Tools and Garage talk

Sep

Construction company to break ground on facility in Sycamore

By rusty | Filed in Uncategorized

SYCAMORE – Krusinski Construction Company will break ground Oct. 1 on a new facility in the Sycamore Prairie Business Park that will house SK Hand Tools, according to a news release from the construction company.

Ideal Industries purchased SK Hand Tools in August and announced then that it planned to build a 130,000-square-foot building at its corporate headquarters in the Sycamore Prairie Business Park to accommodate its purchase.

Ideal was founded in 1916 and manufactures tools and supplies for the construction, maintenance, data communications and original equipment manufacturing industries.

SK Hand Tools is a Chicago-based tool company that makes sockets, ratchets, hammers and wrenches.

SK Hand Tools, founded in 1921, had filed for bankruptcy protection June 29, according to a news release from Ideal.

The new 130,000-square-foot manufacturing building will serve as corporate headquarters for SK Hand Tools, according to a news release from the construction company.

The manufacturing area is scheduled to be done in 12 weeks and the entire building by January.

Kwasek Architects is providing the architectural and structural design and Missman Stanley &
Associates is providing civil design and engineering, according to the news release.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2010/09/20/63153021/index.xml

Aug

Ideal SK Bankruptcy court PDF.

By rusty | Filed in Tools

http://www.professionaldistributormagazine.com/pdf/SKbankdocs063010.pdf

Acquired Assets: Ideal seeks to purchase certain of the Debtor’s assets listed on
Schedule 1.1 to the APA, which schedule remains in process but will consist of machinery and
equipment, inventory, intellectual property, certain executory contracts, supplies, motor vehicles,
computer hardware and software, licenses and permits and other personal property (collectively,
“Acquired Assets”).

In April 2005, the
Debtor’s new management team created a new company, MCC Business, Inc., which purchased
the Debtor’s parent company, Strafor Facon, Inc. n/k/a Triat Industries, Inc., and its subsidiary,
i.e., the Debtor.
3. The Debtor has experienced a significant decline in earnings caused by several
economic conditions, for example, loss of certain top customers (including government
contracts); increasing labor costs; the impact of the recession on industries upon which the
Debtor depends for sales, e.g., automotives; and the cost of an under-utilized, leased distribution
facility in McCook, Illinois.

Oh and just a a point of interest. If you look on page four, Wright tools was one of the companies on the SK HAND TOOL CORPORATION SERVICE LIST.

Aug

Fiat 2-cylinder TwinAir.

By rusty | Filed in Cars

Fiat Twin Air

As promised earlier this year, Fiat has officially adorned their beloved 500 with a brand new engine option: the 2-cylinder TwinAir.

The 85 HP, turbocharged 0.9 liter engine reportedly has the performance characteristics of a much larger 1.4 liter, 16-valve engine, but it consumes about 30% less fuel—resulting in a fuel economy of 57 mpg as rated on the combined Euro cycle. If it were sold in the U.S. and rated on the EPA cycle, that number would likely drop to around 50 mpg.

Unfortunately for now, there are no plans to sell the 85 HP TwinAir engine as an option on any of the Fiat 500’s that are rumored to be reaching U.S. shores by the end of this year.

Tags: engine option, Fiat, fiat 500, fuel economy, hp, liter, mpg, performance characteristics, twinair, valve engine

Jun

Chrysler K-310

By rusty | Filed in Cars

Ghia got in touch with Chrysler in 1950, although they bodied a Chrysler 75 back in 1929.
So there was Luigi Segre whose first Plymouth bodied cars ..er wasn’t ranked among the era’s greatest.
Chrysler president Kaufmann T. Keller had been impressed by the Ghia craftsmanship and modest cost of the above mentioned car so he permitted stylist Virgil M. Exner, who had been bought in by Keller to revive Chrysler’s design image, to proceed with the commissioning of other Chrysler-based concept cars from the Torinese carrozzeria.

The explanation of the name: K: Kaufman T. Keller, then-chairman of Chrysler 310: the hopeful power output (in fact it only developed some 180 bhp). The car was based on the new hemi-head V8 Saratoga chassis, and cost $20.000 to build at Ghia.
Chrysler ordered 40 Ghia-Chrysler but the commission was cut back because of the Korean War.

K-310

Tags: chairman of chrysler, chrysler cars, chrysler president, concept cars, design image, exner, ghia, korean war, segre, t keller

Apr

Ford posts a 40 percent March gain in U.S. sales

By rusty | Filed in Cars, Rants and raves

For the month of March, US sales for Ford Motor Co. rose by 40% and for April, it intends to extend its sales momentum by launching a full marketing campaign. Starting April 6, Ford will aim to step up its marketing for its new set of products that will be arriving.

At a conference call, Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president of US sales and marketing, said that Ford will launch a campaign that’s focused on its products and product strength. Czubay said that what Ford seeks to emphasize are its products, and not on clearance and discounts.

Ford said that more details will be available next week about this campaign that will focus on Ford’s four product pillars — safety, quality, technology and fuel economy.

Ford also announced that consumers should expect the restyled and re-engineered 2011 Super Duty pickup and the 2011 Mustang coupe with a new V-6 engine to arrive in dealerships next month. By this summer, the Fiesta compact car is also expected to be launched.

The 40% gain in March is actually the sixth straight month that Ford had been able to record a sales gain. This figure follows Ford’s first annual increase in US market share since 1995. Ford also intends to keep its incentive spending stable.

Edmunds said that Ford’s average incentive was $3,304 per vehicle in March, down from $3,673 a year earlier. However, heavy incentives have been the norm across the industry. In comparison, Toyota’s average incentive was $2,256 per vehicle in March, a marked increase from $1,565 a year earlier.

[via autonews - sub. required]

Tags: edmunds, ford motor, ford motor co, fuel economy, full marketing, mustang coupe, product strength, quality technology, s sales, sales momentum

Mar

Time to finish your winter projects.

By rusty | Filed in Cars, Garages

Spring has sprung and it is time to get those winter projects done and out of the way.

Soon the cruise ins and car shows will hit the frozen north. The project needs to be done so you can display all of your hard work and determination.

So get busy before “jobs” and other work get in the way and the project gets put off until next winter.

With sitting for another year more problems usually show and the project becomes an never ending story

Tags: car shows, cruise, ins, jobs, winter projects

Mar

Is everyone ready for the Spring fixem up time?

By rusty | Filed in Uncategorized

It alwaays seems like no matter how much time you spend working of equipment over the winter. The coming of Spring finds new problems to fix and replace.

So are your tools and garages ready for the onset of work coming your way?

Maybe now would be a good time to make sure your stock of fluids is full and your tools are ready. From the small items put off due to weather and ice formations to the parts that fail with the changing seasons. This is the time to prepare youself.

Tags: changing seasons, coming of spring, garages, good time, stock, tools, weather

Mar

Back with a different look.

By rusty | Filed in Uncategorized

After a long hiatus caused by multiple life events we are back with a new look.
I am hoping that things will normalise and I will be able to return to posting on at least a semi regular basis.

Tags: hiatus, multiple life