A brief update

[Uncle Buck]

Since I essentially hijacked another thread with my current "life challenge" I decided to start a thread about my issue instead. I will start it with the last post from the hijacked thread. (see below)

Most of us can't buy it all and have limited room. That is what I am fighting right now, a bunch of stuff in my shop is going to be leaving, essentially all woodworking machines are on the block, all of them are heading to my nephew if he wants them. Now I am working against a short timeline too.

I MUST clear out enough stuff to get a 1946 Ford convertible and a 1930 Model A Coupe in that little two car garage in the next maybe three or four months. If the woodworking machines go I have good chance of pulling this off too.

Are you going to be storing those vehicles now instead of your father?  Not sure if that was the arrangement you had before?

For the last few months my dad, almost 91 has been declining rather rapidly, and knowing that, I have been doing my best to clean and organize my little two car garage knowing that sooner than I would like I am going to need to have a place to bring dads un restored 1946 Ford Convertible and his 1930 Ford Model A Coupe, plus all the parts for both cars which includes several engines and transmissions. No way all of that could fit in my garage even with all of the woodworking machines gone. Dad also had a number of machines and hand tools, not as much as I have but quite a bit. I have no room for really any of his machines and will be getting rid of better stuff than dad had. I will keep all of his hand tools and will sell what machines my nephew does not want.

As for the cars and parts, I am going to buy a 12' x 21' skidded shed with garage rollup door. I plan to put the 46 Ford and a most if not all of the parts in there. The Model A will go on one side of my garage and the other side should remain empty so that I can still work on modern cars in there.

Ideally I would add two car capacity to the existing two car garage but financially that is just not possible right now so this skidded shed for 3K is the best option money wise to keep everything dry and safe that I can afford.

Yesterday we moved dad into a care center and mom will be moving to a small apt near there so the torch has been passed to me on the cars. The titles are in my name and I have the keys so the clock is ticking to get those and the parts moved in the next few months. The plan is to first move the cars, then the fun of working on them will happen as time permits. I have no intention of storing them for 50 years to collect dust like my dad has done. I plan to put these cars together and drive them.

Moving a parent to a care center is one of the toughest things you will ever do in my opinion. Yesterday was a tough day. On the plus side I spoke to my sister this morning and it turns out my dad slept better there than he has at home for years and so far is happy as a clam! That is the very last thing I would ever have expected of my dad.

[bmwrd0]

I feel you, Buck. We had to have the "better two years too soon, rather than two seconds too late" conversation with Dad a couple years ago. Alzheimer's. He didn't work on cars, but did everything else, from stained glass to gunsmithing. My stepmother, although she takes really good care of him, would have donated his whole shop to her church, and while they generally do good stuff, would have swept most of the really interesting bits off to the dump. There were probably 20-30 firearms disassembled in his shop when we did this. My brother, who lived in the same town, called one of his gunsmithing buddies to help deal with it. Don did us a solid. I tried to help as much as possible, but I was a fair distance away. He offered me the pick of his tools, but I didn't take much. Felt wrong. We did sell his lathe to a friend of my brothers.

They moved away to another town after that, give my dad a clean break. It seems to help.

[bonneyman]

I don't know what to say, Buck. Can't imagine what turmoil you are going through.

I wish you all the best.

[goodfellow]

It's a great thing you're doing Herb. Be proactive and give your dad "peace of mind' that his treasures will be well cared for; that's probably another reason he slept so well -- knowing part of his legacy will be preserved.

As for the space problem, I feel your pain. In a previous residence my solution was to get a big shed out back for all the lawn equipment, bicycles, etc.

One suggestion for your garage space option would be to build a simple "lean-to" car port extension on the side or back of your garage. It can be easily built, and if you don't pour a concrete floor, you probably won't need a building permit (at least in my county that was the case). Instead I used rectangular pavers for the flooring and filled the cracks with dry cement and watered it down, and it was just as strong as concrete, but managed to squeak past the county ordinance bureaucrats at the time. It made a great workspace for wrenching on the car when the single car garage was filled to capacity. In the winter I added heavy mil plastic sheeting to the sides, and it was usable in all but the coldest and wettest winter conditions. 

[Uncle Buck]

It's a great thing you're doing Herb. Be proactive and give your dad "peace of mind' that his treasures will be well cared for; that's probably another reason he slept so well -- knowing part of his legacy will be preserved.

As for the space problem, I feel your pain. In a previous residence my solution was to get a big shed out back for all the lawn equipment, bicycles, etc.

One suggestion for your garage space option would be to build a simple "lean-to" car port extension on the side or back of your garage. It can be easily built, and if you don't pour a concrete floor, you probably won't need a building permit (at least in my county that was the case). Instead I used rectangular pavers for the flooring and filled the cracks with dry cement and watered it down, and it was just as strong as concrete, but managed to squeak past the county ordinance bureaucrats at the time. It made a great workspace for wrenching on the car when the single car garage was filled to capacity. In the winter I added heavy mil plastic sheeting to the sides, and it was usable in all but the coldest and wettest winter conditions.

While permit wise a dirt/paver floor lean-to would pass muster for no permits, the thieves would steal me blind. Not a risk I can take with vintage Ford parts, plus no ability to wrench in the winter. I already have a 10' x 12' tin shed for mowers and yard crap. I think my plan will allow me to preserve the cars, all parts, plus pops hand tools and if I am lucky, possibly his old main work bench with vise and grinder. His stationary machines mean little to me so I have no problem losing those.

I am just glad I started the clean up and clean out months ago because now I have a very realistic possibility of getting this done, plus putting my shop back in reasonable shape for working in again which I have missed for years. Today, the BIL and I are hoisting a couple of sheets of plywood onto the ceiling joists so that I can squeeze a wee bit more light weight storage of a few things out of the high side. I grab a foot or two every single place I can find it. Very few wasted feet of storage in my shop.

The skidded shed should allow for a lot of rack storage floor to ceiling, plus the storage of the 46. Framed heavy and on 16" centers. No plans to work out of it, simply store the overage of car and parts.

As you might imagine, my wife is absolutely silly happy about all of this, especially the pending purchase of the shed.....  

[Uncle Buck]

I don't know what to say, Buck. Can't imagine what turmoil you are going through.

I wish you all the best.

Things are settling down now, last week was an absolute nightmare with pop.

[J.A.F.E.]

At least the torch is passed while he's still with you. Still not easy though I'm sure.

I am very sorry to hear of his decline hopefully his new arrangements can provide him therapy and treatments to help stabilize and maybe even improve a little.

[DeadNutz]

Uncle Buck, you are facing the challenges that are normal for many families. We had to move my parents into assisted living when mom was diagnosed with cancer and she didn't want to fight it. My sister and I did hospice care for 7 months and I only missed being there a few days when I went back to SoCal to get the wife and horses.

Our dad stayed at that facility for another year before we moved him back to Carson City to be closer to his docs and church and friends and he did very well for 2 more years. I visited him almost every day and took him to all his appointments even though he still drove his Ranger P/U around on his own. Hospice care lasted only 2 weeks with dad and my sister and I were there every moment possible with the facility letting my sister use an extra room in the facility that had a bed. The hospice care was much easier since my sister is a nurse and her now deceased husband was a chiropractor.

[skfarmer]

sad news for sure.  very glad you are being proactive, i know the feeling. since my dad passed we have been struggling what to do with his stuff. as many of you saw, he had a small fleet of john deere two cylinder tractors along with a pickup  and all of the stuff in town. fortunately my mom is content and able to stay in her home so not as much hurry.

my son is in the process of buying his pickup  and all of his tractors are at my place so a few less things to worry about.

[Heiny57]

My thoughts are with you, it seems as though you are getting control of things as best you can.

[Uncle Buck]

My thoughts are with you, it seems as though you are getting control of things as best you can.

I appreciate that. Things have improved with my dad in the last 48 hours which is the important part. In the end, all of the rest matters little compared to your folks you know.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

Good to hear everything is working itself out.  My mom fell two years ago, broke her hip and, we think, had a small stroke.  She was operated on in Michigan, and after a couple of weeks in the hospital recovering, my sister flew up to Michigan and brought her down to Georgia.  When she came down here she went straight into an assisted living/nursing home facility.  She did well enough to attend my wedding a year ago, and she had a good time.  Earlier this year she decided to stop eating as much as she should and began to lose weight.  She passed on September 8th, a week before her 86th birthday.  She wanted to go and she was ready.  Nothing much you can do in that situation but make her comfortable.  We just sold the house in Michigan last week, the one I grew up in, so that was a big hurdle to clear as well.  I made numerous trips up there cleaning it out the last two years.

[Papaw]

I think you are doing everything right.

I have begun giving stuff away to my kids and friends, including tool boxes and work tables that my younger son has room for.

This house we have lived in for 40 years was my father's cabinet shop that he built with used materials 60 years ago, and our boys will keep it to use as a shop and storage. They won't tear it down until the city makes them.

[muddy]

I am sorry to hear this Herb. I wish you the best I'm the venture.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Uncle Buck]

I think you are doing everything right.

I have begun giving stuff away to my kids and friends, including tool boxes and work tables that my younger son has room for.

This house we have lived in for 40 years was my father's cabinet shop that he built with used materials 60 years ago, and our boys will keep it to use as a shop and storage. They won't tear it down until the city makes them.

Doing this the cheapest way I can with the most efficient use of square feet of storage space.