OldCarGuy’s New Toy Shop

[OldCarGuy]

When the last of the little ones left the nest I decided it was time to downsize the house and upsize my garages. I purchased a country home in the center of 6 acres of trees in June 2004. It took months of red tape and didn’t start digging until the first of November. I pulled all the permits, purchased all the materials, subcontracted out parts of the construction and tackled a good part of it myself with the help of several friends over the past 12 months.



I added a 30x50’ garage attached to the existing 26x30’ side entrance garage. It has 12’ ceiling height one 18x8 2” thick (14.8 R Value) Wayne Dalton garage door with 3’ high lift and a LiftMaster jackshaft opener. All the walls and ceilings have 5/8’ fire rated drywall. The walls have R-19 and the ceiling has R30 insulation. I installed an Amstrong Thru-the-Wall combination ducted forced air gas furnace and electric air conditioner with 64,000 Btu heating and 29,000 Btu cooling.


I added a 36” man door to the existing side entrance garage and increase the door to 8x18’. The old 7x16 door just wasn’t wide enough for two large SUV’s.



There are a total of 15 double 8-foot fluorescent light fixtures. The center three are controlled by a four-way switch located at each door. Three switches at the front door control 6 lights, while three switches at the rear door control 6 lights.

There are two 50’ long 1” main airline runs with ½” drops along the walls, one with a reel. All 5 of the garages have underground connections to two central 5-HP air compressors with coalescing filters and a refrigerant dryer located in the pole barn.

It took 45 gallons of Sherman William’s epoxy coating for this addition and my two other unattached garages (3,500 square feet total). I just finished that last week and was an experience in itself. I’ll get to that in the flooring section once I resolve some issues with Sherman Williams.




A 42” steel door opens to 48” wide steps that will take you to the 16x50’ by 7’ tall storage area.



I was going to leave it unfinished. But decided it wouldn’t take too much effort to add 6” insulation and 5/8 drywall to the 8” ceiling rafters and 48” high knee walls. Four eight foot double tube fluorescent light the area. No heat,, not yet at least.

[OldCarGuy]

It took 400 yards of concrete to complete the project. All cement is 6 ½ sack 4,500 psi mix and at least 6” thick including the garage floors. The front driveway is 16’ wide and 300’ long and a second driveway to the street behind my property is 250’ also 16’ wide. The apron between the garages is large enough that I can make a U-turn with my Avalanche pulling my 26’ car Haulmark Carhauler.


In order to get around city restrictions I had to build Two 26X38’ garages. That have 12’ 8” ceilings, also with 5/8 drywall, R-19 in walls and R-30 in ceiling. The doors are 16X8’ with 48” of high lift and LiftMaster jackshaft openers. Lighting is six double eight foot fluorescent fixtures. Both headed and air-conditioned by Armstrong units.





The 30x50’ pole barn existed when I purchased it. The entire inside of the barn has 2” thick polyurethane foam insulation, which I’ll paint white once I take everything out. I installed the drop ceiling with acoustical tile. Then stiffened up the loft and added the 42” wide wooded stairs. They were seconds and cost me $40.00. I increased the 10x10’ door to 14x12.5’ to accommodate my 40' motor home.



The John Deere tractor may look like a toy; but she proved her worth trenching all the utility lines. The tractor can do anything his big brother’s can do,, just little bits at a time. It is a four-wheel drive three-cylinder diesel and runs all day long on 5 gallons of gas.

I owned that scissors lift for 20 years and only paid $500.00 for it. .

[Uncle Buck]

Damn, I would kill for that kind of room!

[OldCarGuy]

When I pulled the county electrical permit they said I had to pass a test in order wire the place myself. I may not be a certified electrician, however I have wired homes and factories (3 phase 480 Volt 2500 Amp) for 40 years. And no one was going to tell me I couldn’t do something! Being challenged and knowing they wouldn’t allow me a second chance to take the test, I purchased a new NEC book, studied it for a week and passed with flying colors. Would you believe that if I took the statewide test, I could use the code book? But I couldn’t use it for the county. BTW the secretary there told me few residents pass the test.

I installed the 400 Amp 240 Volt single phase meter box with Unistrut between two 4” diameter steel pipes sunk 3 feet in the ground incased in cement. The 200 Amp load center in the house and one 200 Amp load center in one of the garages are fed from the meter. The other garages and the pole building have a 100 Amp load centers that are fed from one of the 200 Amp boxes. All buildings are fed with 2” underground PVC pipe.




I had to pay the gas company many $$$$ to have a 4” mainline extended a quarter of a mile to my property. I installed a remote gas meter then ran a 1 ¼ high pressure yellow plastic 250 feet to a step down regulator at the closet garage. That fed the 2 unattached garages and the pole barn. A tee was installed in the high pressure line and a 1” line run to the house to another reducing regulator. Off that regulator I fed the attached garage addition.

The house was all electric and had a Traine electric heat pump. I converted the resistance heading section to a natural gas. The gas isn’t fired up until the outside temperature go below 32 degrees.





Oh did someone say that I forgot about the bathroom? Well this is what I just finished. Complete with a whirlpool bath.

[MXtras]

I think I am gonna be sick......... Excuse me - be right back.....

[nova65ss]

Very nice!!! Whatcha got under the cover there a Galaxy, Fairlane maybe? Looks like an old rodster too. Great work on the garages

Jimmy

[OldCarGuy]

Originally Posted by nova65ss

Very nice!!! Whatcha got under the cover there a Galaxy, Fairlane maybe? Looks like an old rodster too. Great work on the garages

Jimmy

Thanks

I have been planning this for years. I just finished redoing some problem areas in the epoxy floor and have finished adding the base coving. I am now putting together a bridge crane to span 26 feet with a run of 40 feet with a 4,000 pound electric hoist for the attached garage. Then I’ll put in the 3-phase power for all my machinery.


The car under cover is a 1967 Falcon convertible. The yellow car is a 1947 Triumph roadster.

[l_bilyk]

Wow what a shop!!!

[DaveL.]

Gulp....ah ah .... I'm speechless. Welcome!

Dave

[M. MYERS]

Originally Posted by OldCarGuy

Thanks

I have been planning this for years. I just finished redoing some problem areas in the epoxy floor and have finished adding the base coving. I am now putting together a bridge crane to span 26 feet with a run of 40 feet with a 4,000 pound electric hoist for the attached garage. Then I’ll put in the 3-phase power for all my machinery.


The car under cover is a 1967 Falcon convertible. The yellow car is a 1947 Triumph roadster.

Would like some information on the overhead crane assy you are going to build.
Would you send me some information and photos.

Mel

[OldCarGuy]

Originally Posted by M. MYERS

Would like some information on the overhead crane assy you are going to build.
Would you send me some information and photos.

Mel

If you go back and read this thread you’ll see some photos how I fabricated and finished shots of the bridge crane in my toy shop.

Commercial bridge crane
http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/s...y_cranes.shtml

Beam capacity chart.
http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/...achmentid=2831

[twostory]

Here is a better price on the liftmaster 3800 jackscrew $415 + ship

http://www.garagedoors.net/AGDstore/...FSoIFQodmXCfLA

[Charles (in GA)]

Originally Posted by OldCarGuy

The car under cover is a 1967 Falcon convertible.

Any pics? This one I GOTTA see

[OldCarGuy]

Originally Posted by Charles (in GA)

Any pics? This one I GOTTA see

That car was an all original with about 50,000 miles and was sold; but I’ll see if I can dig up some photo’s. My interests have since gone toward “brass Era Cars” 1915 and earlier.

[OldCarGuy]

Originally Posted by Charles (in GA)

Any pics? This one I GOTTA see

Good catch Charles, my typo, it’s a 1964 Falcon.

[Wile1Coyote]

Fan bloody tastic! Tell us about some of the problems you had. Other than the Moron building dept we all have those. LOL!

Wow. I want it!

[OldCarGuy]

Originally Posted by Wile1Coyote

Fan bloody tastic! Tell us about some of the problems you had. Other than the Moron building dept we all have those. LOL!

Wow. I want it!

Most problems I encountered were normal obstacles that one encounters with any project. Overcoming them is learned from past life’s experiences. However dealing with the self-serving beaurocrasy from the city and county far outweighed anything else that I encountered. Sometimes you just need to ask or call the right person for help. I needed to clear a some trees to make room for the new garages and driveways. My skill to fall trees came many years ago from my father. I guess that I didn’t learn my lesson well from him. A slight miscalculated and a 50 high Maple landed against the high tension wires. There is nothing to fool around with 7,000 Volts! So I called the electrical company and they expediently removed it. They didn’t even charge me anything.

On a funny note. One of the neighbor’s potbellied pig kept getting out of his pen and would chase me or one of my workers. He was high strung and sort of cantankerous. As a joke one of my buddies, that is a hunter, painted a white bullseye on his side. We never saw him again. I guess that the neighbor got the hint.

Having the right equipment and or knowing how to improvise will make a job go easier and faster. The scissors lift is quite a time saver on this project. I worked alone quite a bit and it would save lots of ups and downs and made it easy to reposition myself. Let alone not having to climb ladder all the time. I mounted a boom on it and used it as a crane to install the three Armstrong HVAC units and the stairs. I even pulled all the underground wires by myself. Have you ever tried to pull three # 000 THHN and #4 ground through 175 feet of 2” conduit? It also made a breeze putting up the Aluminum siding, Drywall, installing gas and airlines, wiring, lights, and painting. I have used it to set trusses in the past; but I called in a crane this time.

[toolman1967]

OK I just joined and this is one of the first threads I saw....I am on AWE. I had a nice shop up north and moved to southern Illinois and am still coveting an adition to my 2 car garage. Its packed FULL. But MAN I would give my left arm for that garage...

[Uncle Buck]

Originally Posted by toolman1967

OK I just joined and this is one of the first threads I saw....I am on AWE. I had a nice shop up north and moved to southern Illinois and am still coveting an adition to my 2 car garage. Its packed FULL. But MAN I would give my left arm for that garage...

Only you and every other swingin D_ _ K at the GJ!

[OldCarGuy]

Upon returning from my escape to Mexico, I’m back at the make-over to accommodate my new BendPak lift of one of my four-car garages. This garage will transformed into my antique restoration and car repair shop. Besides the new lift, I’m installing a bridge crane, tire changer, wheel balancer, work benched, storage cabinets, roller tool boxes, and ultimately a full size paint booth.

Unloading the components of my bridge crane off my flatbed trailer that I recovered from my old house.



I first bolted the four columns to the cement floor. Since the ceiling is higher than the old garage, I added a piece of wide flanged 6” I-beam to the top of each column to increase the hook height. The two runway beams are then placed on top of the columns and braced to the garage walls. The magnet drill press was used to drill holes in the runway beams so that they can be bolted to the columns.



The garage restraints necessitated that I shorten the 12” bridge beam by five feet. My cut-off saw cut made short work of it.



I drilled new holes to attach the end truck back onto the bridge beam. My trusty old cherry picker placed it on top of my scissors truck. Then lifted the bridge assembly in place over the two runway beams. Then install the trolley and 4,000 pound electric chain fall. It’s 120 Volt so I won’t need too add a rotary phase converter. Though I plan on installing a series of cables and pulleys like my main garage shop to keep the wires out out the way.


Ranger tire changer and wheel balancer on my tilt bed trailer.


Simply tilt the trailer bed, and roll off the equipment using my newly acquired pallet truck.



Here a picture of the Ranger tire changer, wheel balancer, and an over view of the bridge crane, work bench, and roller tool boxes. Now to install air lines and wiring to the new equipment...