Another Reminder of Why You Don't Need All Those Spares.

In reply to Tom1200 :

If you are tossing Datsun bolts, nuts, screws toss them in the USPS one price box and I'll pay you to ship them.  It seems I need a thousand Datsun pieces of hardware. 

Tom1200 said:

In reply to alfadriver :

I think this thread should be revived about every 6 months because as a group we need to be reminded.

We are redoing the kitchen and I was going to use a couple of the old cabinets in the garage. I only used one. I've cleared out so much stuff I no longer need all that cabinet space.

 

Monthly thread bump/reminder  would be even better for borderline hoarders like myself. I generally try to keep only new spares for consumables on hand, like headlight bulbs, oil, filters, brake fluid, brake pads, etc. Sometimes I'll keep a used part that I remove, but usually if I'm replacing it, it gets scrapped or trashed. I actually just ordered some parts today for my newest acquisition, most for immediate use, but also a spare filter, belt, and headlight bulbs. If I could sell off a few of my random cars, that would definitely simplify my life and bring in some extra cash too.

Datsun240ZGuy said:

In reply to Tom1200 :

If you are tossing Datsun bolts, nuts, screws toss them in the USPS one price box and I'll pay you to ship them.  It seems I need a thousand Datsun pieces of hardware. 

I've kept most of the Datsun specific bolts. We turned it into a race car in 1989 and so the interior fasteners are long gone.

Tom1200 said:

In reply to alfadriver :

I think this thread should be revived about every 6 months because as a group we need to be reminded.

We are redoing the kitchen and I was going to use a couple of the old cabinets in the garage. I only used one. I've cleared out so much stuff I no longer need all that cabinet space.

 

I'd like my reminder once every few weeks, please!

I keep holding onto stuff because "it would be useful for a Challenge car in the future"  I haven't been to the Challenge since 2017 and don't have a project....

Unintended consequences of this thread may be hoarders scanning these posts and replying, "Hey, if you're going to throw that out...I'll take it."

Circle of life, baby.

Appleseed said:

Unintended consequences of this thread may be hoarders scanning these posts and replying, "Hey, if you're going to throw that out...I'll take it."

Circle of life, baby.

Actually, that should be an intended consequence, as long as the volunteer understands the possible hoarding outcome.  But I REALLY would like to see someone who will enjoy my stuff as much as we did to get it.  I'm donating a bunch of books to the Alfa club so that 1) they can make a little money for the club and 2) some new person can have access to the information.  

I think the Challenge parts pass along is an amazing thing to do.

While I definitely have a crap-ton of car parts all over the place, my true achilles is bicycle parts.  Back when I was racing, I used to carry a small bike shop with me to DH race venue - sometimes including an entire spare bike.   Many of those parts I still have, despite the fact I no longer own or ride the bikes they're for.    When I tried racing DH again about 10 years ago, I picked up right where I left off - tires, brake parts, wheels.. you name it.  And now I have a crap ton of tires for an obsolete race bike. Part of me is tempted to build up another DH bike - simply because I still have most of the parts to build it.

Car parts for me are somewhat different.  I don't really have a ton of duplicate spares (other than two extra GT6 engines).  However, when you have five "toy" cars, even just the amount of single spares takes up a lot of space. 

We're in the process of re-doing our garage.  The plan is to fix drywall and paint, new epoxy floor, lighting, cabinets, etc.  To get started we had to get the garage completely empty.  To do that, we had to clear out the basement storage and workshop so the garage stuff had a place to go while we worked.  Needless to say, it was a MUCH bigger job than I anticipated.  I ended up going halves with my nextdoor neighbor to put a huge dumpster in the driveway last weekend.

Once I started putting stuff in the dumpster I couldn't stop.  Imagine parts and supplies from 15 years worth of project cars that are no longer here.  A few dozen bottles of fluids with 20% in the bottom leftover from the last Bush administration.  Scrap metal, plywood, hardwood, paint, insulation, electronic components, etc. from a million projects long gone.  My neighbor and I were in disbelief that by Sunday night, the huge dumpster was completely full to the top with crap from just our two houses.  And that's just the garbage, I also had several truckloads of stuff that I recycled or donated.

The process was deeply cathartic.  I highly recommend it.