I will be 69 in December , and have lost the ambition and drive to build another truck , My projects now are small , cheap and less work . In the last few months recovering from back surgery , I have noticed how much junk is taking up space . This past week I took 1.500 lbs of steel to the yard , got rid of 15 wheel and tires , and a pick up load of trash , from the garages . Still have a ways to go but , this has been a great start . I think guilt got me started , as I have reached a point where , my life could be over any day and my wife would have to deal with the mess . Just some thing for all of us to think about , as we try to walk through our garages .

 

I hear you. My trouble is that I don't know what to do with all the engine and rive train parts I've accumulated. I keep hearing those ads on the radio "Just point!" but I can't do that. I haen't tied but I imagine the market for old Frord truck pats is pretty small in Oakland CA where I live.

 

If you are recovering from back surgery....be extra thoughtful about any lifting etc....your ambition to clean up might override your common sense for the real time it takes to heal up....Feeling good again is great but its likely you arent healed all the way and may be needing to take it just that much slower than you think...I had major back surgery 22 years ago and for the most part am the good result guy....but my wife the Physical Therapist was on my a## for the first 2 years especially and even now she is after me for my sitting and standing postures....core ie abdomen(abs) etc conditioning/strength is the key to a great back NO BEER GUTS!....Sorry I had to chime in here....When I returned from a Mexican Vacation I took last December I was told the building I was storing my tool truck in finally going to undergo the always planned for in the 6 years I was there transformation into an assisted living facility..I was given 6 weeks to move....I had full use of a huge area that was a walk in freezer in this retired grocery store we were all using for indoor storage like 60x20x20 worth of what was a freezer.....I had accumulated a ton of stuff things(actually a hoard) like an extra differential and springs and a complete with springs front axle and a slew of 20" widowmaker and a few split rim style wheels and for my C600. These old medium duty truck parts are heavy and awkward to move. I could not really hire anyone because it was such a mess. I needed to sort through it all and determine how to keep the important stuff how to disassemble stuff/catalog stuff etc.I also had not found anything even close to the same opportunity I had enjoyed to have as a replacement... I took the six weeks to do all of that move and my repaired back was not happy about doing what I was doing. My back was warning me each night for the six weeks I was doing what I was doing.After a nights sleep, I would start the day with my back stiff and by noon it would be freed up and then sore by coming home time. A week after I was done, I stepped off of the steps of the tool truck's cab awkwardly a block away from my home. I threw my back out. I went into spasm like I hadnt felt since prior to my surgery 20 years ago.. I made it home and my wife was gone for the day. I made an error and decided because I like hard surfaces when my back feels a little out of sorts to lay on our living room floor. I did this at 10:30 in the morning that Saturday morning. My wife came home at 5pm and I was still there. She was concerned of course. I told her to just leave me alone. At 7pm I started to think....my last trip to the toilet was at 8AM it was now 7pm...I would be needing to do that sooner rather than later...I could NOT get off of that floor. She suggested with her training she could teach a couple of my younger and fairly large neighbors to get me up...I wasnt worried they would hurt me, I was already hurt! I was concerned they not being savvy about lifting me would possible be injured....I had my wife call the paramedics. They came and scooped me onto a gurney and transported me to the hospital. They did a ct scan and found surgically repaired back's hardware(two titanium plates,4 bolts and a piece of my hip that was welded in back there) was still intact but obviously I had inflammation etc from the physical abuse I had been doing. This was in the end of February 7months ago. i went to my Doc and he set me up with 12 weeks of Physical Therapy sessions.. Covid hit and they cancelled me with 6 weeks of sessions remaining. Its only NOW that I feel back to normal mostly..Sept 1st .I just started going out to drive the tool truck to see customers again....I'm 10 weeks into my swimming laps exercise program and am seriously for the first time in a long time focussing on my body's conditioning.....be smart....

 

I've had to clean out kinfolks' homes after they passed, 3X. It really opened my eyes to how much crap we accumulate over a lifetime. And a lot of it goes straight to the dumpster when you're gone. I'm determined not to leave a mess for my sons.

 

This times a hundred. I lost both my parents in span of 13 and after a year of dreading the task my sister and i have been going through and sorting the good from the trash. Crazy the stuff my mom saved.

 

yes I have been pushing the back and it lets me know , I am pretty well caught up and now going into rest and recovery mode . Its been about 16 weeks and I was told it could take a couple of years to finish heiling

 

I am 80 years old and like so many other guys i too have been collecting a lot of things.my wife is always on my butt to get rid of most of that stuff.what am i going to do if you die before me.who is going to help me.i dont know what half of this stuff is and what it is worth.my garage is 32x40 and i have 2 sheds that are12x18.so little by little i have been cleaning them out.i told her to call my friend Butch.we have been great friends for over 16 years.he is great and he would help her in a minute.he said that he would help her out because he does not want anyone to take advantage of her.she might sell things that are worth a lot of money for such a real low price.and other things that are not that worth much and she might ask a lot of money.that is where Butch comes in.he has been building cars for years.so at least she has someone that she can trust to help her out.right now i am starting to do some cleaning.wish me luck

 

My wife's dad passed away in January and we still haven't tackled this monumental task. They lived in the same house for 50 years. We cleared out the attic a year ago and we tossed 3/4 of the stuff. Squirrels can tear up lots of stuff.
My parents are in their early 80's and said they will let me and my brother deal with it. For my father in law we will most likely do an internet auction for lots of stuff. Those seem to go very well, people are allowed to look at pictures and bid over a couple of weeks instead of having to be in a specific location on a certain day to bid.

 

I turn 60 in October and I too have thought about this. I have way to much stuff too but soon as I throw something away I find myself looking for it.

 

Most guys find a certain level of comfort in there stuff. Hard to explain but when a guy sees or is surrounded by their worldly possessions in bring them comfort. Often mass cleanouts bring a lot of disruption and frustration with it.

 

I moved last year after being in my previous home for over 20 years. I have a lot more house and garage space here than in the old place but I purged a couple of heaping pickup loads of stuff that I kept 'because it would good to have if I need it'. Some of it got purged as I was loading for the move and I did a second level purge when I got it to the new place. It was good to let go of that stuff that I would most likely never use- even if I could have found it when I needed it. Some of it I had completely forgotten I had so there was no way I would have ever used it. I did not let go of any old truck or Mercury parts though!

 

This reminds me. A house we bought a while back had an old clothesline. It was all steel. So when I removed it, I kept two 6' poles.
My wife questioned why I kept them and I told her there would be a good use for them sometime. Well, jump forward 20+ years and the flag pole at my in-laws place broke in a wind storm. It is hollow and just snapped about 3 feet from the ground. So I put that pole in the base portion and set the flag pole on it. Quick fix.
I told my wife: "See, I told you I would have a use for this." Her response: "Yeah, 20 years later."

 

A good friend passed two years ago , his family did the internet auction this summer , worked real well , things sold that I would have trashed , most brought more than I expected . They even sold the house garage and property for the going rate , and they didn't have to deal with months of garage sales

 

Hey Dave
Your just a child LOL. I live 30 miles to the closest oreillys or any parts store or hardware store. I keep crap and end up using it as a "get by" or till the next time I go to town. I have spark plugs. plug wires, bolts fan belts and tons of assorted junk.
Told my kid to remember all the times he didn't do what I asked him to do and all the things he did wrong when he was a kid while he was cleaning out and disposing of all my crap after I died I am several years older than you and still think I can build hot rods. The power company has a tree trimming schedule and they came in last week and notified me they were going to trim the right of way leading to my house. I'm about 900 feet off the road in middle of woods. I had to move 12 old cars and assorted other wheeled things out from under the power line. Guess I am still planning on keeping building till I cant any more.
Good to see your still alive and kicking. After this covid mess is over we still need to get back together someplace. Maybe by then I will be able to drive my new hot rod LOL Working on a 53 mercury monterey with a fuel injected 5.0 drive train out of a grand marquis. I have stopped building the pickups and old school street rods like t buckets and 30's stuff.

 

Nice to hear from you , I would like to get a project to play with but can't find anything that I want and can't afford the stuff anyway . my biggest problem is what to do with the finished project . Would love to build a factory 5 cobra , but would I use it when it is done ? always wanted a 64 galaxie 500 xl , but they take up half a garage , and painting it would be a lot of sanding [ they are huge ] maybe a old 750 honda but they have become way to pricey , I have thought about building a indy car using a honda gold wing motor , but what to do with it when done ?