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Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

25638 messages,  Last post on May 20, 2013 at 7:41 AM

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#24919 of 25638 Re: Barge [fintail] by andre1969

Jan 09, 2013 (8:55 am)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 09, 2013 8:11 am)
About the full garages, many people overestimate the value of their flea market at best quality clutter.
 
I know the value of some of the stuff in my garage is questionable...including my '79 5th Ave!
 
There's an old tv set out there from, I'd guess, the 1950's or maybe even the late 40's. My roommate's parents gave it to him, and I let him keep it out there. I have no idea if it works, but I guess it's probably worth something. There's also an old sewing machine, in the stand, that's God-only-knows how old. And an old typewriter that I think was my Grandmother's, back in the 40's. Couple of old vanity/dressing tables from, I'd guess, the 1930's or 40's.
 
I also have the original 2-bbl intake manifold from my '67 Catalina. It had already been rebuilt and converted to a 4-bbl before I bought it, but the intake, as well as other various parts, were in the trunk in a box. Couple of 4-bbl intake manifolds that would fit a Mopar smallblock. There's a chair out there that somebody gave me awhile back, that will probably never be used. I don't need it for the house, so I just threw it out in the garage, figuring one day it would "become useful".
 
My mother gave me her old circa 1969 dining room table and chairs when I bought my condo in 1994. But she kept the china cabinet, saying I could have it "one day". Well, when I had to move out of the condo after the divorce, the table and chairs went into storage at my grandmother's, and was left there when I was able to move back to the condo. I now have the table in my kitchen, although it's a bit too big for it. The chairs are balanced up in the rafters (well trusses, actually) of the garage, as they're kind of bulky, so I just use some smaller kitchen table chairs.
 
I think I get a lot of packrat mentality from my grandparents, who remember the Depression vividly enough that they rarely throw things away that "could" become useful one day.
 
Only thing is, often that "one day" never comes. Last year, I had this beat-up early 70's Lazy Boy recliner in my bedroom that was pretty beat-up. But it was comfortable. Well, it had a habit of gathering clothes, and the cats had been using it as a scratching post. Finally decided to throw it out last spring. I almost felt bad at first, throwing away something that had been in the family and survived nearly 40 years. But, once it was gone, I felt good. And my bedroom seemed a bit bigger. And I don't miss it one bit. Even typing about it now, and bringing the memory of it back up, I can still say I'm glad I got rid of it!
 
One reason I've held off on adding onto the house, garage, storage shed, etc is that it seems like no matter how much storage space I have, build more and it will somehow get filled up!
 
My old condo was 1254 square feet, plus a ~200 square foot garage. I went from that to a ~1500 square foot house, with a 12x16 workshop, and then had a 24x40 garage built, and yet managed to get it all filled up!

#24920 of 25638 Re: Barge [andre1969] by fintail

Jan 09, 2013 (9:10 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 09, 2013 8:55 am)
So you might have a few hundred dollars worth of stuff stored away. Better than those who have similar stuff and spend $200/month on a storage unit, anyway. At least it takes many years of garage rent to approach the value of my old car - spare parts for it are kept in the trunk.
 
A little over 7 ago, I moved from a ~1200 sq ft condo (got out just before the market peaked, not the worst move) to an apartment half that size, and got rid of 80% of my stuff before the move. It was a liberating feeling. My collector/packrat mother has piles of furniture and clutter acquired over the decades - I have made it known I don't want much of any of it when the time comes. One good thing about living in a small place, it limits the accumulation.

#24921 of 25638 Re: Barge [fintail] by andre1969

Jan 09, 2013 (9:33 am)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 09, 2013 9:10 am)
One good thing about living in a small place, it limits the accumulation.
 
Yeah, that's definitely true. I have a friend who lives in a condo in Washington DC, and every time he buys something new, he always tries to get rid of something old...even if it's still in good shape.
 
We're about the same size, so when he decides to get rid of his old dress shirts, he'll let me go through them and pick out anything I want, before donating the rest of him. Now me, I'll usually wear a shirt until it gets a rip in it, which is usually at the elbows. And even then, I'll often just cut the sleeves off and use it like a vest...obviously I'm no longer wearing it to work by then! But, the stuff he gets rid of, usually looks brand-new! But, it's just that he has limited space, so if he buys a new shirt, he almost HAS to get rid of the old one.
 
I'm sure eventually I'll downsize, but I'm not looking forward to it!
 
Oh, and how's this for bad: A few years back, a friend of mine was thinking about selling his '78 Mark V Diamond Jubilee, as he had bought a nicer one and didn't need the "old" one anymore. I had actually considered buying it, just so I'd have something to take to the Ford show in Carlisle! Fortunately I didn't, as it ultimately threw a rod. And, while it was pretty nice when he bought it, it seemed to deteriorate FAST sitting outside.
 
And now, for the Ford show, Lemko puts his Grand Marquis in, so we have that covered!

#24922 of 25638 Re: Barge [andre1969] by michaell

Jan 09, 2013 (10:57 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 09, 2013 9:33 am)
My wife is the anti pack rat. We did some home improvement over the holidays - painting, new kitchen backsplash - and so we 'redecorated' the family room.
 
Bought a new (smaller) TV - the old one went to a friend of our daughters. Moved some furniture around, and ended up with an extra chair and ottoman - again, daughters friend took the old stuff. A Target sourced storage unit went to the curb. Books were packed away.
 
Every new purchase of furniture results in the old stuff being given away. Our kids - and their friends - are happy to take it off our hands.

#24923 of 25638 Re: Barge [andre1969] by fintail

Jan 09, 2013 (11:58 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 09, 2013 9:33 am)
When you are thinking of buying a car just to have something to take to a show, you know you have a problem
 
I take stuff to Goodwill every couple years, usually does the trick.

#24924 of 25638 Re: Barge [michaell] by andre1969

Jan 09, 2013 (12:00 pm)

Replying to: michaell (Jan 09, 2013 10:57 am)
I was real proud of myself a couple weeks ago. We got a new tv for the living room, so the old one replaced the one in my bedroom. In the past, I would have probably just held onto the one from the bedroom, "just in case", but my roommate said he knew someone who wanted a tv, and was willing to buy a used one. So, we let her have it for $100. She thought the price was too low, but we explained to her that it was over 4 years old, and not a very high quality model by today's standards (Dynex 42" 1080 LCD). Don't remember if it was a 1080p or 1080i. It was about $850 when new (with a 5 year extended warranty), but nowadays, I imagine a comparable tv would be about $300 at best?
 
Anyway, I didn't want to charge *too* much, because I'd feel guilty if it died on her!
 
So, that was one minor victory in the war on clutter. However, it was canceled out by something I just did during lunch. I replaced an old shelving/storage unit in the house with something that was a bit more compact, and useable, on Monday. We dragged the old unit out onto the deck, and at first I figured I'd put it down in the garage, but then I figure it's old, a bit ratty, so why not just bust it up either chuck it or burn it? Well, I had decided to get rid of it. But then today, during lunch, I noticed it looked like it was going to rain, so I'm ashamed to say, I got the hand truck and hauled it down to the garage. Oh well. Baby steps, I guess...

#24925 of 25638 Re: Barge [fintail] by andre1969

Jan 09, 2013 (12:05 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 09, 2013 11:58 am)
I take stuff to Goodwill every couple years, usually does the trick.
 
Yeah, I do that, too, although lately I've been ramping it up to once per year. In 2011, everything fit fine in the Buick. In 2012, I had the Ram pretty fully loaded.
 
When you are thinking of buying a car just to have something to take to a show, you know you have a problem
 
So, what your'e saying is that I should go check out that green Lincoln? BTW, my friend with the Mark V just sent a message back saying, simply, "looks really nice". So I guess he's learned a little restraint, as well. However, at this point I think what he really wants is a Mercury Colony Park wagon, fully loaded, in that light jade green, so while this Lincoln was the right color, it's still not what he really wants. Plus, he doesn't have the place to store a lot of stuff, either. He rents a space in somebody's garage for his Mark V. His townhouse has a 1 car garage, but it's barely big enough to fit his 2002 5-series.

#24926 of 25638 Re: Barge [andre1969] by fintail

Jan 09, 2013 (12:16 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 09, 2013 12:05 pm)
That green Lincoln was probably a good deal if it is as nice as it looks.
 
Does he want a 70s model Colony Park? Survival rate on those has to be much lower than Lincolns - he will be looking for awhile if he is picky about color. And indeed, modern garages don't fit things like that - I can't imagine it in the underground garage in my building, where the spots seem to be of variable size and some are only fit for subcompacts.

#24927 of 25638 Re: Barge [fintail] by andre1969

Jan 09, 2013 (12:26 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 09, 2013 12:16 pm)
Yeah, it's a '70's model he's fixating on. Don't know if he has a specific year, but probably whatever years they used that light jade green color. He doesn't really care about the choked down engines of the later years...he's more concerned about the luxury trappings.
 
When he was a kid his parents had a Country Squire in that color, so that's probably where the fond memories come from.

#24928 of 25638 Re: Barge [andre1969] by tjc78

Jan 09, 2013 (1:02 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 09, 2013 12:26 pm)
Probably will be searching awhile for that CP!
 
I emailed the seller of that Lincoln asking for some details. I just realized that ad was from early December. If it was as nice as it looked, I doubt he would still have it.

Messages Page 2493 of 2564

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