.
Ziplock bags and a sharpie. I only need my code. Steering box bolts is enough code for my simple mind. I have separate cabinets for my different cars. Early V8 stuff in one cabinet and 56 Ford stuff is in another. Same thing for the shelves upstairs. Two separate areas. I don't profess to being organized but this works for me. I spend most of my time looking for the part that I had in my hand 10 minutes ago.
I think this may be what you need. (It was on the V8 Flathead Ford board). http://www.flatheadv8.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1462#p8720
I'm going through this right now- I just rebuilt my garage and put up an entire wall of shelves for car/project parts. At the moment I've got each shelf (more or less) separated by parts for different cars, with engines on the floor under the shelves. I boxed up everything that wasn't really big or strangely shaped and have started marking everything in each box. I just used up the various boxes I had around and now they look all cattywampus and ****py since they're all different shapes/sizes - it really doesn't look organized at all! And, if i die tomorrow nobody on earth is going to know all of what they're looking at given the mix of Crosley/mopar/DKW/Renault, etc gunk. My wife just got back from a friend's house and saw the husband's garage project: a '50s Alfa Romeo restoration project, with every part (and spares) meticulously labeled in matching bins. must be nice!
Last time I took my car apart I bought a bunch of plastic containers with lids for the small stuff and labeled the containers. They were plastic, shoe box size and stackable. Worked good for me. The big stuff was obvious
Keep it simple. Put LIKE things together. Example. Tools in the toolbox, Electrical parts in another, nuts and bolts inanother. Add more boxes as the collection grows. Metric in one and standard in another. -then 3/8 and 1/2. -Fine and co****-then stainless. MY COMPLETE ba*****t of my house is my warehouse. Floor to cieling-front to back. (I work for a living in the automotive field in my home garage). Everything is organized. Boxes, shelves, filing cabnits(13), and every organizing unit you can think of. All bought used. With-in 5 to 10 minutes, I can find it if I have it. 14 gauge red wire, YIP. 3/8 stainless lock washer,YIP. A spring this big,YIP. July 73 Hot Rod Magazine, YIP. An original Matchbox Batmobile, Yip. If you can`t find or can`t remember what you have. It`s time to get rid of it or get organized.
Well one question that hasnt really been asked is what size parts collection is this?? Also how much storage area do you have? I have a fairly large storage area (2500 Sq/ft) linned with pallet racks. I have each pallet numbered and lettered (1A -2B). On each pallet there are 9 cubby holes, built from plywood, for the smaller parts. For larger parts no cubby holes are needed. I then have a simple Excel spread sheet with one row listing the pallet number/letter and the next and inventory of that pallet. So when I need to find a part, say its a model A head light. I search for it in the spread sheet and it tells me what pallet its on. Then I hop on the forklift and go get that pallet down from the rack. Find the cubby hole labeled headlights and choose the one I want. Simple as that!
Organizitional skills are something I'm lacking, and I've never noticed anyone in the hobby using any in the 49 years I've been in it.
I like to put most of mine in boxes (Home Depot sells the lowest price cardboard boxes) put together using long lasting tape (Home Depot again, note there is a special type of packing take designed for long term storage in their paint department). The parts are labeled with the vehicle they go to, e.g. "'31 RDPU restoration", "'31 RDPU spare parts" etc. Heavy parts go into 5 gallon plastic pails purchased at a low price from my local recycling center. One of the instructions to my trustee if I die without completing everything is to put the boxes with the car indicated and sell them together as a lot. After the cars and ***ociated parts are sold together, everything else is sold individually or as one lot. Storage shelves are made from 2X4's (you guessed it, Home Depot again). Christmas stuff, clothes and kids stuff got moved to the attic. Charlie Stephens
I use clear plastic boxes, and keep like items together. Then in shelves all of the Falcon parts are keep in one area, 54F100, and 28 chev the same. Things in cardboard boxes get forgotten.
Another take on organizing parts: I use a basic computer program at home to keep track of what I've installed on my cars. Part#s, item, description, everything. Example: My heater fan switch in the '50 Burb is '94 Jeep, NAPA #******
I'm part of the write on the box crowd, but write it where it can be seen easily when you are looking at the box on the shelf! I have several dedicated bays for some of my projects, and have a workbench for each where I ac***ulate and store new and rebuilt parts that will be used soon. The others are in my barn, in boxes if they fit. Keeper parts are in one room, with a door, and the others are lined up so I can access them whether I need to use or sell them. The excess is also ready to go to a swap meet when I get a chance. I do have a folder with receipts for new and/or parts bought online which would be a guide for my survivors. My son said to quit buying because he will have to do something with it one day! Lately I'm trying to convert, to parts I don't need into parts I do need. Good luck and when you find the perfect system let us know! tnrotter
I know it's not a very good system but it is simple. I just take plastic zip lock bags write on the outside with a sharpie what it is and store it say 49 Chev. parts bin or Lincoln bin, etc.
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