Bounce's Seemingly Random Garage Regalia

2 more have arrived!

I have a wonderfully patinated and extremely well-used New Jersey commercial vehicle plate:



and a 1972 South Carolina example in moody black. I rather like this one.

Well I think it's about time I did some updating. I have done precious little in the Manroom for several months other than throw stuff in it and make a bit of a mess (US holiday, sorting the final bits and bobs from Dad's house etc, life getting in the way and a massive case of CBA). 

So the first thing was to do some sorting. I was never happy with the shelf I had for the bench grinder, as although it was on its Mk2 phase with heavier worktop-style wood, the shelf brackets it was on still made it vibrate like a raver on too much medication. I took it all off the wall, cut a baton to size and fished out a couple of wooden legs for the front end which I had to shorten by about 1/2". I also added a little shelf halfway up to put my battery chargers on as these are always in the way. Excellent. I have also moved the welder and put it on a new trolley.

Next up was the fridge. This always had stuff dumped on it and although it was switched on, it was a waste of electricity and really wasn't being used much - just for tins of Pepsi Max. So I freecycled it, and it was picked up by a chap who's just moved into a new flat with next to no furniture. He walked round, collected it and called a taxi to take it home. To say he was delighted was an understatement. "Pay it forward" as they say. Gave me a nice warm feeling. Of course, moving the fridge out left a space, so I got some shelves to fill the gap. I put loads of stuff on them which had mainly been on top of the fridge or on the floor.

Tools! I have loads of them and they're often in the way. When I was over at Shaun's clearing out his garage we borrowed a van, so I grabbed a couple of pallet tops from his work and have made a new tool wall. The only thing is, once painted, I have now run out of yellow paint to match the rest of them so any further tool walls will have to be a different colour... 

I also have 3 more plates. When in Florida I managed to find a shop selling plates on International Drive - amongst all the knock-off Disney stuff. Still, got Oregon ticked off the list; then I managed to get Delaware. Maryland is in the post, but with the delights of the Royal Mail Strikes, who knows when it will arrive! Finally, a Netherlands plate kindly donated by thomfr who sent it after I chucked a couple of US plates his way. Once Maryland arrives that will be just 1 to go: Wisconsin. 

The garage is still a tip - just slightly less so now!

Bench grinder shelf sprouts legs and a little shelf. It now DOES NOT MOVE!



Shelving unit replaces fridge. Cheaper on the electric. And a bit more organised.



New Tool Wall. I have a need for more "English Trifle" yellow paint for any new ones that I build.



Plates! Oregon - directly from the USA and brought home in my suitcase. I am sure that the Custom Officers have seen weirder things...



Delaware - slightly different to the usual US plates - It's not as rounded on the corners and being a printed plate it's a much lighter strip of aluminium (or should that be aluminum?). I wasn't prepared to pay the astronomical amounts asked for a pre-1961 stamped Delaware plate. I know I want them all to be pressed, but they were silly money, even from the States.



Thom's Dutch donation, which apparently came from a 70s Mazda 616. Love the patina!



And finally, the bumper sticker I got from the Everglades has gone on the side of my big red cabinet. I don't like stickers on cars, but cabinets? Totally fine!!

The final USA License Plate has arrived! I have been trawling the suppliers for an unusual Wisconsin plate and the one I found does not disappoint.

It's from the Menominee Indian Reservation - I love the colour, the bird design to the side and the fact that Wisconsin is simply shortened to "Wis" at the top, whereas "Menominee Nation" is prominent at the bottom. It's certainly one of my favourites. 



This does not mean that I have now "finished" the garage. There will be occasional updates, new plates (just not US ones) and other assorted gubbins. I'm not done yet! (Still trying to figure out if I can fit a set of traffic lights in there somewhere...) 

Ha ha no - not yet...

The garage needed tidying - amongst other things there was a pile of wood just inside the garage door. Said pile included batons, bits of 4x2 and various offcuts including floorboard planks etc. It was untidy and needed to be sorted. And if you're going to sort something, it's always good if you can do it cheaply. I had enough bits of baton to make a small frame which could be screwed to the wall. On top of that, to stop unnecessary "fall-outs", I found a roll of chicken wire which had been left in there by the Landlord's late father. 

A few screws later, plus some work with the side cutters and the staple gun, I drilled two holes in the brickwork for rawlplugs and the new wood organiser was in place and doing its job. It's amazing how something so simple can make an area of the garage look so much neater. Excellent.
 


Whilst the Midas was pushed out far enough, I took the opportunity to finally put the final two US plates up in the rafters. 

Not silly at all! I have one of these on the wall in my garage, found it in my dad's stuff when he died. No idea why he kept it! But it gives a warm feeling when I see it...




Example pic, as I'm soaking in a hot bath, and I'm not going out in the drizzle for you lot!

Also, mine is a posh (ha!) two dial version of the above, so we could finally tape something while watching something else! Woooooh!

Each to their own, I was in New York a couple of years back visiting relatives, one of them offered me (free) half a dozen different states number plates, I have no interests in them and turned down his offer, which he found very surprising

With regard to the £5 each offer, I would have probably gone for them IF I had a need for any the States, or thought any were good enough to replace what I already have.

Most of the plates nowadays you see advertised on ebay and in online shops are generally £8.99 upwards unless they're really rough. You could take what you need and move the others on for £6-£7 each and not feel guilty. Or just buy what you need. If you didn't need any, I would have walked as well, as there aren't really any anything in that group that stands out other than maybe the Trailer one for me. They aren't calling to me.as they're not that special.