Have you ever figured the cost of "lost" parts?

[fade94]

Some may not admit it. But, for those of you that will....
Have you ever sat down it figured what you paid to replace "lost" parts? You know the ones. These are the parts that you pulled off to get to something else or for dissassembly, put "right there on the bench" or "it was in the cabinet". Only for it go on a walk-about? So now you have to go out and find another part to replace it with and move on. But it doesn't end there. One day your cleaning up and I'll be, there it is. The part you had to buy twice in some cases. Oh, and it's not alone. It's hanging out with about 4 other parts you had to replace......
I know it's not just me guys....

[pjmoreland]

One time I lost the little brass adapter for connecting the oil pressure gauge line to the back of the engine block. I went through a big ordeal to try to find a replacement. Then a couple of weeks later I found it sitting right in plain sight on the shelf.

[Ogier]

I have shop Gnomes that take stuff that I put down on occasion and move it for me to someplace I can't find. Then, when I get a replacement, they move it back to where I put it down in the first place.

[Green Machine]

I'll bite -LOL

Yep, then there's the cost of time lost looking all over h311 for the part(s). The "special" parts I usually put in a "special" place so I won't lose them or get mixed up with something else. Then I forget where that "special"' place was when looking for part. Or you have to rearange or just clean up the area before your're done, which can be often on an extended prodject, maybe the wife or kids help you cleanup or rearange things, boxed get combined, etc, then can't find anything !!. At least you had an "organized mess" before the cleanup LOL. I tend to throw bolts, screws, small parts in a bucket or two like "front" parts and "back" parts thinking I'll remember where they go, then have troubles later.

Thank goodness for my 14 yr old son who's helping with the restoration of our '68. He must have used 50 baggies, labeled with masking tape, some with only 4 or 5 little parts, to organize our disassembly, packed into larger boxes. He also inventoried the new parts that came in, all that was a big help 1 year later as we reassemble. Remebering doesn't get much better as you get older either ! I'm trying to get more organzed ! Some tips: You MUST take the time to clean and organize the work area before you start, and finish one project before starting the next, it tough to do but save shours of looking for "lost" items.

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by Ogier

I have shop Gnomes that take stuff that I put down on occasion and move it for me to someplace I can't find. Then, when I get a replacement, they move it back to where I put it down in the first place.

Must be a big family, because they have relatives in my area here and had them back in Pennsylvania and Japan too. Please come take these guys back

[fastwillie 696969]

when i was married i hide some stuff then tell wife she must have thrown it out and i need to buy a new one
LOL
i love blaming her on everything

[68haywagon]

^

Mike

[Bamm]

Sounds like your son is keeping you in line Green Machine. You are dead on, that is the absolute best way to work on a project. You can never have enough baggies and sharpies. Get the gallon size freezer bags too, they hold more, they hold bigger stuff like brackets, and you can write on them better.............Jerry

[Bill72BB]

The best way to find a lost or misplaced part . Is to go buy another .
Works every time.

[Geezer]

Don't know what's worse, loosing something or the time I spend looking for it...

[Green Machine]

Good idea Bamm24, I'm going to get some freezers bag too, Thanks.

[Sillyoldman]

Actually the body shop lost the most. After the paint was on, the rest of the truck came back in bags and filthy boxes. Made it hard to take an inventory. The parts that came off at home were bagged and tagged. Worth every moment.

[GMC AMI]

when i was married

Originally Posted by 68haywagon

^

Mike

Notice Mike that he used to be married, wonder if he misplaced his wife and had to buy a new one?

[special-K]

I don`t need to hide things on my wife.She does a good job of that on her own!With parts,my problem is I have several places in different buildings where parts are stashed.Sometimes I feel like a trapped rat going from building to building over and over,and over and over.It must look funny,especially when I start talking to myself.

[cowboy33713]

Howdy;
since my high school days (daze?), it has been only a few parts , but mostly TOOLS, especially those for special applications, that seem to vaporize, usually in the middle of the project at hand. Took me and brother YEARS to realize that, just like in "Star Track" ( or something with some name like that), the missing items had either spontaneously fallen into a temporal rift, and would re-emerge to our time continuim sometime in the future (or past!), or they had hyperspaced, and were either gone forever,or would reappear when they slowed down again, sometimes as little as a foot away from where they left.
The Baggies really help to prevent this in small parts, unless the part is exceptionally tough to replace. Maybe the static charge generated from handling the bag has something to do with it.
(space)cowboy33713

[arkracing]

Originally Posted by Green Machine

The "special" parts I usually put in a "special" place so I won't lose them or get mixed up with something else. Then I forget where that "special"' place was when looking for part.

Thank goodness for my 14 yr old son who's helping with the restoration of our '68. He must have used 50 baggies, labeled with masking tape, some with only 4 or 5 little parts, to organize our disassembly, packed into larger boxes. He also inventoried the new parts that came in, all that was a big help 1 year later as we reassemble.

That is really the best way to dissasemble a vehicle...even if you doing partial repairs. It may seem like a PITA @ first...to put them in baggies and label them all but you will be glad you did when you go to find that stuff later on.

Taking inventory of your new parts is a great idea too... That way you don't end up buying something twice!!!
I'm especially guilty of this with my Hot Rod '33 cause it just sits in the corner waiting to be worked on and I have parts for it everywhere and sometimes remember what I have alreay bought for it

I'm moving garages over the next couple of weeks so i think i'm going to do the inventory thing then.

Thanks for the idea Young Green Machine

[sleepyboy]

I will look at a tool I own everyday for MONTHS... but the day I need it, NO WHERE to be found..It is funny to watch people (not me, mind you) look in the same place 10 times, hoping it will magically appear..

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by sleepyboy

I will look at a tool I own everyday for MONTHS... but the day I need it, NO WHERE to be found..It is funny to watch people (not me, mind you) look in the same place 10 times, hoping it will magically appear..

I bought a bubble level, used it one time then lost it. I used it to put up a high shelve. One day about a year and a half later I took a box down, and when I tried to put it back it would not fit. Guess where I found my level?