Alfa Romeo Double-Wide Condo Garage

[dwatsonkc]

$99 Sam's Club purchase. Seems I spend a couple hundred dollars each time I go there, I just needed to pick up strawberries for my wife.

 

[TiFJ]

Noticed your FJ (I also have an Expedition One front bumper on my FJ) and expedition-style trailer, would love to see some details on the trailer. Are you on Expedition Portal?

 

[dwatsonkc]

Ha ha. Yea, same user Name. I have not been on much lately. Its funny , I was on there the other day and noticed a thread I started about Snow Peak products has about 1000 posts. "Snow Peak Addiction"

I had a thread on my trailer build. It kinda evolved over time. Now that I have a great shop I have some Mod's planned.

Edit, sorry the "snow peak thread" is in expedition portal forum

 

[bonecrrusher]

Nice MaxJax - I got the same transmission jack - there is a thread on here - but I still need to cut mine down.

Shop looks great!

 

[SLYDIT]

love the garage and the Alfas...
this was my daily driver in the late 90's....a '71 Fiat 124 coupe...

 

[farrbar]

Nice score on the table....

I like the condo concept, you won't regret it (unless the build one 5 minutes from your house . )

I have a car condo about 10 minutes from my house, but no community club house (it us actually an industrial condo.... Several of my neighbors run havc or construction companies from their condo. However several are just for car storage.

 

[dubber]

$99 is a sweet deal for that set. Never seen them in black, nice touch!

 

[dwatsonkc]

love the garage and the Alfas...
this was my daily driver in the late 90's....a '71 Fiat 124 coupe...

Love the Fiat!

 

[dwatsonkc]

Got a few hours of work done on the Alfa this morning. It's so nice to position the car where you need it.

Also, ditched the Eastwood 110v MIG welder and upgraded to a Miller 211. I have 220 in the shop now. Was able to weld like butter this morning.

Should have upgraded a long time ago. The Eastwood unit worked but the miller is so much smoother.

 

[sd171]

I love what you have done with this project. Some day I hope to have a retreat like this as well.

If I'm not mistaken, you have two tire rack boxes waiting to be unpacked. I recently mounted two racks myself and ran into a couple of issues that you can read about here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245711&page=4

 

[JordanFTW]

What a sweet build! So does everyone own these things, are they all month to month? How does that work?

 

[dwatsonkc]

I love what you have done with this project. Some day I hope to have a retreat like this as well.

If I'm not mistaken, you have two tire rack boxes waiting to be unpacked. I recently mounted two racks myself and ran into a couple of issues that you can read about here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245711&page=4

Thanks, Wow you have a keen eye. You are correct. I have not decided where to put them yet. I have metal studs behind the drywall so have really decided how to mount them yet.

Good tips on your thread. Love the hoist. One of my options is to put them high on the left wall and could get them standing on the 4 post lift. They would really be out of the way there, but not handy location wise.

If I put them toward the back, above the blast cabinet, I would need to cut them down a bit anyway. The space is about 8-10" short to put them side by side. I'm leaning toward that spot.

 

[dwatsonkc]

What a sweet build! So does everyone own these things, are they all month to month? How does that work?

Own the space. Really just like any condo that you would own. Small common dues to the condo association.

I really like the social aspect to the place. Mostly car guys there and all are fun to hang out with.

 

[dwatsonkc]

A photographer came by yesterday to take some pictures of the condo for a feature in a local publication..

Took me about 4 hours to clean the place up. Dust everywhere from doing bodywork.

 

[dwatsonkc]

Pic 2

 

[alberto]

Nice space. Are those Viper tools cabinets? How do you like them?

 

[dubber]

Congrats! Space looks magazine ready for sure.

 

[jfauto]

Love the desk and shelves in the office. What brand, where did you buy, etc?

 

[slik560]

Came out great! I've been to a couple of open houses at the Carriage House project, but the no-water thing is a problem. Hard to clean a car or clean up after working on things without running H2O. Plus this project is a good 1/2 hour drive from my place, even using I-435 / K7. Still tempting, though. I know a couple of the other owners out there. VERY happy with the project. Thanks for sharing all the details.

 

[dwatsonkc]

Nice space. Are those Viper tools cabinets? How do you like them?

Thanks. Yes, they are Viper. I think they are great. Also have the larger version at home. They are not as heavy duty as my Snap On box but is a very high quality box. The paint is very durable and they get well used in the shop.

 

[dwatsonkc]

Congrats! Space looks magazine ready for sure.

Thanks!

 

[dwatsonkc]

Love the desk and shelves in the office. What brand, where did you buy, etc?

Good old nebraska furn mart. Had to put them together. iKEA has something similar.

 

[dwatsonkc]

Came out great! I've been to a couple of open houses at the Carriage House project, but the no-water thing is a problem. Hard to clean a car or clean up after working on things without running H2O. Plus this project is a good 1/2 hour drive from my place, even using I-435 / K7. Still tempting, though. I know a couple of the other owners out there. VERY happy with the project. Thanks for sharing all the details.

Next time you are there say hi. I live in northern Shawnee. Takes about 20 min. I thought it would be a bigger deal driving so far. Don't really think about it much now except when I need to just run over and grab something.

I have a couple spray bottles, and a gallon jug of water when I need some. I really don't wash the cars much, mostly use Griots spay on wash. Maybe we will have a wash bay when more units get occupied.

It's a great group of guys out there. Can't wait until summer! The pictures were taken on Wed when it 70deg in Jan!

 

[dwatsonkc]

Finally got the south side of the garage somewhat sorted. It's been a mess, and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do.

1st I got the tire racks mounted. Really don't have a need for two racks yet, but figured I would go ahead and get 2 for future use.

Hung the ladder and my Son's bike. Purchased and assembled an Eastwood Parts Washer.

 

[dwatsonkc]

I bought 4 Save a Battery maintainers, The 20' extensions have been out of stock so I have only been able to use 1 of them

 

[dwatsonkc]

Purchased two of the Radio Shack part bins from the local store that closed.

I was not happy when I got home the dividers were gone.

I guess it didn't really matter as I figured out a way to make dividers. I will use sheet metal cut 5" wide. Then cut about 2-3" and fold with my Brake. I think it will work great. The real work is going to be making 300+ of these....

 

[dwatsonkc]

Got my last patch panel completed on my 74 GTV. I was really happy how I did on this one. It's about ready to hand off to a body shop.

Here are two colors I'm debating....

The first is a vintage brushed aluminum look. Not sure how easy this would be to have painted like this, but it sure looks cool. (Random picture from Internet, can't remember where I got it)

My 2nd choice. Red with race stickers. picture from Alfaholics.com in the UK.

 

[slidemx5]

I really like the aluminum look if you can figure out how to pull it off! Also did you build or buy that vice stand. I'd love to have something like that

 

[dwatsonkc]

I really like the aluminum look if you can figure out how to pull it off! Also did you build or buy that vice stand. I'd love to have something like that

The aluminum GTV picture is most likely an aluminum bodied GTA. It's been aged as even the side stickers are "dirty".

The stand is a cheap Harbor Freight one. It works great but I do have to put some of my weight on the shelf if I'm putting leverage on something.

 

[dwatsonkc]

Here is another picture of the Aluminum one. Anyone have any ideas if you can paint a car with this look? Again, sorry I don't remember where I got this picture from.

I also like this one from Alfaholics.

Another red one

 

[slik560]

That aluminum Alfa is cool, but it's hard to beat RED as a color. Love the one above.

 

[TiFJ]

You could paint the car red and then wrap it with brushed aluminum vinyl, likely much easier / cheaper to accomplish and if you tire of the look it's easily changed.

 

[Ferrari-lover]

Very cool build

 

[bulletpruf]

Love the build. Have a Miller 211 myself. Very nice. Also moving to Italy (Naples/Napoli) in a few months. Plan to pick up a vintage Fiat or Alfa or two. Would love a Fiat Dino Spider or an Alfa Montreal, but prices have jumped on both. Can still swing a Fiat Dino Coupe or a nice Alfa GTV 1750.

Care to share any more details on your cars?

Scott

 

[dubber]

Think its a no lose, but i do love red for an old alfa

 

[dwatsonkc]

Love the build. Have a Miller 211 myself. Very nice. Also moving to Italy (Naples/Napoli) in a few months. Plan to pick up a vintage Fiat or Alfa or two. Would love a Fiat Dino Spider or an Alfa Montreal, but prices have jumped on both. Can still swing a Fiat Dino Coupe or a nice Alfa GTV 1750.

Care to share any more details on your cars?

Scott

I got a few threads over at AlfaBB with the same user name. I'll take some fresh pictures once the weather gets warm this spring.

 

[dwatsonkc]

I have thought about a wrap, I like the look just think it may be too crisp for a vintage car.

Today, I spend a couple hours making 300+ dividers for the parts bin. Then started the process of sorting all my screws and bolts. mindless work but relaxing.

Here are a few pics on how they look. I got 6 drawers done. 8 more to go.

 

[nine4gmc]

Wraps are for chicken and lettuce, I would NEVER wrap a vehicle, much less a nice one like you have. The aluminum paint would be easy for a professional paint guy.

 

[Matias]

Good luck with the dividers! At least it's something where you see the results quick.

All-in-all, really nice garage! Now that you have had the reporter asked you the same questions, what's the part you like the most about your garage? The room upstairs, the configuration,...?

 

[mustangmike6996]

Beautiful setup