The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Looking for suggestions on how to keep parts/pieces organized during resto

As I disassemble my truck looking for how to best to keep my parts/pieces organized. I want to spend a little as possible, don't want a bunch of plastic bins sitting around after I am done but would like to keep them somewhat organized as well. So far what I have done is buy 3 HUGE plastic storage bins the size of trunks really. Labeled each of them Bed, Cab and Front End. I put my parts into large plastic freezer bags label them and put them into the big storage bin based on where they came off the truck. As for the large body parts (hood, fenders, doors, bed) they are at a buddies garage where we do the body work. So far that is working good, but having a couple of issues:

1. Some parts are still just too big to fit into the largest freezer bag. - Should I just use drawstring trash bags or something else for those?
2. As I refinish individual parts (say the horn, hood latch, heater, etc. what I am finding is I need a way to protect the new finish on those as I put more stuff into the storage bins and/or rummage through them looking for things. - How should I protect those pieces and still make
them easy to access without a zillion boxes, shredded newspaper, bubble wrap etc. everywhere?

Any other suggestions/comments are welcomed from some you experienced bolters who have been there/done that. I don't have a large shop. My garage space is extremely limited and I stack the bins back up on the bed frame each night when I am finished!

If you literally take everything apart, how will you remember how it all goes back together? Maybe work on a piece at a time and reassemble before moving on?

I photo/video everything along the way and have it organized into folders/albums. I am also restoring/refinishing parts along the way. That is why I asked about protecting them.

Take lots of pictures as you go. Make notes of how some of the smaller more intricate assemblies come apart/go back together. I bagged everything up in ziplocs and put into boxes. If you are labeling bags, I would put your label on a note card inside the bags. I found that a lot of my labels I wrote on the bags with sharpie markers rubbed off over time.

One thing I like to do is once the parts are done, I put them on the cheaper shelves you buy at the big box stores. You'll be surprised the amount of stuff you can stack in a significant small amount of space.
I do one or two resto a year, usually antique tractors, so m y parts do not stay very long, and my memory is usually still fresh about were and how parts go.
You are on a good path, keep on going.

Be a real man. Take it apart and figure out how to put it back together several years later. If you do it this way just one time, you will be able to put the next truck back together blind folded.
I don't ask strangers for directions when my wife is absolutely positive that we are lost either.
(This post is tongue in cheek sort of, but maybe not really. I'm not sure.)
Carl
That guy

Already received some good advice but one thing you asked was how to protect them.

After I retired I worked part time for an auto parts store for a few years and we had to return stuff on a pallet which was wrapped with what I'll call "Saran Wrap". You know the plastic stuff I am talking about. Well, they have "short rolls" that don't get used and the manager would allow me to get them. Now when I blast/clean/paint a smaller part I let it dry/cure and then wrap it with the Saran Wrap a few times and put it away. Has worked for me for several years and you can do a pretty good size piece.
You can but this same stuff but I don't know if its expensive or not as I get mine free.

Note: you can buy "smaller" plastic "shoe box" size containers for dirt cheap and stuff a lot of smaller parts in them and then STACK them on top of each other. Example: I have all my wheels/rivits/handles/screws/bolts for my window regulator in one. It keeps it segregated but also organized.

....you are definitely on the right track!

Alvin, First hope all is well with you and your wife. That saran wrap stuff deal is a BRILLIANT idea and just the kind of trick I am looking for! I think I may even have some it....somewhere out there...

I use a metal two door storage cabinet I got at a yard sale (less than 20$), you know, the ones that stand about 7' tall and abut 3' wide with shelves. Anyway, I bag, box or wrap my restored parts and put them in there for safe keeping. It keeps them out of the dust and I know where to look for parts when ready...that ALL that is in the cabinet, nothing else.

With your bins, I'd make a simple label on painters tape and stick it on the outside of the bin with the part name for everything I put into that bin...makes it easy to find that part later. Make a separate label for every part, that way when you remove the part you remove the tape label and you are always current with what's in the bin.

Mike B

That's always been my method. Typically I misplace multiple items and end up buying replacements which arrive just about the time I finally locate the original.

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If you do component restoration it lessons the amount of parts and pieces you accumulate. In other words for instance, remove a headlight assembly, disassemble, glass bead and paint then reassemble and put the assembly away with the correct mounting hardware. I did this on my 53 and never had too much of a muddle.

Also, I liked to number my ziplock bags, then keep a ledger in a notebook depicting what was in each numbered bag.

...an additional thought. I've seen many parts labeled with duct tape, masking tape and so forth and when the tape is peeled off it takes off some paint, the finish or just plain leaves a mess to clean off. I'm not saying don't do this but simply use good common sense when marking and writing on stuff.

.....I have a batch of the small white "hang tags" with a string on them that I use on many parts to identify. I don't think "one" thing will cover all so just use some good logic. It'll save the day later.

So now I can't find my '52 gauge cluster and speedometer! No labeling method would have helped me there.