Hot Rods Things you keep in your trunk and ways of storing it

My crafty, talented and beautiful daughter made this heavy leather tool bag for me for my birthday last year. She made it to fit behind the seat in the truck or in the trunk of the 34. She even branded her logo in the corner.

Yeah, better to keep them handy but I was referring to my Olds rag top and the roof is typically down on that one. I figure some crack head would steal it it was inside the car. I actually lost a Fleetwood Mac 8 track out of the deck one day. WTF?

 

Many years ago I use to carry half the hardware store and the other half was the auto parts store. But this day of age, you no longer have to wait or it seems there is a parts store located every few miles.

Now if I break down, I have a cell phone(years ago no such thing existed ) call someone to pick me up and I go home and get my truck and trailer and fix the car in my own shop instead of on the side of the road and hope I make it home or at least back to civilization. So now I carry very few things but make sure I have that cell phone and save it for emergency calls only.

 

I think Mark hit on a cool solution on how to keep all his clean up supplies neatly packed in the trucks of his custom cars, he uses suitcases. HRP

 

For my discriminating customers at swap meets, I try to have a few vintage "Totes and Kit Bags" available that could hold tools and parts, etc.
The Mail-R-Money security pouch is sold long ago but I still have these antique "Doctor bags". I might hit 'em with some leather treatment and polish someday when I get a 'round toit".

 

Your daughter does nice work!
So a crackhead actually did you a favor by stealing that Fleetwood Mac cartridge!!! Did he take your Carpenters tape, too?

 

Spare tire (wrong size).
Factory Widowmaker jack.
Small hydraulic jack.
2 toolboxes of tools.
Jump leads.
Hood prop.
Gloves.
Water.
Engine oil.
Fix-a-flat.
Air compressor (x2)
Spare coil.
Brake fluid.
Windscreen wash.
Oil can.
Penetrating oil.
Length of 2x2 wood.
Vacuum pump.
Fan belt.
Dirt

 

Fluids, tools and all the stuff I need to hook the tow bar to my tabs. The bar is mounted to a trailer ball & studs with wing nuts. It's also ballast.

 

Thanks guys. @Bandit Billy love the bag.

I too keep the fire extinguisher inside the cab and come to think of it I need to reinstall it and make sure it’s good to go after the build

I’ve got some old small vintage toolboxes I can’t wait to get one cleaned up and put in use

 

Contractor tool bags, look like small duffel but heavy duty. 1 with all hitch crap and a few tools. 1 with straps, tie downs, gloves, stocking cap.

Winter, I keep another duffel with boots, coat, gloves, rain suit etc move it to every car I drive.

OOPS trunk not truck.
I've added D ring tie down loops to many cars trunk over the years. Let's me use a tie down strap to keep things from shifting.

 

The old rusty toolbox belonged to my wife's grandfather, who was a welder. It is rusty and missing parts and beaten up but it's a really long box which means I can fit a lot of regularly used tools in.

As for organization? Not really.

I could probably do with a box to put up next to the battery to stop things rattling about as I drive.
Might even be able to use the trunk when I go grocery shopping too. What a concept...

 

Every car gets it's own tool box (and first aid kit). Old tool boxes, old tools, semi old driver......I go to old tool swapmeets also . I got a cell phone MUCH later then most, so before that was side of the road repairs only and I'm still stuck with that. I figure if I'm going to get stuff to keep in the cars to use why not find old stuff that I care about.

In the boxes along with tools are:
Rags
Duct tape
Electrical tape
Mechanics wire
Nuts, bolts and washers of various sizes
Flashlight (old of course w/led bulb)
Batteries for flash light in separate plastic bag
Jumper wire
Small roll of 16g wire with connectors
Zip ties
Twine
Bulbs
Tune up parts (points, cond, 1 long spare spark plug wire)
Chunk of fuel hose
Hose clamps
Knife
Hose bypass fitting
Hose emergency repair tape
Oil
Scissor Jack (Vintage one)
Spare
Gloves
Gas can (vintage)
Cell phone charge cable
Element fire extinguisher (plus 5lb halotron)

If it's a planned long trip, I'll also include:
More tune up stuff (coil, cap, rotor, a couple of plugs)
Tire plug kit
Fuel pump (depending on the car)
Water
Belt
Grease
Small jump start box (4"x6")

All in an old milk crate. Haven't figured out the '28 Tudor yet as you only have under the rear seat storage.
Both load locks from Harbor Freight.

Here's the '41 p/u, the second crate is storage (newer plastic crates in here because I didn't want to damage the paint).


The '56 Panel, has the only newer (early 90s) tool box I have. My girl bought it for me as a gift in the first couple of years.

 

I have had my work truck towed by AAA several times, they may take a bit to come but they always came. I do know that in any specific area of CT there is a limited number of AAA tow companies, and they may cover quite a big area.
I got towed from Groton to Wallingford, the driver was headed to the Windsor area from there. Holiday weekends
and/bad weather I am sure will make the wait even longer.

 

I have had the "two is one, one is none" philosophy drilled in to me from an early age...
So, I have a military ammo can with:
Basic hand tools
Some special tools, (like that short screwdriver that fits my dual 97s just right.)
Rebuild kit for my mechanical fuel pump
Spare Pertronix module
Short piece of rad hose
Length of fuel hose
A few various sized hose clamps
Lengths of various gauge wire
Small tube of gasket maker/sealer
An Altoids tin with fuses and various crimp connectors
Bailing wire
Electrical tape
Duct tape
Various zip ties
Small tube of thread locker
And a few rags
In a separate bag I have jumper cables, sun screen, bug spray, glass cleaner, quart of oil, a wad of paper towles, a boo-boo kit, and an emergency rain poncho...can either keep you dry or give you something lay on...
Chappy

 

A hand Grenade , when it pisses me off , to blow the bastard up with !

 

Don't have a trunk

 

I went fom a Sedan Delivery with lots of storage room, to a Cabriolet (no storage room). Decided I didn't need a spare tire (have Haggarty Roadside) so I converted the spare tire carrier into a locking toolbox.

 

Now THAT'S the traditional way to store your trunk 'stuff'! Good job, Phil!!!

 

I don't either, which makes it inconvenient for the wife (WHY do women need so much shit to travel???), so I built a bolt-in mounting frame in the bed that fits two coolers (which can be secured in place with lockable cables) ..... one for her 'essentials' and one for my roadside tools, rags, and beer can cozies. Two fire extinguishers live in the cab. Works for me...

 

NSRA members receive a small handbook with members name, phone numbers that volunteer to offer roadside help, organized by state. I have used it once and have been called, I gave them name, number of shop that could help. Agree with a few hand tools, zip ties, 100 MPH tape, fire extinguisher, we saved a man's car in our group when we all ran over and put the fire out. The very best tool for traveling I've had since around 1989/90 and still always have with me is my cell phone, IMO, cell phone, a credit card, some emergency cash with you, will take care of any situation. I can say that in thousands of miles chasing race cars, (before cell phones) my hot rod travels, general car travel, never had a bad experience with roadside help, always was treated fairly and met many good people in my travel adventures.

 

wasnt building a show car so passed on upholstered trunk in my 40 Ford sedan. I built a plywood shelf & mounted fuse box & relay panel next to battery box. the shelf is elevated so a donut spare fits under it. also small jack, 4-way tool, mechanics gloves under it. plenty of room for lawn chair, cheap harbor freight tool box, gal antifreeze, jumper cables, towels, cleaning supplies. I used to work at a Ford dealer & saved a plastic cover that came on replacement bumper covers. always bring one on a long trip. they are are heavy foldable plastic with a soft side almost like velour. makes a great tarp if I have to get under car.

 

Love the ideas guys. Thanks for the feedback!

 

I try to keep it neat; I like upholstered ones but a little over the top for me. Larry’s Thunderbird has a nice zippered satchel in factory colors so I keep some paper towels, glass cleaner, spray wax, fuel additive, and essential tire/rim parts in case of a flat. Other side for jacks, tire wedges, jumper cables and hyway warning reflectors. Always 2 folding chairs not seen in the photos and an 8’ canopy will fit if needed.

 

... now we know where Waldo is

 

Everything And A Gallon Of Gas....

 

Tool bag with basic tools, ratchets, screw drivers, common wrenches voltage check etc.
Good Jack, spare
Jump box with compressor for tires included.
Gloves, old T-shirt, pair of old sweat pants.
Ballast Resistor (Mopar)
4 way lug wrench.
Need to throw a tire plug kit, set of points, condensor in there too.

 

Hello,

The main thing for me was to keep a small white towel and a small bottle of Windex or whatever was handy at the local grocery store, in the trunk. It was one thing to go on long trips, but to spend an overnight was another. The road trips were always up/down the coast and with that, comes salt air every day and night.

It was a good thing there was a small space in the rear cave to store things. Wrapping the small bottle with the towel kept the rattling down to nothing. When we usually got up in the early morning and hit the water, the sedan delivery was coated with salt air and a fine layer of salt water.

By the end of the day, the salt air would have dried on the window making it hard to see. It was just something I did not like at any time, let alone driving a long distance home. Clean windows always makes driving more fun and safe.

Jnaki

Jump up 53 years and we still have different non-ammonia bottle of Glass Plus and a white towel for the window wiping moment. But, now, the small white towel has a yellow Velcro strap around it to keep it together in the rear compartment. The longest weekly road trip was a 120 mile round trip to the San Diego Harbor for sailing.

It was usually a long day and we were too tired to drive home after sailing. So, we spent the night. Upon getting ready to leave, our station wagon was always covered with a fine layer of salt air and the windows were sometimes covered thicker, depending on which way the wind brought in the late night/early morning salt moisture.

But, along with the small bottle of Glass Plus, was a handy package we purchased one night on our coastal road trips as an emergency. It was a single sheet, pull out package to clean the windows. One time on our coastal road trips up North, our car got wet on consecutive days and since our towel was too wet to dry the windows these towelettes did the job. YRMV

 

What is the bed fire extinguisher to carry in a trunk or interior?

 

Halon. Period. It works and easy clean up. I carry them in everything. Not cheap but less expensive then watching your car burn

 

I carry this in the tool bag.

thinking about making a Simonize label for it.
Not the best tasting but cool can!

 

I carry most of my trunk stuff in a PETE&JAKES logo cardboard box...........