Wendt Lane Garage

[ProTourCutlass]

Hey all, I've been lurking for a while, time to share my garage!

I bought my first house a few months ago at the end of February. Here's a few pics of what I started with. It's a 28x30 garage, with a set of stairs leading to a bonus room upstairs. One third of the shop was used as cold storage, while the other third was insulated with a wood burner, and some nice wooded workbenches were left behind. From the various stains on the floor, it appears that the PO used it as a wood shop. My plans from the beginning were to tear out the dividing wall, and make more space for working on cars and other various projects.

Anywho, on with the pics!

 

[930dreamer]

Pictures needed please.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

So the first big project that was tackled (besides moving of course) was to remove that stubborn, claustrophobia inducing wall. So my buddy and I had a few beers on a Thursday night and made it happen. This made the shop a much, more workable area. Who needs a 10x30 cold storage bay in Wisconsin anyway?

PS, I apologize for the cell phone pics, but at the time, I was much more concerned with progress than documenting the process.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

After doing some work in the shop, and moving all my hand tools over from my parents' it was time to think about tool organization. Thanks to this wonderful forum, I discovered the WallPeg systems, which I quickly fell in love with. Using a coupon from this site, a purchase was made, and tool-hanging began!

 

[ProTourCutlass]

And this post will bring me up to current progress. A buddy of mine is an electrician, and he nabbed me six 2x4 fluorescent fixtures that were replaced at a job. To do away with the old light fixtures and prepare to install the new ones, I decided to tear the insulation off the ceiling. Much of it was moldy, and showing evidence of mice activity anyway. It was either pull the insulation, or the floor in the bonus room upstairs.

Once this was done, it was evident just how much of the electrical work at this place was DIY by the PO. Its clear he was an attourney... not an electrician. NOTHING in this entire outbuilding is to code. Most has been re-done already, but the picture below of the bulb fixture is an example of the quality of work. From where the power leaves the house is where the code compliance ends. Good thing my buddy's an electrician!

 

[ProTourCutlass]

I almost forgot! The name of the shop....

Well my last name is Wendt. I grew up in a very small rural town in NE Wisconsin. When the town replaced the street signs a couple years ago, I acquired this bad boy. It's the sign from the farm-lane of my grandparents' farm, where my dad grew up.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Remaining projects/improvements I have in mind are as follows. Not necessarily in order

- Add electrical outlets to old cold storage side of shop (already roughed in)
- In-wall air line system (RapidAir Maxline kit ordered... Wisconsin company Oorah!)
- Insulate entire lower level of building
- Sheet walls with OSB, paint, and maybe poll building steel 4' up?
- Install fluorescent fixtures
- Add cabinets from my parents' in-progress kitchen remodel

That's the bulk of the major plans at least. Any input, suggestions, and questions are appreciated! Welcome to my build!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Looking forward to following your progress, you pretty much have a blank canvas there.

 

[sean Buick 76]

Yes very cool project!!

 

[saceone]

Great start and we all know you stole the sign!!


Just kidding, keep us posted

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Great start and we all know you stole the sign!!


Just kidding, keep us posted

Funny story about that actually... I heard through the grapevine the township was replacing all the streetsigns. So one night I took a couple guys to "aquire" said sign, only to find it had already been replaced... I was heartbroken. Two weeks later I come home and see the sign sitting in my parents garage. First thing I do is ask my dad where he got that... Turns out he took the garbage to the town dump (no garbage pickup in the sticks) and the guy who ran the place gave the sign to my dad, figuring he'd want it. Gotta love towns where everyone knows each other! I told my dad the story how we went to get it, he had a laugh, and gives me the sign. He had no real desire for it anyway.

Something about preserving family heritage in something as simple as an antique street sign just makes me proud. Probably one of my most prized posessions, even though its monetary value is nothing more than scrap price.

 

[upndown]

Nice looking shop! Gotta be Wisconsin, Beer fridge and Pizza oven..

 

[70 supersport]

Ok where's the pro tour cutlass ? We need pictures

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Nice looking shop! Gotta be Wisconsin, Beer fridge and Pizza oven..

You bet! I even keep some mozzarella whips and a block of extra sharp cheddar in there... just for good measure!

Ok where's the pro tour cutlass ? We need pictures

Well technically my username should be "ProTourCutlass in process" but that's too long haha. Its in various pieces in various buildings at my parents at the moment. It's coming to my house before winter to resume progress though.

Car has been in the family since '74. (was my godfather's first car). After several people had it, it ended up with my dad and sat...



This was the condition before I finally talked him out of it





Once I got the reigns a full body-off started about a year ago. Chassis is almost full roller. Full RideTech arms, coilovers, and swaybars. C4 C5 corvette brakes, and a quick ratio steering box. Body is on a rotisserie at the moment. Once that's all solid a Tremec TKO500 5spd is getting stuffed under the floor. I'm still debating on motor choice. I've got 2 olds 455's to be built, but considering I can build a pro-charged LS for the same price its tempting to go that route. But most likely will keep it all olds. Here's a few random pictures I've already got uploaded.

 

[BBChevro]

That garage has great potential, particularly with the "bonus" upstairs area (although I'd build some sort of "falling-down-the-stairs-to-your-death-avoidance-device" ).

Speaking of potential, nice work on the Cutlass too.
I like the idea of using a 455 - although the LS is probably the "practical" option (for power, economy, weight, etc.), it's hard to go past the appeal of a big block.


I almost forgot ...

I like the old street sign too, it's good to be able to incorporate a bit of your heritage into your everyday life.

 

[zcar751]

Great space... the picture of the junction box is scary though. Keep posting.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

That garage has great potential, particularly with the "bonus" upstairs area (although I'd build some sort of "falling-down-the-stairs-to-your-death-avoidance-device" ).

Haha this is something that has been considered! Especially since I like to have parties out there... I am 23 afterall, and have two 22 year old guys living here as well





As far as progress... It's been a bit slow. Worked around 60hrs the past two weeks, as well as helped my parents tear down their kitchen for a remodel, but free cabinets, yay!

I did get the whole shop insulated, at the sheeting is nearly done! The PO installed the OSB rough side out, which is annoying, but I did the rest of the walls that way as well, for consistency sake.














Here's two of the overhead cabinets I've scored from the parents so far. I was even smart enough to label where all the doors go before removal. They have a bunch more in their garage for me to go through yet.












Here's a full shot of the freshly sheeted side of the building. Just ignore the leftover evidence of the recreational activities last night...

 

[Bib Overalls]

Painting that OSB will make a big difference. If you don't sheathe and paint the ceiling then get a spray rig and paint the joists and decking above white. Bare wood ***** up light like a sponge.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Well, its been quite some time since I updated this thread.... Garage has been coming along slowly. Shop has been crazy busy, I'm trying to get my part-ownership deal finalized, and... well... my roomates and I have been partying a lot! . Noone ever said three guys 23-24 living in a house would be easy hahaha.




Anyways... Time to get this thread up to speed.




I reworked the understairs area where the PO had wood racks and shelving. Divided it into two closets. Still need to finish framing up the doors, do handles, and latches, and build new shelves in the left one. The larger one on the right will be used for long-handled tool storage, weed wacker, ladder etc. Along with floor jack and shop-vac.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

had a couple beers with the neighbor, and we put up a couple of my free cabinets. The one that is now on the bottom had a long "leg" that went above the refrigerator in my parents kitchen. I cut the leg down and made it into an L to match the uppers.


I then used some old deck boards left behind by the PO and made myself a nice countertop

 

[ProTourCutlass]

The most exciting update.... Walls are finish sheeted, electrical is all done (rewired entire building), insulated everything, sheetrocked the ceiling, and installed some much much needed lighting. Very minimal pics on all of this, but I do have one when we finished the lights. What a difference!!!






So here's some pictures that are pretty current as to the garage's condition. Excuse the Christmas lights... decorations for the party we threw! I will take some more updated pictures this week. Haven't been out there much recently, temperature was in the single digits all week, with a -30 wind chill. Didn't even try heating it up out there.

You can also see the couch I scored for free. My roomate's boss just wanted it out of the shop.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Coming along nicely. I painted my shop's OSB wall sheathing. That stuff really ***** up the light. I used two coats of oil based Kilz followed by two coats of latex. That couch looks almost to nice for a shop. Good score.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Coming along nicely. I painted my shop's OSB wall sheathing. That stuff really ***** up the light. I used two coats of oil based Kilz followed by two coats of latex. That couch looks almost to nice for a shop. Good score.

I've heard good things about that Kilz, thats what I plan on using as well. The pictures don't do justice in the garage, its actually super bright in there. I've got 10 8' strips in there. After lighting it up I'm not sure if/when Ill paint in there now.

As far as the couch, its a lot rougher once you see it up close. My roomate works at a tire shop, and the couch was in the shop there for a couple years.

 

[shortykorte]

Great start on the garage from another Olds lover. Look forward to seeing progress on the Cutlass.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Great start on the garage from another Olds lover. Look forward to seeing progress on the Cutlass.

Thanks! I've been spending a day each of the last few weekends out at my parents house prepping everything for transport over here. Hopefully I'll have it here soon...

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Alright I've got another shop update here. Garage has come a long way in the past few weeks, starting to get all the big projects wrapped up!


And, happily, the project I've most anxiously awaited to have done... my airlines, is done! Went with RapidAir Maxline 3/4" setup. Air compressor is upstairs, full loop around the top of the ceiling, with several drops around the garage. I opted for a regulator/filter setup from CentralPneumatic. Initial impressions are pretty high, but there's not a lot of runtime on the system at the moment.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

The next project I tackled was finishing up the closet areas that I had built earlier. My first dilema was figuring out how I wanted to do latches... And my inner scavenger kicked in. The cabinets I had mounted by the floor were originally an overhead island. This meant the latches and the doors from the back-side were now useless. So I used the magnets and plates from those.














Both doors latch at the top of the opening, and the right-side door also latches to the bottom of the left door. It ended up working really well, and the latches are surprisingly strong. I then added some handles, finished up some shelves, racks, etc. and now I'm good to go! I'm glad to say that %100 of the materials used inside the closets were free. All were either left here by the PO, or were salvaged off other free items. I'm quite pleased with the outcome!

 

[zkling]

Nice place, any plans for a lathe bench in the future?

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Nice place, any plans for a lathe bench in the future?

Funny you mention that... I just snagged some 3/4" thick steel plates from the scrap-bin at work last week for just that purpose. They're from internal pockets that were cut out on the waterjet. Going to weld the two together, machine flat, and pop some mounting holes in it. It'll be a bit until I get to making a dedicated bench, but at least I'll have a plate to mount it to for now.

I have ready access to any of the machines I need at work, so that little lathe is just something I putz around with on occasion. I do, however, have a small model 4-stroke scratch-built engine to complete

 

[xj1999]

Nice space. Looking forward to more pictures.

 

[jbmatth]

I like the work you are doing, simple and effective, the car will be nice, I hope to see more pictures of it soon enough. I'm working on adding USB to my shop as well, I don't like the stuff, but it is much cheaper than plywood, and once painted or covered it won't really matter. Then I saw you said this:

I do, however, have a small model 4-stroke scratch-built engine to complete

Oh please do tell and show us some pictures of this!
JB

 

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Yes the scratch built engine, lets see something! ps. nice work on the shop

 

[Zeke]

Just saw this thread. Nice shop. The windows at the top of the stairs need a guard. I can tell that building was never inspected. At least put a guard there before any children get in there.

Oh, and the stairs sorta need a rail too.

 

[ProTourCutlass]

Oh please do tell and show us some pictures of this!
JB

Yes the scratch built engine, lets see something! ps. nice work on the shop

That's among the stuff my dad has been hasseling me to get out of his garage haha. Ill be out there this weekend, i can grab what I've got and snap some pictures for you guys.

It's not a scale motor or anything, it's a little single cylinder horizontal display engine. I've been so busy I haven't touched it in over a year. I would like to get into building mini v-8s. (Ever heard of Connely?). But this is the first engine I ever built, starting out easy... ish. Neat little project though.

Just saw this thread. Nice shop. The windows at the top of the stairs need a guard. I can tell that building was never inspected. At least put a guard there before any children get in there.

Oh, and the stairs sorta need a rail too.

Thanks! I'm assuming the PO had someone frame the building and he did all interior and electrical. Framing, siding, and roof are well done, and to code... everything else has been completely redone.

As for by the stairs, I plan to build an insulated "hatch" to keep the heat downstairs. Then when flipped up have it latch vertically to double as a railing while upstairs. Those windows don't open, so I'm not sure a guard is necessary, but I'm no code expert.

 

[jbmatth]

I've seen Conley's work in the past, but just did a bit of googling on his work. Here is an article for those that are interested:
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/conley.htm

Sorry if I'm getting off topic, but those are awesome!

 

[ProTourCutlass]

I've seen Conley's work in the past, but just did a bit of googling on his work. Here is an article for those that are interested:
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/conley.htm

Sorry if I'm getting off topic, but those are awesome!

Anytime mini v8s are involved I think that's still on topic regardless. That's a neat article. Really don't know about the guy, have just seen youtube videos of the engines haha.