a-cleanin' I will go, I see more Gremlin, garage hints...

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, I spent some more "quality time" out in the garage with my GT last 
nite, I can now touch the four corners of my garage again for the first time 
since I first moved into the house last November! I hung a new light over a 
just-installed workbench, and now have lots of photonic illumination to see 
what I'm working on. I'll probably spend tonite (Thur. ) putting stuff up in 
the rafters of the garage for storage, mostly AMC and Tri-chevy car and truck 
trim and misc. parts. I've got lots of empty boxes cluttering up the area, so 
I need to get rid of those, or repack some other boxes. Still not a " 2-car " 
garage again, but getting closer!
I've been using some stuff I've saved/recycled for years now to help 
organize my garage, so I'll list a few of the odd things I've accumlated over 
the years to make my efforts easier, as I think most people don't think of 
them like I would.

1) 3-ring binder spines - I saved the metal binder spines ( drilled the 
rivets out to remove them from the covers ), and I"ve mounted the larger ones 
( 2-3" diameter) with screws along the horz. 2x4 braces in the walls so I'll 
have places to hang items. They're great because you can close them up to 
keep items from falling off, and some of the more elaborate binders have 
flat-sided rings, etc. that will allow multiple items to be put on them at 
once. So next time you see someone throwing out obsolete manual binders, 
think about saving some if you need hanging hooks in your garage.
2) Old office lighting - I can't tell you how many times I've seen a 
building being remodeled, with lots of flurourescent light and standard light 
fixtures being thrown in a large open dumpster as "trash"...I've done my 
share of late-nite dumpster-diving to salvage these treasures for future use, 
or use down on my aunt's aging farm where most of the lights have quit 
working in the shop and barns. In all my years of "recycling", I've never 
once been accosted for REMOVING things from a dumpster....LOL. I now have 
several of the fixtures in use in my new garage. 

3) 35mm film containers - Now THESE are some of the most versatile of 
mini-storage containers ever! If you're working on a hobby or project with 
small screws or objects, these come in handy for storage so you won't loose 
the tiny pieces, and you can label them as well. If you don't take as many 
pictures as I do, you might pick some up free at photo developing labs, as 
they probably just throw them out when people bring in the film for 
developing. I LOVE these things! Also good for storing small jewelry, etc in 
luggage for easy locating.

4) Old metal coat pegs or door stops - I used a bunch of the 2-hook brass 
coat hooks you mount to walls for hanging cables, large tools,etc, in my 
gaarage. The 4" long metal door stop pegs are heavy-duty enough to hang large 
heavy objects on as well, like coiled extension cords. If you ask where I get 
this stuff...auctions, mostly. Lots of rusty, abused coat hooks and stuff 
like that that can be recycled for non-asthetic uses. 

Well that's all for my " Shop Tips " for this morning...I need to get 
dressed to go to work! Catch ya later, folks. 

Jerry
Whistling while I work cleaning the garage...