View Full Version : Car accessories from the 1960's and 1970's, do you remember these?
In the 60's car heaters were an option, so to help prevent misted windscreens, some people bought these 12 volt hot wire demisters, some flush people bought two, one for each side. Attached by a pair of suckers, placed near the bottom of the screen eventually they were partially successful lol.
In the 70's, heated rear windcreens were not common place, so did anyone buy one of these Smiths Self adhesive rear windscreen electric demisters ?
I bought one for my mini, it worked well, went on straight, no wrinkles, but there were many that fell off within a week, or were fitted on the slant lol
Also in the 60's it was a requirement that after dark it was a legal requirement to have a parking light when vehicles were left unattended.
They couldn't leave side lights on all night, as it drained the battery, so they had a small unit they clipped over the window or edge of the door, and had something like a 2.2 watt bulb lol
If they parked off side, they simply unscrewed and swapped over the red and white lenses.
Back in the 1970' very few cars had reversing lights or rear fog lights, so people used to add their own. Again, I wanted some, but I bought some convertible ones.
Normally they were white reversing lights, but if it got foggy, or you were expecting fog, you slipped on a red cover, but it was more pink than red lol.
Sorry no pic found for that one.
Can't sleep tonight, in bed with the ipad on dim screen, typing away lol.:doh
In the 60's there were no switches or stalks on the steering wheel, the more modern cars had flashing indicator bulbs, controlled by a huge rotary switch on the dash board.
You could buy after market self cancelling indicator switches, that clamped on the steering column, and had a rubber wheel that contacted the steering wheel, and after a few turns of the wheel, eventually self cancelled. Lucas at it's best.
Dip and full beam were controlled by a foot switch to the left of the clutch, I must admit I liked those, but took a lot of abuse, especially when you have wet salty feet.
Pic of floor mounted dip switch.
Here is a picture of a fuse box from this era, most leyland and rover cars had this set up.
There were two 35 Amp fuses, one for all things that turn off with the ignition, and the other, live all the time, for all lights, horn etc
If you wanted to hot wire a car, say if you lost the key, you simply linked both fuses together, no steering locks or alarms in those days.
The 35amp fuses actually blew at 35 amps in those days, but could safely carry 17.5 amps.
Cars were not power hungry then.
There were no electric screen washers in those days, you had a button, ie a simple one press pump, that you pressed a dozen times to wet the screen.
I found that this wasn't enough, so I retrofitted an electric pump, unfortunately if you used it 3 or 4 times the wash bottle was empty, so I needed a bigger one of those lol..
Keys, you could buy from a key rack in Halfords, no steering locks or chipped keys in those days lol, my mini was FS500 as were about 10% of most BL cars etc. If you forgot the key number, no worries it was stamped on the ignition key barrel...
Power was generated by a dynamo, I struggled and often had a flat battery, well, I had front spot lights, front fog lights, rear fog lights, rear screen heater, electric screen wash, a motorola push button radio, how posh were they lol, which was after market, a seperate cassette player, some had 8 track players, no wonder my wiring was smoking lol...
johnb5177
15-08-2016, 08:01
Wow, you have just hit me with a wave of nostalgia, tinged with a little thankfulness.....I remember that minis had the distributor at the front of the engine, and when you went through deep puddles etc a bit enthusiastically.........stalled....then had to dry everything out.....:rolleyes:
Wow, you have just hit me with a wave of nostalgia, tinged with a little thankfulness.....I remember that minis had the distributor at the front of the engine, and when you went through deep puddles etc a bit enthusiastically.........stalled....then had to dry everything out.....:rolleyes:
That's what a rubber glove was for lol, 5 fingers, 5 HT leads (1 in 4 out).
The later mini clubman had a resin type cardboard over the distributor, that was so much better.
Also cars didn't have electric windows, although someone did a bolt on kit that stuck out, you removed the winder, placed the box over the drive sprocket, there you go. Didn't go for that one, too expensive.
Cars didn't have central locking either, but as cars were so much narrower, you could reach over and lock all doors from the inside.
No aircon either, heater off blower on, windows open, however on a really hot day, the cars used to overheat, so side vents open, pointing out through the window, heater to high position, and blower on full, that's assuming you had more than one speed lol, this then cooled the engine.
If you were a member of the AA and you had a yellow and chrome AA badge, AA patrols who were often stationed at the side of the road next to a yellow and black phone box, often with their motorbike and side car, used to salute you as you drove past. See pic below...
Petrol stations had attendants, you stayed in the car, they asked what grade, and how much, and if you were going on a long journey, you took pride in uttering " Fill her up" they also asked if you needed a shot of red X, checked your oil and water, maybe clean your windscreen and you never got out of the car.
Now I can't remember if they checked your tyres or not, but it wouldn't surprise me lol. You payed cash no credit cards or debit cards in those days.
Rustic
In the 60's there were no seat belts in cars, the steering wheel shaft went down to the front of the car, no bends joints or energy absorbing sections, no crumple zones, if you hit something, the steering wheel and shaft were projected at and through your chest, no chance of hitting the windscreen then, as if it mattered.
You could buy seat belt kits, but there were not inertia reel, no one trusted those, they were fixed belts, you couldn't reach the dash board switches to turn the lights or wipers on, so you pushed little extension levers over the old switces, problem solved lol.
In the 70's seat belts became compulsory in the front, but not in the rear, some cars had threaded inserts ready for belts, like our Ambassador, others you had to drill through the floor pan etc and fit reinforcing plates. Again you could buy these recoil seat belts as kits, there were several models, and they gave a list of vehicles for that model lol.
Wing mirror that we take for granted were just that, they were mounted on the wing, once set, that was it for your journey.
When "wing" mirrors became part of the door, and you had the delux version, you wobbled a lever to adjust them. However, it was not a legal requirement to have a wing mirror on the near side of a car, this made getting back in your lane after an overtake rather hit and miss, literally.
In the 60's as car radios were not standard, neither were car aerials, some suppliers had a kit, of basically a pair of wires you sellotaped across the top of the windscreen, over time the sellotape turned brown, hardened and flaked off.
Other people fitted wing mounted aerials, or the retractable ones that you needed a key for.
It was a very brave man that took a drill to the wing of a three year old car in those days, rust was an even bigger problem in those days, wings and sills were regularly replaced on three year old cars.
Rustic
PS apologies if I seem to be jumping from one topic to another, it's basically a memory dump lol
There were no car alarms then, didn't really seem a great need for them, the all singing ones were expensive, had a flashing light on the dash, and set off a seperate air raid siren lol.
Car accessory companies sold a little black box, attached was a short lead to one of these new fangled Light Emitting Diodes, the early ones were not efficient, so not bright, and were only available in red, these were early days remember, we couldn't wait for green led's that's the model railway signalling sorted out.
Anyway, the black box, the size of a matchbox, housed the electronics to make the led flash, it comprised two transistors, a couple of capacitors and a couple of resistors, the circuit is the same as year 9 students now use in tech, when they go home with a pair of red leds on their model that alternatvely flash lol.
My alarm on the mini comprised of a key switch mounted on the panel behind the front door, it was simple, if the switch was set, the horn would go off as soon as the door was opened, close the door, it stopped etc.
Car basics haven't really changed in 50 years, piston, crankshaft, valves, water cooling, clutch plate, gear box, diffs prop shafts and suspensiopn, even the chemistry of the fuel, although no lead now, well some only had three forward gears lol, these are basically the same, what has changed is the electronics, both for engine management and essential accessories like heated seats, electrically adjustable seats, that move around when you get in, as it remembers what your settings were against your key fob. self levelling head lights, fog lights that follow your path around corners at low speed, how did we manage ?
terranosaurusdoug
15-08-2016, 10:27
I love owt like this its so interesting :thumb2
Bit of an eye opener, the car hasn't changed really has it, just the way in which it is controlled and the added comfort!
How do you think car owners have changed Rustic, would be interesting to read your thoughts on that one :D
Lazy-Ferret
15-08-2016, 11:33
In the 60's there were no switches or stalks on the steering wheel, the more modern cars had flashing indicator bulbs, controlled by a huge rotary switch on the dash board.
You could buy after market self cancelling indicator switches, that clamped on the steering column, and had a rubber wheel that contacted the steering wheel, and after a few turns of the wheel, eventually self cancelled. Lucas at it's best.
Dip and full beam were controlled by a foot switch to the left of the clutch, I must admit I liked those, but took a lot of abuse, especially when you have wet salty feet.
Pic of floor mounted dip switch.
I have one of these in my T2 to switch the roof lights on and off. Still think they were the best way of switching high/low beam.
I have one of those Smiths heated rear window elements in the garage, I got 2 at an auto jumble and used one to replace the broken factory fit one on our old Volvo 240, as it was too badly damaged to repair.
Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk
Blocky10
15-08-2016, 11:40
Also in the 60's it was a requirement that after dark it was a legal requirement to have a parking light when vehicles were left unattended.
They couldn't leave side lights on all night, as it drained the battery, so they had a small unit they clipped over the window or edge of the door, and had something like a 2.2 watt bulb lol
If they parked off side, they simply unscrewed and swapped over the red and white lenses.
Ha. I have one of these hanging in my garage. :thumb2
terranosaurusdoug
15-08-2016, 12:22
Ha. I have one of these hanging in my garage. :thumb2
Haha, I feel very young :p:D
Blocky10
15-08-2016, 13:19
Haha, I feel very young :p:D
I found it in my grandads shed when he passed. :augie
Second instalment might be tonight if I can't sleep again, I am on pond cleaning duty today, the smaller pond has lost around 2' around the edge caused by shrubs, weeds, and the odd tree sapling, the only way to reach it, is to run a ladder across the centre, which just happens to take a couple of spare decking boards side by side, the ladder is clamped to the decking around the pond on one edge, so it shouldn't tilt, it takes all my weight so far... will start the clearance once the sun drops a bit.
If there's a splash, I'm sure you will hear about it lol...:thumb2
Rustic
terranosaurusdoug
15-08-2016, 14:29
I found it in my grandads shed when he passed. :augie
:doh no offence intended bro :o
Haha, I feel very young :p:D
I feel like a 21 year old somedays....
You all know where that punch line is going don't you lol...:doh
.
...
How do you think car owners have changed Rustic, would be interesting to read your thoughts on that one :D
I will love to answer that one, I already know how I am going to hit that one.
Watch this space.
Any other thoughts or wishes?
Uncle Rustic. :thumb2
terranosaurusdoug
15-08-2016, 15:51
I feel like a 21 year old somedays....
You all know where that punch line is going don't you lol...:doh
.
:D:D:lol
terranosaurusdoug
15-08-2016, 16:00
I will love to answer that one, I already know how I am going to hit that one.
Watch this space.
Any other thoughts or wishes?
Uncle Rustic. :thumb2
Nope, it is an interesting subject, I'll just sit back and enjoy :lol
One constant is people have always felt the need to get on the spanners and improve their vehicles, but that's what humans do with everything really. My six year old boy Jacob asked me a load of questions on saturday whilst driving, how was bread invented, how were crisps invented, how where bricks and roof tiles invented (I think the questions were dictated by whatever we were driving past :lol), and of course all those things are either an improvement or an adaptation of an existing product or principal, so I gave him a history lesson :lol:thumbs
jims-terrano
15-08-2016, 16:51
Haha great thread Rustic :thumbs
Hey I got one of those fuse boxes in my baby and I still have a load of glass fuses, I knew they would come in handy one day.
Made laugh because all the downsides and things of the 1970s cars is one of the reasons I love my MG.
Can anyone remember those green sun shades across top of the windscreen? Or the same thing with an aerial element printed on it for your radio.
macabethiel
15-08-2016, 17:06
There were no car alarms then
My alarm on the mini comprised of a key switch mounted on the panel behind the front door, it was simple, if the switch was set, the horn would go off as soon as the door was opened, close the door, it stopped etc.?
I had a Mk 1 Mini Cooper 1275 S in the 60's and I fitted a small push button switch behind the roof lining (They were split in the middle with the interior light helping to hold it all in. Part of the wiring loom ran down the front screen pillar and along the side of the roof towards the rear supplying the rear lights & the SU fuel pump.
I cut the fuel pump wire and connected a simple push button switch fitted with a steel clip to anchor it to the roof steel work. If you remembered in advance of parking up you could use up the fuel in the system by switching off beforehand. I had mine stolen when I was at the cinema in Birmingham and found the vehicle abandoned about a quarter of a mile away as it had run out of fuel due to the pump being switched off.
I regularly forgot to switch it back on and the engine would start to splutter so I would hastily press the switch and all would be well. Over the years the headlining had a nice black fingermark where the switch was hidden !
jims-terrano
15-08-2016, 17:51
Stop swearing, I have the pleasure of getting a SU pump working:doh
Stop swearing, I have the pleasure of getting a SU pump working:doh
Why on earth did they put the early mini fuel pumps on the rear sub frame, damp got in, the contacts corroded, and was difficult to hit with a hammer lol.
So mount it in the boot, fairly dry no grit or salt to bother it, and if it did need a thump, it was very easy to get to in the dark and the rain, which is the usual time for it to fail lol.
My mini broke down regularly, usually the points, condenser, that stupid stupid vacuum advance mechanism, that invariably had a small hole in the diaphragm or the rotor arm, faulty or dirty HT leads, or plug caps. or a cracked distributor cap.
Solution, get a good secondhand distributor, complete with all HT leads, set up the points, timing etc scratch the correct alignment on the distributor, then when you break down, swap the complete distributor, line up the scratch all sorted.
The distributor was held in by a pinch clamp, slacken one bolt about half a turn, off you go... less than 5 minutes tops, then when you get home, you can investigate why the old one failed, usually the points had burnt, a quick wipe with a diamond tipped file, re set the points and check timing, you only needed a bulb and a piece of wire lol.
Problem is, I carried so much stuff in the boot, spares, including a spare bypass hose and some fairy liquid, I could do one of those in three minutes lol, spare fuel, water, oil, boy it needed oil, 4 gallons of petrol, 1pint of oil lol, tools etc that the boot floor virtually dropped out lol. Mine was the floppy gear stick, guess which gear you are in lol, the gear stick would move about 5 or 6" sideways when in gear.
Now to all mini owners, did you know that there was a grease nipple on the gear selector shaft as it passed through the aluminium casting on the back of the gear box? no... that's where most of the wear occured causing a floppy stick lol...:augie Yes after all these years you always wondered lol.
Rustic
Terrano Steve
15-08-2016, 21:44
So much has changed in the last 50 years & as I don't have a crystal ball I wish I could stick around for another 50 years to see what is next.
solarman216
15-08-2016, 21:57
Excellent thread Rustic, we had a mini clubman in the 70's my Mrs learnt to drive in it, I was trucking abroad for weeks on end at the time, she loved her little mini and never had any bothers with it at all, she would collect me from Dover when I did "dodgy week ends", oh they were the days, Rick
Here is a picture of a fuse box from this era, most leyland and rover cars had this set up.
There were two 35 Amp fuses, one for all things that turn off with the ignition, and the other, live all the time, for all lights, horn etc
If you wanted to hot wire a car, say if you lost the key, you simply linked both fuses together, no steering locks or alarms in those days.
The 35amp fuses actually blew at 35 amps in those days, but could safely carry 17.5 amps.
Cars were not power hungry then.
Landrover still have these fitted :lol
makeitfit
15-08-2016, 23:52
My first cars had no radio let alone hifi :lol
So I pinched my sister's battery powered philips cassette player. Wired in a home hifi speaker in the back and boom crappy sounds all round :D
Circa 1973 :wasntme
macabethiel
16-08-2016, 00:27
Second instalment might be tonight if I can't sleep again, I am on pond cleaning duty today, the smaller pond has lost around 2' around the edge caused by shrubs, weeds, and the odd tree sapling, the only way to reach it, is to run a ladder across the centre, which just happens to take a couple of spare decking boards side by side, the ladder is clamped to the decking around the pond on one edge, so it shouldn't tilt, it takes all my weight so far... will start the clearance once the sun drops a bit.
If there's a splash, I'm sure you will hear about it lol...:thumb2
Rustic
Snap I have an old wooden ladder that I leave over my small pond with two planks of decking in the middle !
Do you remember the S.P.Q.R. Mini tappet adjusting tool ? It had a ratchet attached to a screw driver tip with a socket on it. A small chart told you how many clicks you needed to give 12 thousands of an inch adjustment. It was better than feeler gauges as it allowed for wear of the rocker etc.
macabethiel
16-08-2016, 09:23
My first cars had no radio let alone hifi :lol
So I pinched my sister's battery powered philips cassette player. Wired in a home hifi speaker in the back and boom crappy sounds all round :D
Circa 1973 :wasntme
My first car had a valve radio it would take almost a minute to warm up and come on.lol
Snap I have an old wooden ladder that I leave over my small pond with two planks of decking in the middle !
Do you remember the S.P.Q.R. Mini tappet adjusting tool ? It had a ratchet attached to a screw driver tip with a socket on it. A small chart told you how many clicks you needed to give 12 thousands of an inch adjustment. It was better than feeler gauges as it allowed for wear of the rocker etc.
I must admit I saw those, very tempted, but went the feeler gauge route.
Now on the timing and point gap, I decided to go hitech, the neon tube timing light... It had to be virtually pitch black to see it, then I also bought a dwell meter, a meter that displayed how many degrees the contacts were closed for, more accurate than feelers. Yep still got both of those, not used for....well over 21 years ...before we had the Mav lol...:augie
My first car had a valve radio it would take almost a minute to warm up and come on.lol
Valve radio, reminds me of Pike of dad's army sat in the back of Jones truck lol.
Wasn't there a record player suitable for cars once?
Well I managed the pond clearance, finished it this morning. picture of ladder below, but it has come oit upside down lol...
Boy I slept well last night, so no further instalment.
Driving in the 60's.
When I was young I lived in a village just 2 miles south of Crewe, most people didn't have a car, my father had a motorbike then a side car, then bought a reliant regal, Del Boy style, as he could drive this on a standard motorcycle licence, provided that the reverse gear was blanked off with a plate.
People generally lived close to work so very few people commuted more than three miles. The bicycle was the favoured mode of transport.
Crewe was a no go area at 5:00 pm on a weekday for cars, on one side of the town was Rolls Royce cars, at knocking off time, thousands of bikes from three exits spewed out onto the roads.
On the other side was Crewe Railway works, where they built steam locomotives. Again thousands of cyclists joined the busy streets.
In the mid 60's my parents bought a Bedford Dormobile, my father was on "L" plates so couldn't drive it on his own. I remember my Mum's Dad, my Grandfather, use to jump on his moped and ride to our house so he could ride shot gun, so we could legally go out for the day.
Although he was legally entitled to drive a car, or small truck, he had never actually driven one in his life. He was born in 1900 when he got to 17/18 the Great war was nearly over, he went into a post office and bought a driving licence, like you or I would buy a fishing licence lol.
Still not many people owning cars and people relied on the bus and train.
As we lived close to Crewe, you could get virtually anywhere by train, well that was before Dr Beaching started the cuts. My Father had been recently promoted from fireman to driver on the railways, so he was in charge of many steam locomotives, and regularly drove the Queen in the Royal train.
I digress...
There were no motorways in the early 60's but the plan to build them was in place, motorways sprung up like mushrooms, no speed limit at all, no central reservation either. People were driving flat out at what ever the car could do... just before it overheated or broke down. Cars were not designed for sustained high speed, and the cooling was just not enough. Most tyres were cross ply and had inner tubes, and motorists had been know to fix punctures at the road side, having had the experience of mending bike punctures lol
Cars could normally achieve 60 mph on some of the A roads, there were very few cars on the road. Towns and cities were conjested though, as streets were narrow and cars parked down both sides in places.
In the 70's first I had a small honda 125 motorbike, I passed my test on that, which entitled me to ride any motorcycle, no limit, no further tests.
The was done amongst some terrace houses, he sent you on a route, then ran down the backs, to see you going past, to make sure you indicated and moved your head as if looking left and right lol.
Then he walked slow and said... feet off the floor, ride at the side of me.
There were no theory tests in those days, they showed you a few road signs... What's that? and that? this one? I am pleased to say you have passed your test.
I bought my Mini mid 70's and you could park easily outside the shop you wanted for free, no time limits then. People now started to use cars to commute to work, as other small industries start up away from the main towns and their public transport. There was some car sharing too.
Many homes were one car families.
Motorway were plentiful and busy during the 70's but the motorways often took you onto A roads, that couldn't handle the volume of traffic, so only served to get you to the next traffic jam even quicker lol. The M6 fizzled out at Carlisle, then became a busy A74.
That'll do for now, I have missed loads out lol.
Rustic
Blocky10
16-08-2016, 17:38
Rustic. You need to write a book :D
Rustic. You need to write a book :D
You know my father in law did this, we lent him an old computer, windows 3.11 with basic word, and showed him how to save to a floppy disk, he had never used a computer before, my wife took the draft and took weeks doing spell check and sorting the grammer, and editing as his was a complete memory down load, and didn't follow any date order.
Anyhow, we had a final draft, had pictures, so printed it off on decent paper, then went to a bookbinder that published student's final thesis, Gold leaf for the title, and down the spine, it looked the business, we presented it to him on his 70'th birthday, it brought a tear to his eye, as it did all the family.
I have a lot of things to complete in my life, pond, now ticked off that list lol.
I have written loads of info for my survivors, on how things are set up around the house and garden etc come in handy when my daughter and son realise their inhertance lol... I am feeling good in myself at the moment, so ticking a lot of boxes. Maybe a similar book could be on the cards lol... But who other than the remaining family would ever take the time to read it?
Uncle Rustic
macabethiel
16-08-2016, 21:04
I must admit I saw those, very tempted, but went the feeler gauge route.
Now on the timing and point gap, I decided to go hitech, the neon tube timing light... It had to be virtually pitch black to see it, then I also bought a dwell meter, a meter that displayed how many degrees the contacts were closed for, more accurate than feelers. Yep still got both of those, not used for....well over 21 years ...before we had the Mav lol...:augie
I sold my old Dwell Gauge on e-bay for more than it cost new! They are quite pricey these days.
macabethiel
16-08-2016, 21:05
Valve radio, reminds me of Pike of dad's army sat in the back of Jones truck lol.
Wasn't there a record player suitable for cars once?
Yep I know someone who had one in his Mk 2 Zodiac it just played 45's lol
Blocky10
16-08-2016, 23:24
You know my father in law did this, we lent him an old computer, windows 3.11 with basic word, and showed him how to save to a floppy disk, he had never used a computer before, my wife took the draft and took weeks doing spell check and sorting the grammer, and editing as his was a complete memory down load, and didn't follow any date order.
Anyhow, we had a final draft, had pictures, so printed it off on decent paper, then went to a bookbinder that published student's final thesis, Gold leaf for the title, and down the spine, it looked the business, we presented it to him on his 70'th birthday, it brought a tear to his eye, as it did all the family.
I have a lot of things to complete in my life, pond, now ticked off that list lol.
I have written loads of info for my survivors, on how things are set up around the house and garden etc come in handy when my daughter and son realise their inhertance lol... I am feeling good in myself at the moment, so ticking a lot of boxes. Maybe a similar book could be on the cards lol... But who other than the remaining family would ever take the time to read it?
Uncle Rustic
This has been one of the longest threads I've read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it including the off topics and touching on terrano/mavericks. I'll read it:thumb2
Rick is another who must write a book:bow
solarman216
17-08-2016, 00:14
This has been one of the longest threads I've read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it including the off topics and touching on terrano/mavericks. I'll read it:thumb2
Rick is another who must write a book:bow
Was going to do this a while back, not least about our fostering care for 24 years of special needs kids and the regular run ins with so called "social workers" but sadly the guy that knew me all that time and was a literary genius, had a stroke and so it all went out the window, and there is no way I would be starting it now so sorry folks it is not going to happen, Rick
What I have noticed is, even writing these short notes, how many other things I actually remember, that's why sometimes it becomes just a memory dump.
Just dumping stuff on paper ( or word) is one thing, tieing it all in so it flows is another.
Then it has to be interesting, sometimes exagerating an event can make it exciting, as can leaving stuff out. If it was a complete life story, it would include the sad times, sometimes you don't want to go back there, too many hurts, but it's all the things in your life that had made you you.
Yes there are things that you wish you had done differently, things you wish you had said, things you wish you hadn't.
One thing I never understood with my parents is, my mum was given the housekeeping, no more no less every week, with that she had to feed a family of 4 and pay the bills etc. The remaing wages were my dad's to do what he wanted. There were times my mum couldn't make ends meet, and the number of times I raided my pocket money, or even my post office savings book, never to be returned. Times were hard, money was tight in the late 50's early 60's.
These memories still hurt, but it changed me. When I met my wife to be, we set up a joint bank account, boy was this hard to accept, but it has been a great foundation for us anyway for all our married life. This doesn't work for every family, and still people have " housekeeping" or different ways of sharing or contributing to bills. However this has worked for us. It also helped us through the not so good times, if I was made redundant, or I was unable to work for health reasons, what money was left was always ours.
My wife is never one to go out and spend hundreds on handbags or shoes, although her wardrobe would say differently, in the sameway, I was never one to spend hundreds on garage tools, unless I could justify it. Well you need two trolley jacks don't you lol. When I was heavily into DIY I could justify buying a particular tool for each project, lots of chipboard to cut... need a circular saw, lots of edging or detailing to do, need a router. Mind you tools like this come in handy, use a router for sinking butt hinges, a doddle.
Anyhow over the years I justified a generator, we often had regular power cuts in our village, and great for taking to the boat as it could run the vax and power tools, , welder, justified that if an exhaust fell off, I could bodge it for another week, until the weekend, then fit a new one etc, air compressor, compound sliding saw, this was needed to cut decking and support joists, and all the noggins were square and exactly the same length.
I wanted 10" table saw bench, couldn't justify that, but found a broken one on ebay, well not broken as such, it was a customer return, the box had been dropped and the blade was so far out of alignment, it was catching the sides.
I stripped it down and I found 4 allen headed bolts that clamped the motor sub assembly, the motor had shifted, so slackened the bolts, re alligned the motor, bingo, everything was running true, the blade wasn't bent either.
When I built the conservatory I needed some hard wood trim, 40 mm x 5 mm well B&Q Wickes etc wanted £6 -£8 for one strip, I needed at least 8 luckily I had a few hardwood frames, so on the saw they went, ripped them down to 40x5 one pass with my elecric plane ( justified on another project lol), and the saw cost was easily saved on one job.
What is the best tool, in my box?
I would say, for woodwork, my Aldi multi tool, it has a blade for cutting, you can get ito some difficult places, if say you have a batten on the wall, and it's too long, how do you trim it, without removing it, damaging the wall, or your best hand saw, but also want a neat square edge, then this tool is ideal. It's next task is to use the scraper tool, I can get behind the wooden quadrant trim holding double glazed panels in, and remove the trim without damaging them.
Next best tool, the 4 1/2" angle grinder, cutting metal, grinding, and with a stone cutter blade, thin concrete slabs.
I also have a dremel type tool, handy for profiling small items, plastic or other wise.
The key to having and keeping good tools is looking after them, I try to keep smaller tools in their original boxes. No point in having a grinder, if you can't find the spanners for removing the disc, or of you can't find the chuck key for the drill. lol
Rustic
Blocky10
18-08-2016, 09:52
Cheers rustic.
You're writing it down pal. :naughty
Give it 6 months then arrange all of your memories as best as you can and bingo! The start of a book:clap
I was born in 71 and to be fair had a great childhood. I work with gents at retirement age and they have their own bank accounts and own money and are always moaning "her indoors asked me to pay her road tax! "
I married in 94 and soon after opened a joint account and nothing's changed to this day. :thumb2
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