Great story Gonzo! I have a neighbor/friend that's a shade tree mechanic. He's getting limited as to what he can do now. Just does basic stuff like brakes, some suspension work & oil changes. When it comes to other stuff, he doesn't have skill, tools or knowledge to do it. A little irritating to lose gravy work like that to him but if it's something he can't handle he sends them to my shop.
Joe's dad sounds like my grandfather. Never through anything out. If it was fixable it got repaired and was Jack of all skills(built his own house, did gardening, had a tree nursery, did the maintenance & repairs on his machinery plus worked for Westinghouse). Only thing was on saving things he went a little too far. He saved & collected so much junk that he had to build 2 buildings just to store it all!!!! LOL!!!
As for old tools, I still have my dwell/tach/volt/ohm meter, assortment of distributor wrenches, combo feeler gauge/spark plug gapper, allen wrench for adjusting dwell on GMs, & assorted other goodies. Ah the good old days!!!!!