Can we talk about the old shop I walked into in Bakersfield that still has a hand crank tire machine
I had to drive out to Bakersfield last Saturday to pick up a transmission for a customer's truck and the guy selling it ran his shop out of a building that looked like it was built in the 1950s. While I was waiting for him to find the paperwork I started looking around and there was this old Coats hand crank tire machine in the corner, the kind with the big wheel you yank on. He said his dad bought it new in 1962 and he still uses it for smaller wheels because he swears the new machines scratch alloy rims. I asked him what he does when a part breaks and he just pointed at a wall of coffee cans full of old bolts and springs he pulls from. I stood there thinking about how my own bay has maybe three specialty tools I actually touch and the rest just sit there. He also had a rack of belts and hoses going back decades, some of those boxes looked older than me. It got me wondering how many shops out there are still running on the old stuff because it just keeps working, so what is the oldest tool in your bay that you will not give up?