Ferguson Auto Service

[MiniDave]

That was the name of my uncle Jim's shop, he owned it from the 40's till he closed it in the 70's to make way for the Crown Center Hotel and shopping mall in downtown KC - his father owned it before that from 1910 or so.....

Uncle Jim was pretty much one of my favorite uncles - I say was as he passed away in 2013 at 93 - and to me he was a fascinating guy - mostly because he knew how to fix cars. One of my earliest memories of him was helping my dad fix our 58 Mercury wagon. After putting a new fuel pump on it still wouldn't run - come to find out one of the one-way valves was in backwards. A lesson I never forgot!

His son Michael called me today and asked me to help sort thru some of his dad's old shop equipment to see if any of it was worth trying to sell or if it should all be scrapped. I had offered to do this since the day his dad passed in 2013 but somehow it just got put off, now he's trying to sell the old house and needs it all gone in a few weeks.....oh well.....

As we went thru I did find some stuff that due to it's age is now worth something - what exactly I don't know - but I've seen stuff like this sell on Garage Journal and Ebay, so I told him I'd try and market it for him. I seriously doubt any of it would be useful to any of the guys on here but I'll make a list and post it JIC.

My Uncle was a good looking man in his younger days - Elvis kind of good looking - and when he was 20 he had an Indian that was all dressed out and he rode it everywhere.....one day someone turned in front of him and he plowed into them - he spent a year in the hospital recovering from his injuries and from then on he had a rod in his right leg that meant he couldn't bend it. I remember seeing him drive his Chrysler (Hemi of course -  I told you, he was a car guy!  ;D) he'd have to move the seat all the way back so he could operate the accelerator with the toes of his right foot. He was a good mechanic and I learned a lot from him even tho I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, I did go down to the shop several times and just hung out...... another thing I remember is that while he had a nice big tool box, he kept all of his wrenches and sockets, screwdrivers etc laying out on the bench rather than in the drawers.

Most of the stuff he has is from the days when people fixed their cars, not just replaced the parts....for example he has a piston pin hone - no one but an engine shop does that now, and rarely at that. He also has a bunch of special hones for brake wheel cylinders (when a new wheel cylinder is only $5-10 today, you just replace them, but back them you didn't) There also are a couple of large Walker jacks, they are really long to reach under the cars of the 40's and 50's as those cars had long overhangs - front and back. Lots of stuff just doesn't have a market anymore but I'll go thru it all and ebay or whatever as much as possible. It's going to take some research to figure out what to ask for a lot of this stuff.....

Like I didn't have anything else to do   ;D

[MiniDave]

A few pics....

[94touring]

Do they still work?

[gr8kornholio]

Those jacks are totally cool looking.

[jeff10049]

The little fenders on the back wheels of the big jack are way cool 77.gif

[MiniDave]

All of the jacks work, I couldn't believe it actually.....

I know, those little wheels spats are so cool!  77.gif

[MiniDave]

There were tons of other things that I could not get to to take pics, like a HUGE chain hoist, a bunch of branded automotive cabinets for small parts like A/C Delco. the pics I posted were just the few things I could drag out of the old garage, which was stuffed full of just crap.

There were about a dozen jack stands, some were 5 tons, most at 3 tons, lots of cool old tools and other equipment. I'll put more pics up as I get better shots and clean some of the stuff up.

There also are some large wooden work benches....my cousin joked they were probably hazardous waste because they're completely soaked with oil from almost 100 years of use to work on engines, transmissions and the like....

A couple more pics....a huge chain hoist, a Souix valve machine, gear oil pump, huge vise.....

[MPlayle]

(Wistful sigh!)

So many wondrous, old treasures.

I have nowhere to put any of them I even remotely think I could someday use, let alone whether I could even learn to properly use them.

[94touring]

That chain hoist looks so big that if I hooked it to my gantry it would just sit on the floor.

[MiniDave]

I know, right?  And the scale of that vise doesn't show in the pic, but I think it's a 6" wide jaw!

Edit: looked it up US made, weighs more than 50lbs!

[MiniDave]

(Wistful sigh!)

So many wondrous, old treasures.

I have nowhere to put any of them I even remotely think I could someday use, let alone whether I could even learn to properly use them.

I know Michael, me too. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of stuff that's in this house and garage. I'm going back tomorrow and try and get some more pics. I'm taking my pressure washer to try and clean some other big garage stuff up, it's just crusted over with dirt - probably been in this garage since the 70's when he closed his shop.

[MiniDave]

This place was right next door to my uncle's shop

[jedduh01]

Neat old stuff!   

Just an recommendation ...  Yard sale for a quick = cash on spot movement type.     Hype it up ( locally posted signs for a few days or a few weeks)  Hope for a nice weekend with good weather. 
    Once you advertise  Antique / Vintage tools. they will flock to you.

Sadly much of this equipment is VERY heavy or awkward to ship = local buyers will be crucial .. Hitting the web takes time and effort to post and list.

Facebook Marketplace is also the 'local' place to post stuff for sale now.   Craigslist Eh .. FB is much more active now I have found.

____________________

My dad has had his shop he built in 79/80'  and he;s never moved.. Not a hoarder but has LOTS Of stuff. british car work stuff you dont throw out.
  As he eases into retirement he's starting to think whats going to become of all this stuff.    He's getting prepared mentally to somehow liquidate... we' have discussed it some and he dosent want to leave us with HIS mess.. but its alot to consider.

   Any one want first dibs to a MG /British repair shop of 'everything' type of inventory?  Attic full of body panels /   A School Bus shell Full of parts and components.. a few
   File cabinets full of Small parts (genuine)   and SOO MUCH MORE.  Lights. componets pieces. Vintage race.. so much of everything.

I'M afraid when he passes, ill need to move there for a while to help family handle it all somehow.  Might need to start cataloging what what is...

   Like an early 3 main 1622 MGA Motor. (rare or something)
  Tricarb Healey (needs full resto)
   Number 1300 or close 1963 MGB (pull handle car)  needs alot..  But has original factory chalk and marks still present.. A survivor that needs floors and rockers.

and more and more and more...

.

[MiniDave]

Wow, that sounds like it will be a lot of work - the best thing he could do is sell the business complete as is parts and all then you won't have to fuss with it.

Unless you want to....

I agree on Facebook market place.

[jeff10049]

wow a brake riviter

[jeff10049]

I might just be interested in that ring groove tool.

[MiniDave]

Make an offer and I'll let him know.....I'm sure he'll make a deal.

[MiniDave]

I've spent all this week working at my uncle's house, my cousin is not in good health so he's not much help (and I know it bothers him that he's not) so I've been doing it all. He did arrange for a dumpster so now I had a way to clean out the garage to get down to the stuff I want and maybe find a few more interesting bits in there or the basement.

Yesterday I borrowed my neighbor's Tacoma and used my little trailer and my friend Ric and I ran two major loads over to a storage mini garage I rented not too far from my house. I debated long and hard whether it would be better to move the stuff to a place close to his house so the trips would be short and easy, or closer to mine so I'd have quicker access to it.....close to me won. I had already run several loads over in the back of the blue Clubby but yesterday was the bulk of it and all the really heavy stuff like that chain hoist. That sucker took both of us just to lift it and get it onto my trailer!

Today I bought two of those chrome wire shelving units and got all the loose and small stuff up off the floor in the storage unit, then made one more trip over to make sure I hadn't missed anything (which I had) so tomorrow I'll make my last trip over to load all that stuff, then the job of cataloging, photographing and getting rid of it starts.

Jedduh has given me some really sell good tips, and my friend Ric who is a frequent Ebay seller has me all set up there to sell some of the smaller, lighter shippable and more unique stuff. For example, I think I found 10 Desoto hubcaps, and a set of Chrysler 300 tail light assemblies. I also found a bunch of other Mopar stuff NIB, I think that stuff will sell better on the Bay.

I always like to clean stuff thoroughly so it looks it's best but Ric says it's not necessary for this stuff, it will sell as well dirty and grease encrusted. I'm not sure I agree with him, but we'll see.

Over the next few weeks I'll share pics of some of the really interesting stuff I found - tools, parts and other "stuff". Weather's going to shit over the weekend and I have a LOT of work to do in my shop already so it may wait a few days till it warms up or at least stops raining/snowing/icing all over the place. The storage doesn't even have a light or light socket in it so it's strictly a daylight deal over there.

By yesterday I had filled the dumpster about half full, the guy who is buying the property came by and asked if he could have his metal guy come over and pic thru it. Michael said sure and today when I went over I was amazed to see it was almost empty again! There's probably this much stuff to add to it again, but we only have it till Friday. I don't think he'll be paying extra for the tonnage! Unfortunately he found out today that his deal fell thru, so he's back to taking offers. I hope he gets it sold quickly.

More as it happens.......

[MiniDave]

Part of the fun of this job has been finding or discovering tools that I've not seen before.....mind I doubt I'll ever have a use for any of this stuff, but it's fun to learn about them. This is one of those....

It's called the "Valve Jack", made by the Hansord Co in Minneapolis, Mn, I found that it was used on Model T engines, which means it's probably 100 years old or so.....still in pretty good condition too for a tool that old.

I don't know yet exactly what it was used for - whether to pry out valves that were stuck in the block or what exactly but I'm looking into that. Not in this pic is an adjustable base for the odd shaped leg of the puller - I found that part but didn't realize it was part of this tool, but I have it in the storage bin.

I also found an interesting Snap-On seal puller designed to pull the rear seal and bushings out of the back of a transmission. Too bad it doesn't fit the Sprite trannys I work on!

More to come......

Edit: added pics of the transmission seal and bushing remover tool

[jeff10049]

The valve jack was used for pulling the complete valve assembly guide spring and all out. Of a model T. You pull the guide retainer and then lever the whole assembly out one step at a time to keep the tool parallel as not to bend the valve.

[MiniDave]

There you go, I haven't wrenched much on T's

You know, I never paid any attention to what it says on that yellow ruler till I posted these pics!  ;D

[MiniDave]

So today, in the 30* weather I met a guy over at the storage place where I put all my Uncle's stuff. He said he was only interested in hand tools, but when we were done he bought both vises, some tool trays with a number of small tools in them including a really nice old Snap On 1/2 drive ratchet (I should have found and kept that one, but oh well) and all of the seal tools like the one I posted above. I figure he'll make a killing on the snap on stuff and more power to him. There also was a rusty old hub puller that he took.

By Tuesday it will be in the 80's so I'm hoping to get going on this stuff so I don't have to pay any more storage locker fees.

A guy in Denver wants the Blue Jack, so I'll see what shipping will cost and get that sent off to him too.

Still a ton of stuff in there (literally!) but the guy today has a buddy who run a shop for tools and such out of a flea market, he said he'll contact him and he might just buy it all.....I'd be OK with that!

[MiniDave]

So the second guy came out this afternoon and bought a lot of stuff, seems like every few minutes he'd find something else that he just had to have. When it was all done he was a little short on money, but in the meantime the first guy had come back again for round 2 and gave him the balance - then the first guy wound up buying another bunch of stuff. All in all a good day. Still some largish things left to go. My plan now is to be completely out of the storage unit by the end of the month.

The  before pic really doesn't show how full the storage was. In this "after" pic those shelves were chock full, and you couldn't step into the storage area as there was no open space on the floor.

[MiniDave]

I'm going to go ahead and list some stuff here for sale, since it's tools and not parts....I figure this stuff is not really for you guys but maybe you'll see something you might want or know someone who might want something.

First up is the ARO gear oil pump, pump is cast iron, tank is steel, base is cast.

The foot operated riveter....

A Hemmeter Dial-O-Matic wheel balancer (nothing says the fifties like "O-Matic" in the name!) patents on this go back to the 1930's, the company was later sold to Bishman who is still in business today, tho I don't think they still make the Dial-O-Matic! I used a competitor's version of this in the 60's worked perfectly to balance wire wheels on Jags and those enormous (for the time) wheels on old Rolls Royces. Contemporary accounts of people using one of these on the Hamb say it works great but only on steel wheels.

[MiniDave]

The Champion spark plug tester/cleaner....

3 of these black Weatherhead parts containers, and one brand new looking yellow one, still in the box. All of them are full of odds and ends.

Some small weather head boxes