Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The 12-Gauge Garage

[Dan in Pasadena]

The down side of building the sheds in the driveway is that you can no longer use your Jeep to get the Porsche up the driveway, huh? LOL, oh well...I'm sure the sheds more than earn their keep for the space they take.

Man, the 962 must have felt like it was glued to the ground on rails, huh?

Sorry to hear about BB2 "breaking her leg" but congrats on what must have been the driving experience of your life!

 

[61pv544]

Hey Jack!

That 962 is so cool! I remember the race that year, even though I was just a wee lad. Just wondering, though: The 962 was driven by Kris Nissen, Volker Weidler, and Kunimitsu Takahashi that year. If I recall correctly, they had a problem with burned psitons from running too lean. Anyway, I was just wondering: Do you know why Takahashi's name is not on the door? All I see is Kris Nissen and Volker Weidler.

Big year for us Danes at Le mans that year, Thorkild Thyrring, John Nielsen, and Kris Nissen all made very decent runs. We even entered a Danish team, Team Tiga Ford. Since then, ofcourse, Tom Kristensen has won 8 times, six of them in a row.

sorry to hijack the thread, now back to the scheduled programme!

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's a good question. I'll ask the owner next time I see him. I would guess the livery has been re-created at some point in the intervening time, but I can't imagine why they would drop one of the three names.

Back to the scheduled garage thread:

I lost my can-holding doors under the kitchen island and needed to find a place for the cans of lubricants and cleaners I used the most. The best spot turned out to be the cabinets that hold my pegboard, except that the little shelves on the left were too short:

So I used an angle grinder and a cutting wheel to take out the lower shelf. Then I took one of the old 14-gauge shelves from the cabinet that I replaced with the Vidmar units and cut a little door.

I cut a hole for a little window and glued in a piece of Lexan. I added a shelf a little lower down in place of the poorly-placed one that I took out.

Most of the motivation for putting on the door came from the fact that I accidentally cut up one side of the cabinet while I was taking the shelf out. I used a piano hinge to cover the damage. It'll also keep dust off the cans.

 

[bursty]

Did you run out of the green paint or something?

Looks great

 

[Robert L]

I always find amazement at the creative ways you find to make things work!!
Impressive, as I personally would not have thought of half the stuff you did in your garage.
Bravo!

 

[illmatyk]

Awesome looking garage and Porsche!!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys. It's kind of goofy to have a cabinet there. But sometimes you start with a small mistake and end up with a medium-sized project before you've got it all covered up.

And bursty, my original plan was to paint it green. But I'm starting to think the garage might have as much green as it needs.

 

[Victorymike18]

Hi. I've been browsing the forum for a couple months, but had to sign-up once I saw your garage. I'll echo the numerous comments by saying that your garage is a real inspiration. Among many things, what makes it such is that you can see the dedication, thought, and hard work that you put into building it.

I have a similar sized garage, and this has given me a LOT of ideas on how to utilize some spaces.

Now, I'm not sure if you still have this setup:

You say that you don't use these often, but I can't help thinking there should be a simple creative solution to this.

My thought would be to suspend a "T" from drawer sliders mounted to the underside of the shelf. On the vertical part of the T you could have pegs to hang the wrenches. When you need one, just pull it out like a drawer.

If you're concerned about the appearance, you could make something more of a suspended panel and put a faceplate on it, so it matches up to the adjacent cabinets...

Just thinking out loud...

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, Victorymike18. Believe it or not, that section of the garage is going to change some time in the next couple of months.

And this is where I have to admit to doing something for really no good reason at all. But I was able to get another second-hand Strong Hold cabinet recently and it's going to replace the Lyon brand one that's currently to the right of the heavy bench. The only differences with the Strong Hold are: 1) a different shelf pattern, 2) it's deeper by about 4", and 3) the steel is one step thicker than the (already very heavy duty) Lyon -- which maybe means something when you call your garage 'The 12-Gauge Garage?'

I'll have to modify the soffit cabinets up above so they come out a little farther, which is going to be a fair amount of work. But I'll gain a little more shelf space (both below and above), and it'll all be laid out in a way that will work a little bit better.

And I'll get the irrational satisfaction that comes from having only one brand of standing cabinet in the garage. (My wife has already rolled her eyes at that one.)

I'm aware that this is really not worth the trade-off of pulling out a cabinet and doing all that work. But there you go -- if I can find the time, I'll do it.

I blame this board.

When I do that, I'll be able to look at how (or if) I store pipe wrenches down there. I like your idea of a sliding vertical drawer/hanger of some sort -- and I appreciate the suggestion.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

...that section of the garage is going to change...I'll have to modify the soffit...which is going to be a fair amount of work....And I'll get the irrational satisfaction that comes from having only one brand of standing cabinet in the garage...

Jack, You're a trip! The garage bug has probably bitten you worse than most everyone here...well, except maybe the millionaires! But that's why your garage looks better than most everyone else. Because (I assume) you're NOT a millionaire, you make good horse-sense choices, AND you've kept it functional while still having the vision to keep it looking good.

BTW, I keep expecting you to update this thread with a redo of your sink area - not that it needs it. It looks fine to me but I just know you've got something up your sleeve that will leave the rest of us saying, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

 

[fergus]

Jack, You're a trip! The garage bug has probably bitten you worse than most everyone here...well, except maybe the millionaires! But that's why your garage looks better than most everyone else. Because (I assume) you're NOT a millionaire, you make good horse-sense choices, AND you've kept it functional while still having the vision to keep it looking good.

BTW, I keep expecting you to update this thread with a redo of your sink area - not that it needs it. It looks fine to me but I just know you've got something up your sleeve that will leave the rest of us saying, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

Oh great, now you're gonna give him a complex about his sink...

 

[markviii]

And we'll all appreciate and perhaps replicate his elegant solution to the problem (non-problem?)!

Chris

 

[Jack Olsen]

I've got some ideas for the sink area. It's going to be pretty involved, though, since the space where it sits is such an odd shape -- and right by the entrance door. I've picked up a second hand brake/shear/slip roll, since I'm thinking of making lower and upper cabinets and drawers with a curved face, so it'll fit in the space and maximize the storage I can put there. I don't know if the curved faces qualify as a smart idea or not, since I've never used a slip roll and I'll have to see if I can get consistent results with aluminum sheet.

It may be a while before I get to it, since I keep promising my wife a deck and pergola thing for the back yard. At this point, there are a lot of pieces for that project that I'm going to have to teach myself.

And of course there's the day job. If I were a millionaire, I could drop the job stuff and free up a lot more project time.

 

[illmatyk]

....you make good horse-sense choices, AND you've kept it functional while still having the vision to keep it looking good....

I agree with this big time!

Thanks, guys. I've been racing that car for over a decade now and instructing driving for almost as long. There are MUCH faster cars and drivers out there than me. But on this particular day I was the fast guy.

If you don't mind me asking, on the driving instructing, what kinda things do you teach? I race auto cross and have been to 2 driving clinics and theres always room for improvement. Right now, I'm just waiting for the circuit in my area to be built and at the same time redoing my car.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

...And of course there's the day job. If I were a millionaire, I could drop the job stuff and free up a lot more project time.

Ha ha, most people would drop working in their garage if they became a millionaire to try to become screenwriters but you'd drop writing to work on projects more. I LOVE this.

Looking forward to your future projects. Thanks for letting us watch.

 

[AndrewBigA]

jack olsen you have one of my fav garages on this site. its too bad your on the west coast. id stop by with a photographer & get started on polishing your porsche lol.

im on the wrong side of the country =/

i like the addition of a little black in your garage. a little more wouldnt hurt. the green is nice but black can make some new things you build stand out better.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys.

And thanks, Andrew, too. I'll tell you, I've learned that after the last five or so years of track use, the car looks best when shot from behind -- since all the stone chips are on the leading edge of the hood and fenders.

I picked up a vise press brake for about $15 a while ago, and today it proved handy while I was making some gates for my kid, who recently moved from a crib to a bed and now can escape into the house at night. I needed to make some custom hinges for one of the gates, and the little brake was just the ticket.

I also got the replacement axle (two of them, actually) for the one I snapped at the track on the day I got to drive the 962 race car. So next up is some greasy fun as I swap in two new axles, along with their four CV joints.

 

[Jack Olsen]

If you don't mind me asking, on the driving instructing, what kinda things do you teach? I race auto cross and have been to 2 driving clinics and theres always room for improvement. Right now, I'm just waiting for the circuit in my area to be built and at the same time redoing my car.

I used to be the Chief Driving Instructor for a couple of different track groups. There are a lot of different pieces to that -- helping to make the day run smoothly, teaching a classroom session for novice drivers, assigning instructors to students, and playing the heavy when people do things they shouldn't out on the track.

After my son was born, my involvement got scaled back and I'm now usually just an average joe instructor, working with students who are looking to get quicker at a particular track. I ride along with them, offer input, sometimes drive them in their car and sometimes take them out in mine. It's very student-specific, in that you do whatever makes the most sense to help that particular student improve their driving.

One of the fun (and sometimes scary) parts of instructing is that you get a reputation for being able to wring out a lot out of a car. So sometimes you get tossed the keys to a ver expensive piece of machinery with no request other than to 'see what she's got.'



I'm always very careful to leave enough of a safety margin that the car doesn't do anything to surprise me -- and that it comes back in one piece.

Ha ha, most people would drop working in their garage if they became a millionaire to try to become screenwriters but you'd drop writing to work on projects more. I LOVE this.

As always, Dan, thanks very much. Like anything else, there are some things you love and some things you get paid for -- and it gets a little complicated when those two areas overlap. I wouldn't want to have a job in the car world, because then I'd have to do it even on days when it was the last thing on earth I wanted to do. If I'd thought about writing professionally more, I might have felt the same way about fiction. There's nothing better when you're writing something you really love. But as soon as you take money for it, somebody else is very likely going to feel they have the right to tell you how they want it done. That's okay -- it's a job -- but it's not the same as writing something because it's fun to do. There are many days when working on something in the garage -- doing somet minor project exactly the way I want to because it's exactly the way I think it should be done -- is a lot more rewarding than re-writing some other writer's sloppy work or fleshing out a story for some producer who really has no idea what a good story should involve. All that said, writing paid for the garage, and I consider myself very fortunate -- in the bigger picture -- for everything that my life and job have brought me so far.

 

[Concrete B]

Jack, you have a great shop. Your space is inspirational to many of us. If you ever feel the need and get the chance, I'd love to know what shops inspire YOU.

 

[illmatyk]

I used to be the Chief Driving Instructor for a couple of different track groups. There are a lot of different pieces to that -- helping to make the day run smoothly, teaching a classroom session for novice drivers, assigning instructors to students, and playing the heavy when people do things they shouldn't out on the track.

After my son was born, my involvement got scaled back and I'm now usually just an average joe instructor, working with students who are looking to get quicker at a particular track. I ride along with them, offer input, sometimes drive them in their car and sometimes take them out in mine. It's very student-specific, in that you do whatever makes the most sense to help that particular student improve their driving.

One of the fun (and sometimes scary) parts of instructing is that you get a reputation for being able to wring out a lot out of a car. So sometimes you get tossed the keys to a ver expensive piece of machinery with no request other than to 'see what she's got.'



I'm always very careful to leave enough of a safety margin that the car doesn't do anything to surprise me -- and that it comes back in one piece.

Cool. Can't wait to see what else you come with for your garage and Porsche!

 

[willy3486]

I know some may not like the green there but I do. I like the lighter colors. My shop is made from recycled barns and it is dark inside. So I have a constant battle with trying to see in there. I think I am going to have to break down for some new lights and a couple of windows. Even though my shop is fairly big I have run out of room. I like a lot of your shop projects and others because I get ideas about how to save room. As far as the vice press brake goes do you have any more pics or info. Is that a regular vise that has been adapted to a press brake setup. I have set up brakes before and I can see that as being extremely handy. I made a small english wheel and can see this as a nice addition. Are these brake bending dies easy to find? Thanks in advance.

 

[BLUBAYOU]

Are these brake bending dies easy to find? Thanks in advance.

pretty sure it's this type of thing:

6" version

 

[Jack Olsen]

I just saw an old picture of my garage, when I'd first 'finished' it -- and it's surprising to me how different it is now.

Here's a then picture, and one that's more recent:

No steel at all in the first version.

I'd love to know what shops inspire YOU.

There are a bunch of shops on this site that are just off the charts (like OldCarGuy's or BB767's 1930's Welding Shop restoration). Jaysinspaceman's build was one that I have always really liked. And Nimrod's hot rod complex is kind of what I imagine car guy heaven looking like. For magazine-slick simplicity, I think XcYZ's Camaro cave is awesome. For sheer gumption (and craftsmanship), Nasman and his wife's barn is incredible.

As far as the vice press brake goes do you have any more pics or info. Is that a regular vise that has been adapted to a press brake setup. I have set up brakes before and I can see that as being extremely handy. I made a small english wheel and can see this as a nice addition. Are these brake bending dies easy to find? Thanks in advance.

Blubayou shows the Grizzly link, and it looks like mine is the 6" version of that (although I remember paying about half that much -- maybe there's been a price increase, or maybe I got it somewhere else?). In any case, it's pretty limited to 90° bends, even though the male part is replaceable. The female end is built in. The whole thing just sits in the vise with magnets holding it in place. I've got a 10" vise, but a smaller one would work just fine.

 

[joblo]

hi all
its my first time here
i was shocked tonight
what is this unbelievable site
and its so professional garage man

 

[SamR]

Now that's nice.....a 911 AND a real working garage.......I really like this, fantastic setup.

So listen, do you want to run that Porsche against my Mini Cooper S? (in reference to Mini taking ads out in the New York Times etc earlier this year for Porsche to race them....which Porsche ignored until they finally had to shut Mini up....guess who won?) Us Mini owners are an enthusiastic bunch......apparently we're just not too bright.

 

[type550]

It is a great transformation Jack - but even the before shots look good! You are lucky you have the space to hide everything, but then you have to be disciplined to put everything back after you use it. When you put the new cabinet in, you might need to reinforce your foundations with all the weight there

 

[Jack Olsen]

So listen, do you want to run that Porsche against my Mini Cooper S?

I loved that campaign. I've driven a few Minis and I really like them. I'll risk a big rental chain's wrath by admitting to renting one and taking it to the track while my 911 was getting worked on. It wasn't the S model, so it wasn't exactly a neck-snapping experience. But right out of the box, they're a pretty well balanced car.

And they're a blast to drive on the street.

It is a great transformation Jack - but even the before shots look good!

That's the thing. Originally, that first one was the 'after' shot. I'd done a lot of work getting the garage cleaned up, painted and tiled. But then I discovered this board, and the trip down the slippery slope began.

 

[z33kyle]

Wow, thats all I can say. I first noticed your garage when it was featured on Build-threads.com, after that I was totally engrossed. Your garage is my inspiration to turn mine around. Seeing your thread also introduced me to this great forum. Now I have one more forum to keep up with to add to the other dozen that I follow. Outstanding job man!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks.

This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I shot this a few days ago. It shows how the hanging lights near the opening of the garage aren't affected by the door going up and down.

(YouTube videos used to embed in GarageJournal posts. Does anyone know why that doesn't work anymore? I'm assuming everybody else is seeing a lot of code after this.)

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LA3H4O5CH3A?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LA3H4O5CH3A?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

 

[swharris]

Those from the Reliable auction?

 

[Jack Olsen]

Yep. Kind of an impulse buy, but I'm liking having the drawers there now.

 

[Holedgr]

Hey Jack, how's that trellis/canopy project holding up?? How has your fastening method fared with the rain? I searched and couldn't find an update...And of course the 12 gauge garage is lookin' awesome...

-Tony

 

[Jack Olsen]

So far, it's been fine. We haven't had any strong winds yet -- which is the thing I'm most curious about. But it's handled the rain without any issue. Light rain rolls over the fabric and down at the edges; heavier stuff gets broken up into a fine mist.

I'm sure it has to do with the way the canopy is positioned relative to the adjacent roof surfaces, but it has worked out in a fortunate way -- there's enough air moving over it to keep leaves off of it, but not enough air moving over it to cause it to even billow or flap.

Of course, I'm still waiting for strong winds. We'll see if my 'design luck' holds out.

 

[Holedgr]

Thanks Jack...

 

[LiveWire64]

Wow!
I just spent the morning looking at & reading this thread.
What a beautiful well organized garage. Your attention to detail,even in the smallest details is awesome. Lots of great ideas in your cool space.
I do have a question for you. What is your ceiling height?
Thanks for taking the time to keep us all up to date on your projects. Brad

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks.

The ceiling is the underside of a 'flat' roof, which of course has a grade to it. Inside, the highest point is 9' 3" and the lowest is 8' 7".

 

[PCO6]

Thanks.

The ceiling is the underside of a 'flat' roof, which of course has a grade to it. Inside, the highest point is 9' 3" and the lowest is 8' 7".

That won't handle much of a snow load!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Ha! Neither will my shade canopy, but snowfall would make front page headlines down here.

 

[E46M3]

Hi Jack,

For some reason, over the many years, and various post titles, I never realized Black Beauty and you did HPDE track duty together until this most recent page of posts. Fellow instructor here - for BMW and PCA, and I too teach the novice classroom for BMW CCA - but I do the East Coast chapters that run at Watkins Glen and Mosport. I have watched your garage evolve so much, I always wonder what I will see next when I click on the link. I always think I know your garage and what you're up to... and then I find something surprising and new. Nice Job sir - as usual.

Cheers Jack,
E46M3

 

[SamR]

Ha! Neither will my shade canopy, but snowfall would make front page headlines down here

Damn sunshine States.......quit your bragging

BTW, you need to try out the Mini S or the JCW edition, 10 times the car you rented.