I’ve posted before about my friend and neighbour Steve who passed away just after Christmas. I have been very fortunate to inherit the contents of his garage and I thought I’d share what I’ve been discovering. I hope there is something everyone will find interesting. I’ll start with something you might expect to find.

Nothing for the Marina?

Nice. I had that self same purple Escort mk3/4 Haynes manual. It was probably 70% oil and grease when I got rid of it.

Think I still have the Haynes manual for my Viva.  They were a real part of growing up. Fabulous

One for the aircraft enthusiasts today

Air Ministry 5C/545 Switch Panel

Fitted I believe in a number of RAF WW2 aircraft

After only two photos I really wish I’d known Steve!

Like what you’re doing OP- keep going

Don’t worry RicB there is plenty to come, and you would have loved Steve for sure.

One for the motorcycle enthusiasts this morning.

The manuals for his Velocette and a 1974 republication of vintage road tests.

I always chuckled when coming across mk3 Ford Escort manuals at a car boot sale. Every one had the same set of grubby pages in the same place, the self adjusting clutch ratchet, the carburettor section, the hydraulic tappets, the rotten battery tray, the list goes on. 🙂

That’s brought back a few memories. As I uncovered a box of imperial spanners, box spanners and Allen keys the other day. Also, as a 16 yr old I had a 1940’s Velocette 350 hard tail which I tried and failed to turn into a Chopper, having just seen Easy Rider at the pictures.
My Haynes manuals were for my Triumph Herald and my 1958 VW Beetle. Many a weekend with the herald’s bonnet up, sitting on the front wheels, adjusting the tappets and filing the points.

Already all evidence suggests this will be the best thread in a looooong time

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Thanks O.P

You could have saved this for next Christmas’s advent calendar.

If we get to next Christmas!

Have you also inherited the Velocette?!

Got any 1/4 in. Whitworth spanners?!

Sadly not timbog 160, the motorbikes went many years ago. There are quite a few imperial spanners, I haven’t got round to photographing them yet but this will probably go on long enough to get to them.

At least all the odds and sods have gone to someone who won’t just skip them! Looking forward to another installment from the tinkerers museum.

Come across a ball-joint splitter yet? Must be one of them in there somewhere 🙂

I need a bit of help identifying exactly what this came from, and apologies to those who don’t like gun threads 😊

I do know he had a Lee Enfield Mk4 for a while as I’ve seen the paperwork from when he finally handed it in at his wife’s insistence!

It a “Martini” action rifle of some sort.

In fact looking at the strap loop looks an awful lot like it’s one of these;

British Westley Richards Martini Henry 1896 (Francotte) patent

thanks @timmys that makes sense. As I understand it his father in law spent some time in Africa probably before the First World War and I found this in a box of other items I think probably belonged to him. I’ve also found some South African coins. It’s hard to be sure of much because Steve and Joan didn’t have children and there are no relatives left who aren’t extremely distant.

Tolls this morning

dont think I’ve ever seen a proper set of box spanners before without the bars missing

Box spanners – usually rubbish but just now and then, when you’ve got an out of the way nut on a long bolt, invaluable.

All lovely, interesting stuff but what are you intending to do with it? I assume there will be a selection of really special items you’ll keep, but what about the balance of old garage stuff? If you don’t rationalise it, you’re just passing the problem down to whoever sorts your garage out.

That sounds a bit heartless doesn’t? Fortunately the pragmatic Swedes have a word, (and a book) for that.

Love the Haynes manual, although my long-gone copy was for the MkII Escort 🙂

@tthew you’re not wrong, I keep laughing to myself about when my kids have to go through all my stuff! But you see my whole life there has been one place I’ve wanted to live, my dream home is Steptoe’s yard!

I do know someone involved in steam railways and all sorts of engineering restoration so I’ll see if there are some older tools that they can find a home for. There is some stuff that needs putting aside for a proper collection, I’ll post some of that in the days to come. With everything I’ll try and find a use for it, some will just be on display in my house because I just like looking at it.

Love this thread! I was days away from completing a house move before lockdown. The garage had shelves of proper old rusty oxo tins full of screws and what-not. I’ve asked if they can be left, I’m so hoping they’re still there when things re-start (house is empty, going through probate)

yeah a martini action breech.

loved firing them over the old 303’s at cadets…

The great thing about this site is that whatever it is someone will come along and share their knowledge, experiences and memories.

So today is especially for @tthew and the Swedish Death Cleaners

An SVEA 5 stove, takes me back to being in the scouts and using Primus stoves. This might just get me into using Plutoline, would be great to give it a new life.

Please tell me the garage had shelves with storage jar hanging down with their lids nailed to the underside.

Very reminiscent of my Dad’s garage. Having grown up in the era of “Make do or Mend” he had a lot of “it may come in handy” items. Fortunately he did have a big tidy up over his retirement- mainly caused by cars getting bigger. He had an early Audi 80 – the big boxy late 70s/early 80s version and then a Volvo 440 that we thought were a squeeze in there after the likes of Anglia 105/Viva/Datsun Sunny. However The last 3 cars he had were Focuses and they needed the wing mirrors folding in to fit.

When he died there was still some junk in there so my sister and I cleared it out to make it easier for Mum to park the car. There were still a lot of tools that have memories of working on cars with him; restoring my first Spitfire and so on. I got there just in time to stop my sister putting a fair amount of lead solder sticks in the junk pile.

Even managed to find 2 Paramo no1 vices. They need some tlc but as I’ve already got a Record for use they are low on the list, despite the temptation following the vice thread here. Maybe lockdown and furlough will be the push, unless there are any others who want to take them on.

An SVEA 5 stove, takes me back to being in the scouts and using Primus stoves. This might just get me into using Plutoline, would be great to give it a new life.

Be ideal that for making a cuppa while you’re tinkering in the garage. With the door open.

Please tell me the garage had shelves with storage jar hanging down with their lids nailed to the underside.

You’ve just given me an idea! My grandfather just had biscuit tins full of misc springs and screws.

Wow! Got one of those buried somewhere in our loft – it’s in a battered yellow tin box IIRC. My grandad gave it me for my first camping trip with my mates decades ago.

Even managed to find 2 Paramo no1 vices.

I have found a small Paramo 34 which will come in handy once I actually get my garage in a state where it has a roof that doesn’t leak and doors I can actually open! Luckily I have a large area under the floor I can access from the garden.

Plenty of jars of screws but none nailed through to the shelves. I’ve had to rip them all out as they were full of woodworm, some bits just crumbled into dust.

I also found a sump key yesterday that goes with the Melco box spanners.

I have always been useless with tools, DIY etc, but have great respect for those who can do it.

This thread is fascinating and perfect lockdown reading

Love the stove. I’ve a small collection and still use them (much to the annoyance of the wife). Give it a clean and see if there are any instructions engraved around the side.

Spares available:

https://www.base-camp.co.uk/

Best to be careful though: (My favourite petrol stove)

@Marko I’ll be careful and if I don’t burn the house down with the stove I can always try again with these

I looks like a may have a good home for the Velocette manuals. I was speaking to an old friend yesterday and telling him about all this stuff. It turns out his father in law is mad keen on them and still has one in storage. Unfortunately deteriorating eyesight means he can no longer ride it or work on it but hopefully they will remind him of better days.

Only just seen this thread – love it, can practically smell the turps soaked wrags from here….