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I figured I would start this thread by highlighting handy garage items I have bought and recommended.


For those who order from Amazon, this is their Black Friday Week.

This popped up:

amzn.to/4eF1KrR

I would have been skeptical, but we actually used one of these in New Zealand when the Auburn we were driving developed a slow tire leak. On a single charge, it was able to inflate a very low tire twice.

It's not the fastest, but for something that's only slight larger a USB battery pack, and stores easily in a glovebox it saved us a tow!

My wife wants one as it would also be great for anyone with a bike as it's small enough to toss in a backpack or saddlebag.

Since we are on this topic, I figured I would share another item I bought last year that was extremely useful for me in the garage. Since I don't have a lift and have spent way too much time under the car, this has been great and really made a difference, especially in the colder months when the concrete is very cold. It saves the knees and back and keeps my clothes from getting filthy, which my wife appreciates. I like that it quickly rolls up so it's easy to store. I roll it up and stick it on top of the beer fridge so it's always handy.

amzn.to/4g04Gk2

Ok one more for now, this one from Harbor Freight. Their ICON line of items is very good in terms of quality, and this item came up for sale a few months ago and is just wonderful and very bright. It's pretty small and the strong magnetic base allows it to stick just about everywhere on the car. It has more lumens than the 36" LED light bar I have always used, and it fits in more places. I used it just the other day when I was pulling the sheet metal off the front of the '37. I could stick it inside the fender and shine light upon those headlight base bolts that are impossible to see. It has three different lights on it, and the head is adjustable so yo can get light where you need it.

So, if you're looking to put something on your Christmas list, this is another one I recommend. They go on sale a couple of times a year.


harborfreight.com/800-lumen-led-recharge ... lim-bar-work-light-black-59103.html






One issue with it is that because it's so compact and it sticks to just about any metal surface, it is easy to forget where you stuck it. More that once, I turned off the lights in the garage and wondered why there was a light shining down from underneath the car. Only to find it was on, and still attached underneath the car somewhere!

I use one of these which is very bright, but I normally set it at the lowest setting which is 12h of runtime. More expensive but also a tad nicer.

harborfreight.com/2100-lumen-led-recharg ... compact-floodlight-black-59170.html

These were one of the best finds ever for me…




Bifocal safety glasses

Getting older and my eyes with it, I finally ordered safety glasses for the garage that are my progressive lens prescription.

Made a huge difference and I am no longer wearing my normal glasses while under the car, or grinding on something.

Since I knew my script, I was able to upload it to a website and do all the ordering online. I think they were about $150, with most of that cost because of the progressive lens prescription. If it was a single vision lens, it would have been much cheaper.

Yeah in my case, my distance vision is very good, but I just needed something for the near vision. These have worked great at just over $11.

Sadly, I need both far and close. But progressives are far better than bifocals, at least for me.

There are a few adjustable vision goggles or glasses you could wear under goggles that might be even better. I haven't bought any yet but the ability to turn a dial to adjust is better than what I do now, which is push my glasses up or down, inevitably getting oil, etc. on the lens and defeating the purpose of having glasses. Here are some examples but I've seen some advertised that had the dial on the outside arm which makes more sense but couldn't find them on Amazon.

amazon.com/Adjustable-Diopters-Permeable ... e/dp/B0DG2JFTK6/ref=sr_1_33?sr=8-33

amazon.com/Adjustable-Glasses-FlexVision ... 3/dp/B0DC6BH4Y1/ref=sr_1_29?sr=8-29

The problem I have with the adjustable glasses is that they are not safety glasses and don’t off the coverage to protect against falling crud when I’m under the car. Also, I think that I would likely get grease/oil on the lenses trying to adjust them.

For me, and absolute requirement is that I’m wearing safety glasses. Then, I have options of bifocal safety glasses or safety glasses that go over my regular progressive glasses.