So, you think you have a good garage?

[Whitey80]

For all of us fellas who build and maintain vintage cars and motorcycles, our garage/workshop space is a point of pride. Setting up proper organization, building areas and welding tables takes some thought and some work, and we think we're pretty good at it....until this fella comes along.

With no professional cabinetry or constructions skills, he put us all to shame...Take the long tour on his site dedicated to his ingenious an exceedingly useful 2-car garage.....

The 12-Gauge Garage

 

[avnetguy]

That lift is a nice touch ... wish I had one in mine but a standard floor jack will have to do for me.

Steve

 

[Whitey80]

That lift is a nice touch ... wish I had one in mine but a standard floor jack will have to do for me.

Steve

I used to have one when I was doing cars more often. They are quite cheap used for the scissor lift style, is sold mine for $600. A pair of good floor jacks costs that.

Hydraulic Scissor Lift - 6000 Lb. Capacity - ready to go, with the hydro pump

 

[Rickster71]

Nice stuff.
I used to read my dad's Popular Mechanics mag when I was a kid.
It reminds me of something you'd see in there.

 

[gholt]

That is way cool. I never thunk it that that there would be a place to show off your garage, but I now know that there is hope for my one car garage. There are some pretty good ideas in there.

 

[Bryceo]

That throws my dual rollar door sheed workshop and dual open ends to shame wow jokes I have a lift for the drag car

 

[ImcLoud]

Nice garage, but what if you have a car on the lift and need a c clamp or visegrip? may be a design flaw there... Also I had a tiled garage before, and for working on porches it may work, but I was pulling the 4 speed out of me 72 cuda and broke 4 tiles, first job I ever did on that floor and last...
I would take pics of my garages but they are all a mess, The building we just put up is huge and we have 2 lifts, but its a mess, since its snowing out and all the equipment is shoved in there, picture 4 CAT excavators {302-308's}, a half dozen IR 185 cfm tow compressors, A couple kabota's, some ditch witches, plus 2 fully loaded 16' landscaping trailers {Used to be 5 but this year I bought 3 enclosed trailers so we can keep them outside full of machines}.... So needless to say it looks like a bomb went off at an equipment factory in there....

And my house garage is also a mess, we have the engine out of my 39 ford {switching transmissions and it has a solid crossmember so need to take engine out to change tranny } and the nose had to come off completely, so that bay is a mess, and the other bay is full of motorcycle parts since my latest chopper project just will not complete itself, and with me being hurt thats the only way it will get done....

But give me a until the summer, and Ill post some pics of my gayrages, I may have a good pic of my snap-on pit cart before it got all cluttered up with tools... Ill look..

 

[Whitey80]

It definitely inspired me to build a new bench. Working on the frame currently. has to be hefty, as I intend to use a 3" concrete top at 7'x4' on it.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys.

Whitey80, the Harbor Freight lift was something I looked at. But then I saw an industrial lift table come up on Ebay, and my mind started cranking away. The flat top meant I wouldn't have to put a cover over the hole if I submerged it. And for an old 911 (or VW Beetle), the flat top made it perfect for lifting the car and also functioning as good flooring when it's down and a decent work bench when it's up. Plus, I liked that it's American-made and built to a pretty durable standard -- these things aren't made for lifting cars, but they're built for a tougher hydraulic duty cycle and are structurally expected to take lateral hits from forklifts. And the fact that I got it really cheap because it was second-hand made it impossible to pass up. I paid $455 for it, and then did the installation myself.

Rickster71, it's funny that you mention Popular Mechanics. I have a pillar in the middle of the garage, which ended up being both a blessing and a curse. It led me to an old Popular Mechanics booklet that had a layout which worked for my situation.

And then in an unrelated development, Popular Mechanics contacted me a couple of years ago, and included me in their website edition and also in the August 2011 issue:

IMcloud, you're right about the fold-down bench not coming down when the car is in place. But I've got dozens of other C-clamps and Vise Grips stored in other parts of the shop. So far, it's worked all right. It's not the perfect shop for everyone. But given my budget and space restraints, I've been very happy with it.

Full disclosure for the audioholics crowd: it's got a pretty lousy (but loud) stereo. And it's rarely as clean in real life as it is in the pictures.

 

[ellisr63]

Awesome setup!!!

Sent from my SGH-T879 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Whitey80]

Thanks for jumping in Jack. Glad you keep up with people admiring your work.

 

[ImcLoud]

Thanks, guys.

Whitey80, the Harbor Freight lift was something I looked at. But then I saw an industrial lift table come up on Ebay, and my mind started cranking away. The flat top meant I wouldn't have to put a cover over the hole if I submerged it. And for an old 911 (or VW Beetle), the flat top made it perfect for lifting the car and also functioning as good flooring when it's down and a decent work bench when it's up. Plus, I liked that it's American-made and built to a pretty durable standard -- these things aren't made for lifting cars, but they're built for a tougher hydraulic duty cycle and are structurally expected to take lateral hits from forklifts. And the fact that I got it really cheap because it was second-hand made it impossible to pass up. I paid $455 for it, and then did the installation myself.

Rickster71, it's funny that you mention Popular Mechanics. I have a pillar in the middle of the garage, which ended up being both a blessing and a curse. It led me to an old Popular Mechanics booklet that had a layout which worked for my situation.

And then in an unrelated development, Popular Mechanics contacted me a couple of years ago, and included me in their website edition and also in the August 2011 issue:

IMcloud, you're right about the fold-down bench not coming down when the car is in place. But I've got dozens of other C-clamps and Vise Grips stored in other parts of the shop. So far, it's worked all right. It's not the perfect shop for everyone. But given my budget and space restraints, I've been very happy with it.

Full disclosure for the audioholics crowd: it's got a pretty lousy (but loud) stereo. And it's rarely as clean in real life as it is in the pictures.

LOL, even with the one design flaw, you still have a nice garage I wish I had the discipline to ever have my garage that clean, I have 2 buildings plus the garage at my house and even when they were new and empty they weren't as clean as yours is in them pictures....

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks!

A video just came out about my garage and my car.

You can click on this link to see it.

 

[jostenmeat]

Mr. Jack Olsen,

Now that you are here, I will say that we would now like to see you build some speaker cabinets, a subwoofer cabinet, a projection screen frame, and there are also some other ideas we have for you.

Go on! Do it!

 

[Jack Olsen]

It's funny you should mention that. I don't know if my years-old Springsteen collection would blare any better from an improved set of components. Most of the time, I have hearing protection on. But I do have plans to build a pretty unique deck and pergola in my little garage-sized back yard. And a projection and sound system for movies is a tentative part of that plan. So I will no doubt have some questions -- at least, if outdoor stuff isn't considered too, I don't know, audio-unfriendly?

 

[jostenmeat]

It's funny you should mention that. I don't know if my years-old Springsteen collection would blare any better from an improved set of components. Most of the time, I have hearing protection on. But I do have plans to build a pretty unique deck and pergola in my little garage-sized back yard. And a projection and sound system for movies is a tentative part of that plan. So I will no doubt have some questions -- at least, if outdoor stuff isn't considered too, I don't know, audio-unfriendly?

Well, the noise floor will be higher, but I'm sure you know that already, and that could be cars, airplanes, insects, critters, lights, whatever. It's just expectations and goals. Frankly, the video is tougher IMO, but again, people who run outdoor systems are never discerning it appears to me. Contrast is reduced exponentially with the addition of ambient light. Just one candle's worth of lighting will completely ruin a high end theater rig running on a $10,000 projector. Of course you don't buy a high contrast PJ for the outdoors, people usually run some cheap and loud DLP for its brightness and low cost. (I mean there are the rich and famous setups, but I don't think that's where you're going; I believe there is a Stewart system that comes from the ground, and I wouldn't be surprised if that screen costs as much as your car.) But the DLPs can have extraordinarily limited setup flexibility, and have the most moving parts. You also have to worry about the longevity of components when exposed to the elements, temperature swings, condensation, and just dirt and grime.

I found that Stewart system, but I didn't realize that it was rear projection. I suppose you can browse around to see something that might inspire your creative building nature. FWIW, there isn't any active member here running even just a small Stewart screen as that can easily be several thousands for a new one. The advantages are very slight for the huge increase in price, and they don't make an acoustic weave anyhow, which is the most desirable screen for audio oriented people. Just a warning for sticker shock when you ask a retailer. edit: I wanted to add BTW, non fixed frame screens (anything that rolls up) needs to be tab tensioned or it will eventually suffer awful waving.

STEWART FILMSCREEN - ALLRISE

 

[Whitey80]

Nice little vid of your fine car. Noticed the Deus shirt...getting into a little vintage moto racing??

 

[ImcLoud]

Jack that video is very well done. I hardly ever watch these internet videos to their end and I can count how many I've watched with out skipping through on one hand, this was very interesting, kind of like a mechanical love story. I liked it, thank you...

 

[LitoGeorge]

Jack, you look like an OK guy. Congrats on learning those skills and making it happen. Two thumbs up for you mate.