Motorbreath53's Happy Place

[motorbreath53]

This is the first garage i've owned. EVER. Sure i've used my share of rented single wide apartment complex garages... but this one is MINE. So, if I seem far too proud of my mundane two car shop... now you know why.

This house as a whole needs EVERYTHING redone... faded paint, old windows, aluminum wiring, 4 layers of tar shingled roof, terrible kitchen and bathrooms, no landscaping... so, just like the rest of you, i'm having to balance my life in the garage with steady improvements on the house. (happy wife, happy life right?)

Moving in...

Beer'Thirty... The bench is comprised of FREE cabinets, FREE 1/8 Aluminum Plate, a $20 clearance rack stainless sink with a FREE faucet, and a sheet of pegboard that i've owned for 10 years, and used in 3 different garages... Of course, the wife believes I moved the washer/dryer and waterheater from this spot for her.

I searched craigslist for 3 months to find a fridge that pleased the wife and I. Wife is a saving the world, and insisted on Energy Star... and I wanted filtered water and ice maker.... we BOTH wanted to only spend $200-$300... Found it...

Current project is the RE-build of my desert toy... but you can also see the big crack in my floor that will need attention, as well as my $4.57 32inch Flat Screen TV that is attatched to a 5 disc CD/DVD player n' surround sound... if the noise from me working doesn't piss off my neighbors, the sound of Dezert-People videos sure will...

Bender Cart, and Fabrication Table... (grinding and welding inside felt like a less-than bitchin idea with no drywall... and the dust was a pain in the **** anyway) So, I built this with steel from a rusty ol' weight bench and some other scrap. Works killer.

Still on the list, is a bigger compressor housed outside, plumbed airlines, drywall, 220 outlets, welding area, fixing the giant crack in the floor, some security improvements and maybe some acid stain...

I'm very open to suggestions... and I hope you appreciate my shop even an 1/100th as much as I do...

Danny

 

[Call me the Breeze]

Danny, Congratulations on your first garage! It's great that you are so excited about it, as you should be! Theres alot of ideas on here, But be careful checking all the other threads ... it's contageous! I like your fabrication cart. Good Job !

 

[D.J.]

Danny: Is that really a urinal on the wall behind the Beer? Nice addition! Congrats on the garage I'm still dreaming about mine, but I have drawn plans for it.
________
Medical Marijuana

 

[Boyd Who]

Nice little workshop! I totally understand your excitement, too!

 

[Ben Iv]

I know the feeling, when I was looking at houses I gave my realator two requirements atleast two bedrooms and atleast a two car garage...lol I painted the floor and walls in the garage before i moved anything into the house

 

[motorbreath53]

It really is a urinal behind that beer. My wife called it my Xmas present last year... so it lived under the tree for a week or two...

Then, as soon as my tankless water heater was functional on the wall OUTSIDE the garage... I was hanging it up and calling every single one of my friends on the phone... to see it they could identify the sound of a urinal flushing in my garage...

I have recently aquired some bitchin weathered fence slats that will create an ol' school "outhouse" kinda privacy enclosure for the garage potty... (don't wanna register as a *** offender for being caught pee'in in my garage...)

 

[jtbinvalrico]

That metal fab cart is bad-***.......that's giving me some ideas to think about.

 

[PCO6]

I like your bug. Do you have any build pics?

 

[JC23]

Danny,

Welcome aboard and congrats on the new digs. You gonna eventually be able to expands or are you stuck with that footprint? Either way, this is the place to get the best ideas for your shop.

+1 on digging the fab cart - nice work!

 

[motorbreath53]

The shop has a VERY slim chance of gaining one more car in width... but I seriously doubt it. I would be losing a bedroom...(unless I added a bigger master bedroom over the garage during the process..)

Sounds bitchin and all...but I think we would outgrow the neighborhood with such an addition... It would probably make more sense to continue repairing this house until it will net enough profit to buy a place with some acres... maybe an old Wal-Mart building?

The bug came to me as this:

It was first built like this:

but I wanted to go faster... So I collected a 5.3l Chevy V8, Some BIG lower a-arms for the front, and the biggest transaxle I could afford...


it currently looks like this:

I'm hoping to have it back on the road next year...

 

[PCO6]

That looks like a great project!

 

[Motown 454]

Welcome !
Nice garage, I understand your excitement. I'm waiting to get my first garage. The fab cart looks great.
Sweet project.

 

[JCQuick]

very cool garage reminds me of my younger days and our 1st home. I dealt with a single car garage for 18 years. Like the bug to bad you felt you needed to go V-8 to make HP. But to each his own

 

[motorbreath53]

PC06- before I came here, I never thought I wanted to visit Canada....

JCQuick- I LOVE ACVW motors...but I literally MADE $100 getting this 5.3. (parted out a rolled 01' Tahoe) I will have reliable 300hp, and consumable parts available at any autoparts store in the country. Sadly, that would not be the case for a 300hp VW (or even a 100hp one for that matter.) Thanks for the attaboys on the garage though... and that little white sedan in your avatar looks tough... it can park next to my car anytime.

 

[JC23]

Danny,

What's the vibe these days on off road since that bad accident? Any word on what changes are coming down? (We know they will)

 

[jktruck150]

Great looking bending cart! What size tubing are you able to bend with that? That buggy looks cool too! Good luck with the rebuild. Any pics form the house too? We are all just a bunch of craftsman, so post it all!!

BTW, The fridge looks properly stocked and ready for a garage tour party!

 

[dykstra]

Sweet place

 

[4StarCstms]

Thats a pretty nice setup. I Like the Fab Cart idea too!!

 

[aqr81]

Danny, glad I saw this post as I now have a little move background on the urinal. It still just cracks me up every time I see it. One of the best gifts from the wife ever... Great looking fab cart. Thanks for taking the time to share what's going on and keep the pics coming on the various projects.

 

[PCO6]

PC06- before I came here, I never thought I wanted to visit Canada....

Danny:

You'd be happy to know that we have Buggies here too! I wish I had some photos of the ones I built and raced back in the 70's. They were a "simplified" version of what you are building. Here are a few of one I had enough sense to have pictures taken of. We don't have any deserts here but I did race it in the snow several times!

Stew

 

[motorbreath53]

...almost a year later...

Those old school buggy pics are AWESOME. The "good ol' days" long before I existed....

I figured i'd post up an update as lack-luster as it might be. I spent most this year on the house... (the not fun part of the house). We are officially rewired, and have a 99% completed kitchen remodel.

I've also got a bunch done on my buggy (even though it changed directions substantially).

Garage stuff:
Added a small cabinet to my fab cart. It was in the "scratches n' dings" area at Sears, and I couldn't resist. My bead roller even found a home behind the cabinet. The dies are in the cabinet for now, but I just might make a rack for them later.

Did some more organizing on the pegboard front... and built a temp. privacy "outhouse" for the urnial. (It'll come down when I insulate and drywall...I just didn't want to register as a *** offender for getting caught peein'."

Scored a 40" black top cabinet for my roll-away too. Craigslist kicks ***... (I know it doesn't match. But I'm hoping that when I buy an enclosed trailer in 5 years or so, I can use the red 40" roll away in the trailer, and buy a black one for the house...

And a **** pic of a baja bug for giggles..

The list of "good ideas" from you guys is getting rediculous... Once I handle a couple more projects to keep the house from falling down, I should have some REAL progress to show...

 

[Topcat]

Man nice work in the shed there

 

[PCO6]

You've made a lot of progress in the last year. The garage and fab cart look great and I love what you're doing with the bug.

 

[motorbreath53]

FINALLY! The whole garage is mine. The bronco that had been "squatting" for the last 3 years has moved on.

So, I couldn't help but show all my new elbow room... It should make finishing my bug all the more comfortable.

(same bug by the by... just found a cleaner body...)

 

[atomicsaladbowl]

awesome setup man! nice bug, look forward to seein some more pics, like the fabrication cart too with the bender on it

 

[PureSilver]

Love the bug! Thought you were going with a full sand-rail front end with double wishbones?

 

[motorbreath53]

Thanks for the attaboys.

The wife and I learned some hard lessons about the importance of decimal places a few months back... some of my parts needed to be traded for house payments. (A-arm front included) Luckily, I was able to dial back the plans a bit and come up with a pretty cool car anyway. I'm pretty excited about the baja... definately the coolest thing i've built to date.

And really, the a-arm front I had was too wide anyway. (90inch track) I've got the beam front end at a much more "narrow trail freindly" 79".

I almost forgot about my "new" compressor. It was covered in stickers, had a bad pressure switch and needed a good bath when I got it... but price was right.

I've since fixed the switch, and added the Solberg filter/silencer to it. MUCH MUCH nicer than the oil less Craftsman 33 gallon that its replaced.

After the bug is driving I plan on building a insulated "shed" on the sideyard for it. (floor space is PRECIOUS in the two car!)

 

[4StarCstms]

Thats some really nice fab work on the bug, especially liking the dash!

More elbow room is nice!

 

[4StarCstms]

Argh! Double Post... Sorry!

 

[JCQuick]

The Baja is looking killer congrats on the extra space.
I did some minor rearranging myself and it took about a weeke before that got abused

 

[oldtimehockey]

Love the garage and fab rack. My buddy welded up a beer brewer's rack for home brewing (it's for sale locally) and they look similar (minus the tube bending equipment of course ) Where do you procure your casters? Thanks and keep up the great work...

 

[ItalianMoto]

every garage needs a urinal and a old beer frigg. heres mine....and the vw's are always good too. lol

 

[UncleDirty]

Very nice Motorbreath.

 

[motorbreath53]

The Baja is looking killer

...I love hearing it from the VW guys... even when there isn't much VW left about it...

... Where do you procure your casters? Thanks and keep up the great work...

I found an AWESOME assortment of Casters at Marshals Hardware in Miramar...but the ones on my fab cart are Craftsman ones that were given to me probably 10 years ago.

Very nice Motorbreath.

 

[fergus]

Nice man! Love the Baja setup... I grew up in SoCal...sure do miss riding in the desert!

 

[motorbreath53]

Fergus- The So-Cal desert is my favorite part of living in so-cal.... aside from the Carne Asada of course.... cause... DAMN, that Carne Asada is good.

 

[jackylcrackyl]

Your first garage looks to be coming along nicely. I especially like the tin shed for the urinal--Awesome touch!

You definitely seem to have your priorities right in that you spend a ton of time working on the Bug and make small improvements to your garage as necessary or you come across a good deal. Keep the pictures coming!

 

[fergus]

Fergus- The So-Cal desert is my favorite part of living in so-cal.... aside from the Carne Asada of course.... cause... DAMN, that Carne Asada is good.

I've been all over the country. I know for a fact that Mexican food for us gringos doesn't get any better than So Cal.

 

[motorbreath53]

8 Months!?!? Damn this year has been busy... I do have some updates on my project of a house/garage though.

Started off with my oldest dog "suggesting" that the single pane windows needed replaced. He was "talking" with another dog outside and knocked out a window...

That prompted new windows all through the house.

THEN!

The roof on my poor ol' house had seen better days.(as seen in the above pic) It wasn't leaking anywhere... but it probably would have if it weren't in SoCal where the weather is bitchin' all the time.
OH! I should also mention that one of the last owners of the house "helped" by adding paper, and a FOURTH layer of comp shigles for me to remove... (well, me and a couple friends who won't answer my phone calls ever since )

We tore it all the way down, added radiant barrier sheeting, and a fresh roof.

starting tearoff:

me being supervised by a neighbor buddy:

Finished product of a first time roofer:

Then the rest of the shatty looking house was standing out against the new roof and windows...

So...
Here's my beasts helping me replace the front door, and of course the side door to the garage was replaced to match:

Then came a fresh coat of paint (note the water feature aka evidence of the in progress bathroom remodel...no rest for the...):

Its been slow going, as i've been doing this stuff by myself with some occasional labor assistance from friends... learning as i'm going means SLOOOOWW... hats off to you guys who do this stuff for a living with any kind of effeciancy...

The "fun" part of the year? In the intrest of driving more and welding less this year, I parted ways with the bug rolling chassis... and bought this roller:

Still gotta tab it, plumb it, and wire it... but i'm hoping to drive by my 30th in November... (then, yup... back to work on the $$$ pit of a house...panel upgrade, and landscape are next)

 

[Bib Overalls]

A really impressive transformation. I'll bet your neighbors were happy to see you move in.