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Mark's Monster Garage....3800 sq ft

Fastphil

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GodSpeed license plates or license plate frames would be awesome. A while back I looked into creating cast plates like car clubs had back in the day, that could be a unique thing to give a customer or sell to a fan.
 
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tskills10

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Mark, apparently I'm been out for a few days and I finally check back in and WOW the news is out. Great name for the business and good looking logo. Good luck on to you and the team on this adventure. I am hoping to get down there and meet you and check out the shop some time in the near future.
 

Bob Heine

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Mark, it all looks great! I wish you the best. I would wish you luck but I think you've been blessed with that already.

Are you going to have to leave for work real early to avoid the rush-hour traffic. I mean, it's four miles!!!
 

autonaut

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Ok so I have some of the night shots back. This was an experiment by a photographer friend of mine and I wanted to share them. I can't say I am entirely happy with them but here they are. I have a pretty good camera but I am still a point and shoot kind of guy when it comes to photography so I needed help with the pictures. Basically he set the camera up on a tripod and snapped 4 or 5 photos.......each with a different exposure. He then overlays all these photos to get the desired result. Near the end of the photo session it was very dark outside and he was using long exposures. I think the sky looks cool in the pictures. I am having him back to take more photos. He really wanted to shoot the Willys in front of the garage. I am glad we did but I want photos of the garage without the car in them. I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you are a photographer or have an opinion i want to know what you think. In the next few days I have some interior night photos and they turned out awesome.



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I made it to ae 0 ghen u eues popped out:shocking:
 

nmcqueen469

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Website looks great Mark!!

Just a quick critique though, there are a handful of grammatical errors and misspellings, namely in the About Us and Crew pages. May want to have another set or two of eyes look over it.
 
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IGO2XS

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Mark, it all looks great! I wish you the best. I would wish you luck but I think you've been blessed with that already.

Are you going to have to leave for work real early to avoid the rush-hour traffic. I mean, it's four miles!!!

I guess I am going to have to!! I didnt have a set time to be at our regular business. Now I have definitely set some hours I will be held accountable for.:(

Website looks great Mark!!

Just a quick critique though, there are a handful of grammatical errors and misspellings, namely in the About Us and Crew pages. May want to have another set or two of eyes look over it.

Not surprising as I wrote that part.:scared: The words were flowing and I didnt do much proofreading. My smart wife normally reviews everything I write so I guess I will have to get her to correct it. Thanks for letting me know!!

If you ever need a car built let me know but never let me host a spelling bee!!
 

don long

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New Name New Game
Congratulations Mark

Went away to Hawaii for 3 weeks and come home to catch up on your progress and had to read several pages to get here.

The new shop is coming along great. The floors being painted will make great improvement on the place and very enjoyable for working

I took several minutes to study the floor plans and came away wondering where you would be thinking to place the booth for flow and cleanliness? You also mentioned wanting a reassembly area away from the repair zone. Any thoughts??

You are sure not letting any grass grow under your feet
Thanks for sharing with us

Don
 

kered

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Great website Mark :thumbup:

Brilliant to see you've got some Merch for sale too. I'll definitely be getting a couple of decals, probably a hoodie & a Tee too. Might wait until I'm next in the States to order though, as I'm sure it would be a lot easier for you to ship within he U.S. rather than to this side of the Atlantic.

I won't be in Fl until November, but I think I might be in VA end of May.
 

Leyenda30

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Mark the new place and company look great, I'm happy for your progress. Are you going to carry the exterior theme and style of the Monster Garage to the new place or are you planning something different? Best wishes. JP
 

Toolfool

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The website looks great for the first run (I'm sure it will evolve as the company evolves). When we're all watching your reality show, we can say "I knew him when ..." (TV show advice : hire one person who will inject constant "drama" into the daily activity. I'm available.)
 
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IGO2XS

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New Name New Game
Congratulations Mark


I took several minutes to study the floor plans and came away wondering where you would be thinking to place the booth for flow and cleanliness? You also mentioned wanting a reassembly area away from the repair zone. Any thoughts??

You are sure not letting any grass grow under your feet
Thanks for sharing with us

Don

Don, I finally have a floor plan and I want to send it to you. I really need your help locating the paint booth in the shop. I will talk to you this week!

If I was going to go with a reference to superstition & mythology I'd go with House of Hephaestus :)

I had to google this.:D


Great website Mark :thumbup:

Brilliant to see you've got some Merch for sale too. I'll definitely be getting a couple of decals, probably a hoodie & a Tee too. Might wait until I'm next in the States to order though, as I'm sure it would be a lot easier for you to ship within he U.S. rather than to this side of the Atlantic.
I won't be in Fl until November, but I think I might be in VA end of May.

Yes we have some shirts and other stuff. I think its a great logo and I have to credit this to Thom. I wear a "GodSpeed" shirt about everyday now:)

Mark the new place and company look great, I'm happy for your progress. Are you going to carry the exterior theme and style of the Monster Garage to the new place or are you planning something different? Best wishes. JP

Wow I would like to do this......however, right now we are just getting the inside right. This new shop is like mulitiplying my garage by 4. I know I havnt shown you guys all the space but it is big. Right now I am just trying to get floors, airlines, offices, and everything else up and running. Its very expensive and I think for now the "decor" is going to have to wait.:(

The website looks great for the first run (I'm sure it will evolve as the company evolves). When we're all watching your reality show, we can say "I knew him when ..." (TV show advice : hire one person who will inject constant "drama" into the daily activity. I'm available.)

You are hired!! We have lots of work yet on the website. We had a goal to get it up and running by April 1 and we met that goal. Lots of work yet to do but we have come a long way.

Congrats on your new shop. It looks the business.
Nice website too.

all I can say is my hat is off to you and yours!!!!
KILLER first shop, and AWESOME second shop. I will follow this thread

fantastic, we are glad to have you aboard! :)
 

BarrelRoll

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It's taken me a couple weeks to read this thread. I read it back when you just built your garage and it's come a long way. Very nice work you are putting out.

I like the logo and selling t-shirts is a great idea to keep the shop alive. I'm pretty sure Jessie James sold t-shirts before he even had a shop. I'd be willing to bet he's made much more off of his logo than he did building bikes. The shop I work at has a pretty simple but nice looking logo and all our hats have on the front is the shop name on the front and my boss's race number on the back. I have people all the time ask how they get a hat and when he has them he has no problem selling them at over 100% profit.
 

shearjs

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Mark,

I found my way here through the 67-72chevytrucks.com forum, and have been following along for a year or so. The work that you guys have been pumping out of your garage has been phenomenal! Beautiful, beautiful cars! I can't wait to see the projects your new business venture produces. Keep up the good work my friend.

Jason
 

inovermyhead

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After several days of running through this entire thread I have finally reached this point. Amazing garage and congrats on the business venture and new shop. I'm digging the name and how the work ethic seems to follow along w/it. Nice website also and just liked the fb page. Best of luck to you.
 
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IGO2XS

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It's taken me a couple weeks to read this thread. I read it back when you just built your garage and it's come a long way. Very nice work you are putting out.

I like the logo and selling t-shirts is a great idea to keep the shop alive. I'm pretty sure Jessie James sold t-shirts before he even had a shop. I'd be willing to bet he's made much more off of his logo than he did building bikes.

Thank you and glad you like the shirts. I hope we sell a few shirts just to get the word out.

I have been reading this thread for a while and I love the updates.

Congratulations on your new shop!

I will keep them coming. I have been working at the new shop non stop and hoping we can get in next week.

Hi Mark,

This thing just keeps getting better every week. Just wish I was living closer. I sent a PM

thanks! I hope to get rolling here pretty quick with some new projects. Should be unveiling them in the new few weeks.

Mark,

I found my way here through the 67-72chevytrucks.com forum, and have been following along for a year or so. The work that you guys have been pumping out of your garage has been phenomenal! Beautiful, beautiful cars! I can't wait to see the projects your new business venture produces. Keep up the good work my friend.

Jason

Thanks Jason, we just pulled the C10 back out of the darkness and have been working on it this week again. Because I have threatened to finish this truck so many times I have kept it a secret. I will shoot a couple pictures this week.

After several days of running through this entire thread I have finally reached this point. Amazing garage and congrats on the business venture and new shop. I'm digging the name and how the work ethic seems to follow along w/it. Nice website also and just liked the fb page. Best of luck to you.

Thank you for the well wishes. It has been alot of hard work and dedication. It has been pretty stressful lately with getting everything ready at the new place. We are all ready to get settled in the new place and get rolling on projects. I really need to hire someone else to for bodywork once we get in there. We are barely keeping up with all the work. Its really hard to find the right person so we are keeping our eyes open.
 

trucknut85

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Been lurking on GJ for a few years, this is by far my favorite thread. So much awesome in one place. But i'm disappointed, not one detail or clear shot of that beautiful looking mid/late 80's Chevy/GMC with the flatbed on the loading dock. I can't believe my fellow GJ people would let that one slide by.

Keep up the great thread, and good luck on the new building!
 
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IGO2XS

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Been lurking on GJ for a few years, this is by far my favorite thread. So much awesome in one place. But i'm disappointed, not one detail or clear shot of that beautiful looking mid/late 80's Chevy/GMC with the flatbed on the loading dock. I can't believe my fellow GJ people would let that one slide by.

Keep up the great thread, and good luck on the new building!

This truck has been in our family since 1986. We bought it here in Florida in 1986 and was taken up to Indiana to live the next 24 years in our barn in Danville, IN. It has A/C, power windows, locks, and a hydraulic dump bed. I put the aluminum flatbed on it about 5 years ago and had it painted. We will be repainting this truck sometime here in the next few months and it will quite possibly be the GodSpeed Rides parts truck.:)

On the home front, here is proof we are again working on the c10. Bob dropped the motor in and has begun to mock up the a/c lines and wiring. The biggest question right now is what color are we going to paint it.:headscrat I have changed my mind about every other day.

 

Fastphil

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Parts truck??? After all that work you put into smoothing the inside of the bed? That would be crazy. Maybe you could have a swappable bed system, one being the nice smooth one for show, and a sweet custom flatbed/stake bed!
 

ffshu

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New Kent Virginia
Mark everything is looking good and I don't see how you are doing all the work at the new shop and still have time to work on cars.

Hopefully we are planning on leaving for Florida tomorrow and will be there until next weekend. I will give you a call after the first of next week and see what day is good for you to stop by and check out all this amazement! :thumbup:

Todd
 

Tylerb43

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Union, MO
Parts truck??? After all that work you put into smoothing the inside of the bed? That would be crazy. Maybe you could have a swappable bed system, one being the nice smooth one for show, and a sweet custom flatbed/stake bed!

I believe Mark's talking about the light blue, '86 Chevy for a parts truck. (Beautiful truck BTW, Mark) Although don't be surprised if you see that kick-*** C10 ripping down to NAPA for some belts and hoses! :thumbup:

Can't wait to see some progress on it! :beer:
 

inovermyhead

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Been lurking on GJ for a few years, this is by far my favorite thread. So much awesome in one place. But i'm disappointed, not one detail or clear shot of that beautiful looking mid/late 80's Chevy/GMC with the flatbed on the loading dock. I can't believe my fellow GJ people would let that one slide by.

Keep up the great thread, and good luck on the new building!

I was actually going to ask about this one but didn't at the time. I am a big fan of square bodies and am in the process of a very long restoration on a 81 GMC w/5.3 and 4L80E.
 

kerryt1

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The biggest question right now is what color are we going to paint it.:headscrat I have changed my mind about every other day.

My [unsolicited] $0.02: looking at your logo...it has to be gold. Like first gen Camaro gold w/ black...Smokey Yunick colors. Like this photo, just sub black for the white areas:

68ChevyGoldWhite_detail.jpg


Then replace the Chevrolet letters on the hood with "GODSPEED". Heck you could even have a custom stamped tailgate with GODSPEED letters.
 

Skyline

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Along the lines of using gold for the S10, something a little more subtle would be an early 80s BMW color called Bronzit Beige metallic. Sort of a cross between silver, gold and beige. A very pretty color, and would look great, and very classy, on a hot rod truck. Check it out.
 
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IGO2XS

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Parts truck??? After all that work you put into smoothing the inside of the bed?

I was talking about the 1986 pickup for the parts truck.:) The C10 is going to get finished and its future is uncertain. Either sell it or take it to shows and display it at our booth.

Mark everything is looking good and I don't see how you are doing all the work at the new shop and still have time to work on cars.

Hopefully we are planning on leaving for Florida tomorrow and will be there until next weekend. I will give you a call after the first of next week and see what day is good for you to stop by and check out all this amazement! :thumbup:

Todd

Todd, the guys are continuing to work on the cars at the Monster Garage. I am hiring outside labor to help me get the shop done. I also have a few friends who have been helping as well. Funny, I have two buddies around 50 who are retired millionaires. They have been showing up about everyday to help me. They are both good workers and love helping!!:):)

I believe Mark's talking about the light blue, '86 Chevy for a parts truck. (Beautiful truck BTW, Mark) Although don't be surprised if you see that kick-*** C10 ripping down to NAPA for some belts and hoses! :thumbup:

Can't wait to see some progress on it! :beer:

The c10 is close to getting paint. I still have not decided on a color yet. I think its going to come down to rolling the truck in the booth before I finally decide.

I was actually going to ask about this one but didn't at the time. I am a big fan of square bodies and am in the process of a very long restoration on a 81 GMC w/5.3 and 4L80E.

We will be working on it in the next fews months so I hope you will enjoy the work we do on it.

My [unsolicited] $0.02: looking at your logo...it has to be gold. Like first gen Camaro gold w/ black...Smokey Yunick colors. Like this photo, just sub black for the white areas:

I have seen this truck and its pretty nice looking. I really want something shiney that is going to look good. I wanted red but all the guys say everyone paints there hot rods red.

Along the lines of using gold for the c10, something a little more subtle would be an early 80s BMW color called Bronzit Beige metallic. Sort of a cross between silver, gold and beige. A very pretty color, and would look great, and very classy, on a hot rod truck. Check it out.

thanks for the idea! The final decision will be made this week.



Today was a big day at the new building. We have air:rocker: Right now we have 80% of our air lines in (=$4800 worth of copper:wtf:) so the time was right to test.

Today I brought in a temporary 7.5 hp 80 compressor. It just has a single cylinder but its enough to start generating some air. My buddy Terry who did most of the soldering put lots of valves in. We can pretty much isolate any area in 300 feet of pipe installed. We filled the compressor and then started opening up the zones. NOT ONE LEAK was found:D Wow that felt good.

Check out these Speedaire filters....one for water and one for oil. It is hard to see but they are about 17 inches tall and are connected by 1 1/2 pipe so there is some serious flow here. I know overkill but what the heck....bigger is better......right?? These will lead out to a 7 hp and a 15 hp compressors....both 3 phase.




Here is one of our 12 air hose reels around the shop. Each one has a shut off valve to a water separator/regulator, and a valve at the bottom to expel the water that collects in the bottom of the pipe.




We started framing one of the compressor sheds today. This slab is 3 feet by 10 feet and framed with pressure treated wood. We will use the same metal used on the building for the roof and for the sides. Most likly it will have a door on the front to keep the rain off the equipment. We will have to take into consideration proper ventilation.

A few other things I want to point out. This area is on the side of the warehouse where the new and the old buildings come together. The natural metal was just installed this past week. The bottom of the siding had rusted pretty good and I couldnt live with it. Funny story, I had a metal contractor out to give me an estimate to repair. By the time I got done we were going to reside 220 linial feet of the old building......after I got my $38,000 estimate I decided a "patch" would work. We cut off 4 feet of the bottom of the metal, installed a Z channel and then put the new siding on the bottom. We will be painting the building so at some point it will blend in. Also, I will be doing something with the 2 inch conduit you see on the side. When they added a new panel they just clamped the service wire conduit to the side of the building. I just cant live with the look so we will be installing conduit inside the building behind the wall and put it in proper. I cant believe anyone would hang pipe on a building like this.





Here is Bob painting the last bit of floor we have to cover. Wow, 2 coats on about 10,000 feet of concrete. This room you see is in the old warehouse and it is the same wall we replaced the siding on. This room has come along way from the sprayed paper insulation that was covering it. We stripped off all of the insulation and are down to the bare metal. I will have the metal sprayed with icining and then will cover the walls with aluminum panels to dress it up.



Finally getting some cars lined up while the shop is still nice, pretty, and clean. We will be working in this shop sometime this week.:)




I am starting to get some pallets organized in our drivethrough racks. Each pallet will have a box and will be storage for different jobs. There is room for 32 pallets on these racks so plenty of storage.


 

Fastphil

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I'm glad to hear the C10 won't be defaced with shop duty. I never even spotted the blue truck till it was pointed out to me.

Those C10s usually wear two-tone paintjobs pretty well, that could be a classier option. Maybe somehow incorporate the main colors of the GodSpeed Rides logo?

Those air filters look like the one on my air suspension setup, but mine's only 3 inches tall. Would have never guessed yours were 17 inches if you hadn't mentioned it. Supersized, just like everything else in the Monster Garage!

Loving the progress, can't wait to see more. BTW, do you pay your millionaire friends for their work, or is it just not cool to do that when you (or they) are wealthy?
 
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IGO2XS

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Yesterday we had our first visit to our new shop by a fellow GJ member. Todd (ffshu) and his son Mason stopped by the shop. All the way from Virginia they were visiting Todd's parents who live nearby. It was really great for them to stop in a see us.:thumbup:



We got the 1961 Corvette over to the new shop and decided to do a little work on it. Bob has stripped all of the moldings, bumpers, doors, hood, and trunk from the car. As with any of these older vettes there are some fiberglass repairs we will be making before painting the car. The 1961 Corvette was the last year a dual quad was available from GM. This vette has the original block and sports the 283cu in 270 hp dual quad option. We will be restoring this vette to its original condition. It should be a fun project.





We have spent the last few days moving. We still need to move the lifts and a few cars but we are actively moving to our new shop. The Monster Garage looks pretty empty right now with the cars moving out. My wife is really excited all of the activity will be elsewhere. She is ready to get her house back!!
 
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IGO2XS

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God I love that Vette! Glad to see it's staying original!
Have fun moving, think I'm busy! :D

I love it too......We pulled the motor today and seeing how much of this motor still has the original parts on it.....




We got a new project in today and cant wait to share it. Also bringing in another 67 Corvette next week for some front end repair. It is a 427 tri power with A/C so its a pretty special car.:D
 

ffshu

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New Kent Virginia
Yesterday we had our first visit to our new shop by a fellow GJ member. Todd (ffshu) and his son Mason stopped by the shop. All the way from Virginia they were visiting Todd's parents who live nearby. It was really great for them to stop in a see us.:thumbup:



Mark, Mason and I had a great time visiting your new shop and the Monster Garage. Your new place is gonna be just perfect when you finish getting it all moved in and set up. Looking at the projects you and your crew turned out of the Monster Garage, and now you have 4 times the space, one can only imagine.:headscrat

I still want to get a shirt for me and a sticker for my wall in the shop.

Keep up the good work and keep on posting!

Todd
 

Kevin54

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My [unsolicited] $0.02: looking at your logo...it has to be gold. Like first gen Camaro gold w/ black...Smokey Yunick colors. Like this photo, just sub black for the white areas:

68ChevyGoldWhite_detail.jpg


Then replace the Chevrolet letters on the hood with "GODSPEED". Heck you could even have a custom stamped tailgate with GODSPEED letters.

The guy that owns that truck live about 5 miles from me. :lol:

Mark.....Congtrats on all that has happened recently. I've just now got caught up. Love the new logo, and the new shop is coming along great. If I ever win the Lottery, I'll be sending momma's Olds down to you, probably with me in it. Put up a cot in the backroom, and I'll stay until it's done, although I won't be in a hurry :lol:

Just remember that when Discovery Channel picks you up for the new reality show.....those that go up the ladder eventually come back down. So don't forget all of your friends here that talked you into multi thousand dollar copper lines. :lol_hitti:lol_hitti
 
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Bob Heine

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Mark,
At the risk of adding confusion to the air line discussion, I'll offer an alternative to the copper, in case you need to extend the system.

I am making a custom 1/2" stainless steel fuel line for my Corvette so I ordered a coil from McMaster-Carr. It turned out the stainless tubing is cheaper than copper tubing in the same size. A 100-foot coil of 1/2"-OD welded 304 stainless is $136.77 while a 100-foot coil of 1/2"-OD type L copper tubing is $168.08. The stainless is rated at 1300 psi versus the copper at 770 psi.

I have a compressor in the garage but to get air to my workshop I have to roll out 100+ feet of 3/8" air line. Rather than buy a cheap and noisy compressor for the workshop, I'm thinking of a stainless underground air line. It requires some 37-degree AN flares but I have the tools for that. If I recall correctly, you have a super flaring machine in your arsenal.
 
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