Just a few of the projects in a literal line. Once progress is made on one, it's onto the next.
Garages are multipurpose spaces, even if you don’t use yours primarily for DIY projects. There are things to store, some of which will be in storage forever and others that need to be readily accessed. Large swaths of floorspace must be clear or, at least, able to be made so on short notice. And we haven’t even gotten to the vehicles themselves.
Whether you run a full restoration shop or simply park your vintage ride inside day-to-day, these six storage tips will make your life easier.
Bin itGarages are dirty places. Their large doors regularly admit dust and dirt, and these conspire to make everything inside a little more gross than the last time you touched it. Car parts are also vulnerable to sun and ozone exposure. Rubber ages much quicker when kept a room that has sun beaming in through a window plus a fridge, freezer, or compressor running in the corner. Ozone causes dry rot in tires and can harden spare rubber seals or gaskets to the point that they are unusable.
Note: This Ozone stuff is sorta misleading. The harmful effects come from Ozone depletion and increase sun radiation, which hasn't been proven.
This could sure be a lot neater, but it’s certainly an improvement.Keep degradation at bay by utilizing storage bins or containers to close things off from the sun and minimize ozone exposure.
Trying to keep the flow alive in this small portion of the shop.
Note: I realize this article is focused mostly on storage and not shop organization. I've enforce a couple of codes in my shops. One is flow, which is a safety and organizational measure. Safety, because you need to get shit out of your shop fast if a fire erupts. You also need to be able to move motorcycles around readily or be able to move if there is an injury or a bike catches fire.
The other is a Biker's Code. Try to organize your shop area so it's not tainted by household appliances, tools, bicycles or cans of paint. It's a peace of mind code.
Now actually bin itYou’ve decided to put everything in careful storage. Now it’s time to cull the parts stash and keep only the things that you need, recycling or selling everything else. Yours truly needs to hear this one, too: I have at least three pairs of “spare” cylinder heads for my Corvair, despite the fact I have no plans to rebuild that engine, and the heads that are in the car will be good for a long time. I should sell those.
As you do inventory, make sure your spares are actually worth keeping. At least once, I’ve dug into my stash only to find that what I thought was a solid spare was actually junk. That afternoon quickly turned frustrating, as I left the garage to go inside and start scrolling eBay.
Note: I agree, shit-can the Covair parts and keep anything to do with motorcycles. The more spare parts I keep, the more likely I can help a brother or start another bike project.
As annoying as it is to store a complete motorcycle, it’s even worse to try and organize all the small components once you’ve disassembled it.The easiest way to store a complicated arrangement of small parts is when those parts are assembled.
A friend of mine took a flathead V-8 Ford apart a few years ago as a winter project. For one reason or another, he got derailed. Before long, Ford engine bits became dirty, lost, or, at best, disorganized and scattered across his garage.
Once he decided to back-burner that rebuild, it would have been best to loosely re-assemble the V-8. That way, he could relocate it easily and store it as one large chunk of components. I’ve used this approach with a few transmissions and engines. Another upside? When you store the temporarily assembled project, you can write a tag recording what it needs and what you found when you began to tear it down.
Here's another sturdy cart with the plasma cutter on top and all the jets and tools in the top drawer. Tool box drawers were overloaded, so I put heavy wrenches on the bottom shelf, and giant sockets in the bottom drawer.
Note: I sorta agree, but assembly is not generally the best option. Organization is important. Keeping all the transmission parts together is a key and other groups of parts like electrical items, stuff for making pipes, carb parts, etc.
I try to create a cart for each project, so all the associated piece can stick with the project until it's completed.
Scored an old set of tall military officer lockers. George, the Wild Brush pinstriped them.
Label, label, labelSpeaking of tagging, have I hammered home the point that you should be labeling everything? Labeling things removes the index from your brain and frees up mental space for things that actually matter.
Have a heavy thing? Awkward-sized thing? Tool chest? Workbench? Put it on wheels.
Note: This hits the nail on the head. The more you label, the better off you are and more likely to find it in the future.
These heavy-duty carts are the bomb for storage and tools that would otherwise take up bench space.
Wheels … all the wheelsHave a heavy thing? Put it on wheels. Awkward-sized thing? Wheels. Tool chest? Wheels. Workbench? Most of the time, believe it or not, wheels.
here's the grinder cart, which I hope to give a coat of paint soon. Under the top shelf are engine stands and a box full of polishing sticks and safety shields.
It’s hard to overstate how nice it is to be able to rearrange your shop on a moment’s notice without breaking a sweat. Even better is the ability to “bury” things behind other things. For instance, in my shop I have few engines sitting under a shelf. I might pilfer one of the engines for a part once or twice a year. Usually, those engines are tucked into the corner, blocked by my drill press and a toolbox. Luckily, both the press and the toolbox are on wheels, so each is easily rolled away whenever I need to access the engines.
Fresh parts always look good laid out on the workbench.
Note: I keep a box or crate of wheels for just the purpose. I never throw wheels away. Code of the West.
Combine functions if you canOne of my favorite things in my personal shop is my 6-foot rolling toolbox. Sure, it has drawers aplenty, but most importantly, it has a worktop. This makes it the best of all workstations.
Not all dual-purpose tools work as nicely. Often, you’ll have to compromise. For example, the workbench on top of this tool chest is too thin for me to mount a vise to it. If this were my only workbench, that would be quite the challenge. The best advice is to think through all the pros and cons before putting big money into multipurpose shop equipment.
Tim Crandall built me this pipe rack while the shop was being built.
Note: If you have the space, anything works, but he's right. Combine stuff to save space. I came across these heavy-duty carts and started to mount equipment to them and stash hand tools underneath.
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