Forgotten Tools

[Ulu]

Over the years a guy tends to own a number of cars, and if you've bought used cars you know that something usually turns up forgotten in the car.

 

This was in the quarter panel of my P15, left there by some smart guy who used a magnet to catch his clips & trim nuts then left his magnet, wrench, and screws inside the body when it was upholstered.

 

 

Anyhow, this thread is for old tools and stuff you have found, left behind inside a used car.

 

 

[TodFitch]

Don't have access to my took kit which is in my car about 450 miles from me, but the first time I took off the radiator I found a nice SnapOn open/box combination wrench wedged in the sheet metal.

 

Weather and mechanical luck allowing, I should be driving the Plymouth the 450 miles to my new house early next week. Looks like it has been raining quite a bit up in The Valley of Heart's Delight while down here in the Spanish Village by the Sea it has been quite pleasant after the drenching the other week.

[P15-D24]

Valve spring compressor after a valve job.  

[pflaming]

When I removed the glove door, I found these coins. The penny is a 1952 and the nickel is a 1950. Neither are D or P. I'm not certain where the other mint is, maybe SF.

Tip removed the Plymouth without breaking off the fragile pegs, it was a good day. The penny and the nickel will be permanently mounted some where on the dash.

[Ulu]

I bought a Caprice many years back, and found this tiny toolbox in the fender. I just tossed it under my bench and forgot about it, but I wanted a few tools for the boat & remembered these. I need to give them a good de-rusting! They've basically been untouched since the 70's, and when I looked I found the name "DEE" is inscribed on most of them.

 

 

The dikes are Krauter as is one of the small wrenches, There's a Williams tappet wrench and another tiny Williams, a 1960's craftsman, a couple of Vlcheks, and a couple Barcalos: an old one and a much newer chrome one. The big open end is a Dunlap. The flare nut wrench was in the front seat cushion, is a much newer Power-Built (Japanese I think) & does not say Dee. There's a Ford wrench too. Might be Model A era?

 

I can't quite identify the offset box-end wrench. Looks like a Vlchek

Edited January 20, 2016 by Ulu

[mlozier76]

When I was helping a buddy take the starter out of his 56 Fairlane last Thursday we took a look at the undercarriage while it was on the lift and found that the previous owner had misplaced a pair of vise grips.  They were still holding onto the rear seat bolt on the bottom side of the car!  Too funny, what some people consider a part being "fixed" can be. Not really forgotten, but funny still.

Edited January 20, 2016 by mlozier76

[48Dodger]

_{I can't tell you the number of tools I've left under the hood on any number of the cars/trucks I've owned.}

 

_{Always amazes me when I open up the hood down the road and say " Oooh kay...that's where it went to"}

 

_48D

[Dan Hiebert]

When I was helping a buddy take the starter out of his 56 Fairlane last Thursday we took a look at the undercarriage while it was on the lift and found that the previous owner had misplaced a pair of vise grips.  They were still holding onto the rear seat bolt on the bottom side of the car!  Too funny, what some people consider a part being "fixed" can be. Not really forgotten, but funny still.

Cool, we found the same thing when we first started working on my daughter's Falcon!  Except the vise grip was on one of the front seat bolts.  This may not count, but the previous owners (who had died) of the house we bought in Michigan left a tool box in the rafters of the garage (odd place, I thought).  We offered to give it back to the family, but none of the "kids" were interested in car stuff.  It was full of antique Ford tools, which I still have - so, still car related... 

[Bobacuda]

In 1967, my brother and I bought a beautiful 1941 Plymouth 4 door from the original owner - a 50,000 mile car that was all original.  The old couple had ordered the car through a local dealer, then drove their Model A to Detroit, toured the facility and watched their new Plymouth being built.  They said it was a vacation package through Plymouth.  Imagine, customer service and pride at an assembly plant.  Anyhow, they actually towed the Plymouth back to Texas so that they would not be breaking the engine in while they were driving back.

 

The first thing that failed once we bought it was the master cylinder, so we had to rebuild it.  When we put it on the rack (I worked at a gas station), there was a box end wrench on the brake line from the MC to the brake distribution block that was tucked out of the way on the frame.  The wrench was stamped "Chrysler."  We always assumed it was a screw up at the factory that was easier to leave it in place rather than remove parts to pull it as the car moved down the assembly line.

 

Unfortunately for me, I had purchased the car with my older brother, so he naturally took the car and drove it till it dropped, but hey, I got to pay for half of the repairs and fuel and sometimes I got to ride along.  After my brother finally roached the engine, he bought his own car and my parents made me sell the '41 - a decision they regretted for years when they finally realized I would have overhauled the engine, kept the car, and would probably still have it.

[Brent B3B]

but who has the wrench now? :^)

Edited January 20, 2016 by Brent B3B

[T120]

_{I can't tell you the number of tools I've left under the hood on any number of the cars/trucks I've owned.}

 

_{Always amazes me when I open up the hood down the road and say " Oooh kay...that's where it went to"}

 

_48D

 

 ...  It get's worse as you get older. 

[Ulu]

This old telescope came out of the trunk of a well-used '53 Pontiac my Dad bought about 1968.

 

It's dented and the leather is long gone, but it's an AO and it still works well.

 

I took these when I took it apart recently to clean it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eneto-55]

When I removed the glove door, I found these coins. The penny is a 1952 and the nickel is a 1950. Neither are D or P. I'm not certain where the other mint is, maybe SF.

Tip removed the Plymouth without breaking off the fragile pegs, it was a good day. The penny and the nickel will be permanently mounted some where on the dash.

image.jpg

For many years coins from the Philidelphia mint ('P') were unmarked (so some said they were 'plain').  ('D' is Denver, and 'S' is San Francisco.)

[Bobacuda]

Brent -

Since you asked, we gave the wrench to the person we sold the car to (and we told him the story).

 

One more funny story on the '41.  When we bought the car, the little old lady (in her 80's) asked if we would pull the back seat to look for a coin purse she was pretty sure slipped between the seat and the back.  So, at her house we pulled the seat and found the coin purse...and a pair of "granny panties."  The lady turned bright red and said, "I wondered where those went." 

 

After my brother and I both turned red, she told us that her husband would use her old panties to wax the car.  Far more information than I wanted at 14 yrs old.

[Brent B3B]

where is the eww button

 

not as interesting but under the seat of my b3hh I found a couple of wrenches and what was left of the parking brake assembly  

I hear it could be nice to have.....  

Edited January 21, 2016 by Brent B3B

[pflaming]

When this thread dies, it should be transferred and saved in a blog. It is funny, honest history. Love it!

[48DeSotoCustom]

Just a few items that I've been able to pull out from under the front seat of my desoto.

[Plymouthy Adams]

the black cow is no longer made as it was IF you are lucky to find one anymore.  Has been at least 15 years or better since I have seen one of the original chocolate coated soft caramel...the latest offering that the wife stumbled upon and brought home was a blend of chocolate and caramel as a single substrate, no coating anymore...alas the old cow has died..as an added note when as a  youngster...you could save 25 black cow wrappers and mail them to the company and they would send you a gigantic black cow sucker in return..I did this one time...the thing was on a 1/4 wood dowel for a stick...

 

thanks for the memory

[Young Ed]

the black cow is no longer made as it was IF you are lucky to find one anymore.  Has been at least 15 years or better since I have seen one of the original chocolate coated soft caramel...the latest offering that the wife stumbled upon and brought home was a blend of chocolate and caramel as a single substrate, no coating anymore...alas the old cow has died..as an added note when as a  youngster...you could save 25 black cow wrappers and mail them to the company and they would send you a gigantic black cow sucker in return..I did this one time...the thing was on a 1/4 wood dowel for a stick...

 

thanks for the memory

 

I can't speak to the quality but I believe I saw a box of black cows at a place we went to. They advertise as Minnesota's largest candy store.

[Ulu]

You can buy them here at OSH, but yes, they are not the same.

[pflaming]

Oh, so it's "Yes, we got no bananas!" ..?

[Ulu]

Someone forgot this big old vise out on the ranch, and it was rusting away when I got it for free. After a dip in the Derusting tank, a good session of wire brushing, some Jasco metal prep and several coats of Rust-Oleum metallic black it's looking pretty spiffy.

[Dave72dt]

If that's a Wilton, that's a 600 to 700 dollar  investment for a new one.  Nice save.  Tighten the bolts for the jaws, maybe a little locktite on them

[White Spyder]

Bought an 88 Fiero back in 08 in Texas. Drove it home and built a stroker for it. While doing the engine swap I pulled the carpet from the rear storage area and found a collection of adult toys and VCR cassettes. After a few laughs we got even more laughs about how fun it would be to call the PO and ask if she would like them returned. Never did though.

[Ulu]

If that's a Wilton, that's a 600 to 700 dollar  investment for a new one.  Nice save.  Tighten the bolts for the jaws, maybe a little locktite on them

 

No, it's a Mexican copy of a Wilton, but it seems to be a pretty solid vise.