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Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Woody's Works Garage

Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
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Denwood

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Nice :). Top gear did a bit on the DSG name too..this is good for a laugh.


Sub, the process to change that fluid is even weirder. This is the first time I've needed a laptop to change a fuel filter (prime the TDI high pressure pump), change trans fluid (monitor temps until fluid reaches 30C, then use "overflow" to set DSG fluid level) and finally reset the service indicators on the dash. I am also flushing brake fluid so the laptop once again will be used to bleed using the ABS pump activated by, you guessed it, another laptop routine. Coming from an IT background this stuff doesn't bother me, in fact it's great that I can peek in on virtually every system in the car. Even the audio system reports errors to the car's ECU.

The floor is still white too. The low rise drain system worked as advertised.

We've rolled yet another page, so the last before after pics for collective viewing convenience :)

Car on the hoist..first lift October 2014
lifted.jpg

And last tonight...
cleana3.jpg
 
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Denwood

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The first job working in the garage (instead of on it!) was a real pleasure. The cleanliness, organization, and brightness have utterly transformed the work space. Having the use of a hoist was simply a luxury. Everything is easier.

Bleeding the brakes and ABS pump on an Audi can be done solo, and with assistance from the ABS pump itself controlled by the VCDS (Ross-tech) software running on a connected laptop. Basically you can the do the entire job without the usual 2nd person doing the pedal pump routine. Very cool. The cost savings doing the oil/DSG/filters/brake fluid flush myself are in the $1400 range vs local dealer. Almost covers the cost of the hoist..

abs.jpg


Here's why you might want to check your cabin air filter. Ouch.

abs2.jpg


A3 TDI diesel oil change at 60000 kms
A3 TDI diesel DSG oil change and service at 60000 kms
A3 TDI brake fluid flush at 60000 kms
 
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HSpencer

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My highest congratulations to you on the remodel of your garage. It is a work of art in every respect. A great place!!

Best Regards
Herb
 

drivesitfar

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Woody: i think the last time i did my own work on my car was in 1977 to my 70 Ford Mustang Mach 1 with a 428 in it. I needed help with that one because the engine made almost any job need a special tool or trick. since then i found capable friends, clients and even the dealerships to take care of mine with all that extra stuff on it. i couldn't imagine working on a car with a laptop, but it looks like you do have the talent.

maybe i'll buy a couple pre 1970 cars without all the BS on them and get back to doing my own work after my 70 year old mechanic says he can't or doesn't want to do my Honda fleet any longer. my fleet has been reduced to a Pilot and CRV, but at one time it was 4 CRV's and a Civic when i had all the kid's cars here.

so i can't tell you how cute that little video was of your little girl dressed up in her outfit to clean up your garage while your bride was filming her. what a great thing to get while you are on the road taking care of business. congrats also on being able to tune up your Audi because that is one reason i wouldn't buy an Audi or BMW or Jaguar.

take care and i know you won't stop working on the garage so what's next?

cheers and is it warming up a bit? I've mowed our lawn for the 3rd time this year yesterday and it was dry enough to do with my push mower.
 

dubber

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Nice job tackling that yourself. These projects and many more in the future will put a smile on your face dealing with them in your newly refinished space. :thumbup:
 
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Denwood

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1/2, it will be interesting to see how the summer (and open garage door) plays in out in the garage social scene :) Spring is in the air.

Herb, "work of art" is high praise. I keep thinking about "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" while I'm working. The ability to perform tasks with some degree of reverence to the work (sounds strange, I know!) is for me the essence of time in the shop.

Dubber, I have a love/hate relationship with VAG in general. My 84 Scirrocco in autocross trim was a blast to drive, and pretty easy to work on. The Westfalia, also pretty easy to work on, but over-complicated in many respects. Interfacing to the Audi's ECU in a much more intimate way I suppose is the way of the future for anyone doing their own service work.

Drive, thanks for the video comments. It was pretty awesome to see that video in a text from my wife. If you decipher what the little one was saying, it's pretty obvious she really likes the shop too. My older daughter did some shop time with me last night, including her first time with an impact gun. She helped remove the Audi wheels...and had a pretty big smile on her face removing wheel lugs using "big bertha". She also had a session in the driver's seat on the hoist helping me bleed the brakes. I had the MaxJax safety bars installed, and four hoist stands underneath for extra security while she was on board :) The low rise hoist/safety stands worked very well. The ACME thread assembly that allows you to engage each stand to the vehicle has a lot of lifting power, likely enough to lift the car right off the hoist arms.

I find pretty much every time we take a vehicle in, I find some evidence after that the tech was rushed, or inattentive in some way. Our CRV has seen good care at the dealer, but after the last oil change, I found an oil pressure lead pulled off from its sensor. The decision to install the lift was partially to take on more chores from the dealer, and now with the VCDS software/cable, the only reason I would go to a dealer is if time is tight. I've been wrenching since about 11, and have slowly picked up new "systems" as I've moved along. Air conditioning etc. was the last big item to add to the mix, as I rebuilt the AC system in my Westfalia. It works better than OEM now, and in doing the project, I've equipped the shop with a vacuum pump and gauges as basic tools for any vehicle's AC service.

Next will be to pull the Westfalia from storage, remove the poptop, and do some upper paint work I've been meaning to attend to. There's also quite a few house projects in the queue..so onward ho.

My eldest gave me permission to share this pic with the journal. Ha. She was pretty thrilled with taking control in the driver's seat, if only to help bleed brakes.

The car worked very nicely this morning..so evidently I didn't mess anything up :)

peek.jpg
 
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drivesitfar

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Woody: I truly like your stories about the girls helping in the garage maybe more than your awesome garage pictures and improvements. keep working on that Dad of the year and with a couple cute girls like that you might want to invest in a couple nice weapons and teach them how to use them. what am i saying you probably already had them to the shooting range as handy as they and you are.

just teasing because it sounds like you live in a great area and just could use a bit more warm weather and sunshine. i mowed and trimmed my lawn again this AM to clean up some rough edges that the first push mow job of the year left and as you can see the weather isn't too bad. here's a few pictures sending you some sunshine from what usually is the wettest area in the US.

congrats that the Audi brakes work so I guess your daughter's assistant did a great job as per usual.
 

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Denwood

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Wow, that yard looks pretty amazing ...and green! I'm a big fan of the Fiskars push mower. This little video has something like 34K views on sharpening the Fiskars reel mower. I do have an electric for mulching, but only use it in the fall. The best part of the video below is the subterfuge that occurs in the last 2 minutes :)

 
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plain garage

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Wow, nice build, what a transformation! Do you happen to know the diameter of the "roll" when the door is fully opened? We don't see a lot of roll up door for residential use here in the US but it sure looks great.
 
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Denwood

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Plain, thanks for your kind words :). Roll up doors are not common at all here in residential either. A typical sectional door is typically 1/3 of the price, so honestly I've seen zero roll up doors here on houses. The door does offer a very compact footprint and was the only operated door solution with no interference (when open) with a vehicle on the hoist. The opening is pretty much 8'x8'. Doing this again I would have installed the door about 2" higher. My Westfalia with Thule racks in place just squeaks under. Eventually I will enclose the door and add inner seals to make it even more efficient in very cold temps. That's why I boxed in the area over the roll up door. This also makes the area over the door usable in my little loft storage areas.

rollupwidth.jpg


Boxing in the roll up door also provides a perfect mount for a motion sensing LED light. It turns on pretty much instantly when you enter the dark shop, so there is no need to turn on the shop lights when pulling in/out.

light3.jpg


final3.jpg
 
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BBChevro

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It must be an absolute pleasure to service the cars now Dennis, with the MaxJax lift and the computer interface - I'm still wriggling under cars on my back to do oil & filter changes (and that's about all I attempt to do on these new-fangle computer-controlled things :willy_nil).
 
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Denwood

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Mark, it is indeed shop Nirvana for me for several reasons. The Ross-Tech VCDS software can be intimidating, however it is also liberating in that virtually every system/sensor in the car can be monitored live. Viewing error codes and history (basic telemetry) takes a lot of mystery out of the cars systems too. On-demand activation of the ABS system is pretty much required for a brake fluid flush/bleed, running the auxiliary fuel pump after a fuel filter change is required to avoid damaging the TDI high pressure pump, the DSG transmission requires fluid level set at 30C..and finally the service reminder system has to be reset. All of that requires interfacing to the vehicle's ECU. Learning new stuff seems to keep life interesting :)

As far as the shop goes, having everything organized and off the floor gives a luxurious amount of space to work in the small shop. The white floor is crazy bright, making it easy to locate dropped bits, and strangely satisfying to return back to a clean state after work is done. The air hose reel makes the former air hose snarls a thing of the past. Compressor racket is gone. The tunes are awesome. The lift made every job almost fun.

I'm happy.
 

drivesitfar

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Woody: so i'm starting to get the shakes from not being able to post on your thread for 10 days. i thought i'd kick it up so others can see all the amazing work you have done in your small garage this winter.

also wanted to see if your weather is finally warming up a bit. it was 65 here yesterday and even with 2 inches of rain on Sunday i still was able to mow my lawn on Monday with my little Craftsman 75 year old push mower.

once you hit so many hits on a youtube posting do you get paid? or do you have to set up a site and sort of a store to collect viewers and cash?

cheers and sorry to bug you if you are taking a breather and did this post more to keep me at peace by looking at your garage pictures again.
 

HSpencer

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Dennis, I am continuing amazed at your shop. I am betting even you had no idea the place would come out looking that great! It is a top shop on here to be sure!

Best Regards
Herb
 
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Denwood

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D, typing from the airport in San Francisco. Work has pulled me away on a New York, Toronto, LA, San Francisco tour. Almost met up with Modern Jess last night, but path "correlation" was not good :). As it was, the moment we posted a few pics on FB, some old friends materialized out of the ether...was a slightly irresponsible evening :) One thing for sure is that the weather for you Californians is pretty amazing. I'll be back in the shop a bit this weekend as some ECS lift point adapters showed up for the Audi in my absence.

We are in the midst of some heavy 3D printing on our Alaris 30 prototyper, finalizing a new product line. Will need to post a few pics here for some flavor.

Herb, you are exactly right. The shop end point was not planned..just ended up there. Now that I have a taste of "clean and organized" there is no going back.
 

drivesitfar

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Woody: i'm a 2 hour drive to the Canadian border here in Seattle with the nice weather which i'm thinking is more like California's weather every year.

i suppose you have to fly around and promote those awesome things you make so best of luck with that. also i bet you are at ease a bit more knowing that the girls can walk in the garage and actually not get hurt tripping over stuff. of course now they might build stuff while you are on the road so leave them a few materials.

cheers and have a safe trip
 

Modern Jess

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D, typing from the airport in San Francisco. Work has pulled me away on a New York, Toronto, LA, San Francisco tour. Almost met up with Modern Jess last night, but path "correlation" was not good :)

Yup. Very sorry I missed you. I was looking forward to it. My work had other ideas about how much leisure time I could have this week.

Hope you had a good time in SF, maybe next time.
 

OzarkMan

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Ozark Missouri
Outstanding build! Extremely creative with the existing use of space and totally transforming it into something different and useful. I read through the posts a while ago, but finally had to get around to commenting and appreciating your build :)
 
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Denwood

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Jess, SF was great. We'll be back :). It'll be about 50 degrees colder when we land in Tbay. Sigh.

D, my guess is the girls have not spent too much time in the shop. We'll address that this weekend :)

Simon, much appreciated. I had my first "back lane" double take last week as the garage door was open for a work session. There will be many conversations I'm sure over the summer. Any excuse for a chat...
 
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mygarageone

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I can't tell you how impressed I am with your garage transformation.

If I hadn't see the before and after pic's togeather , I wouldn't have believed they were the same garage . You did a great job .
 
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Denwood

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Myg, thanks for the kind words. The garage is a rather unique project (I suspect for most of us) in that we can be pretty "selfish" with the final look. In other words, it's a lot easier when design choices etc. don't require intensive spouse consultation. Ha.

Johnnie, I noticed their 75' reel was on sale as well last time I was in. Anyone on the fence with respect to a reel? Get one! Easily one of my top 5 favorite shop additions this year.
 
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Denwood

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Thanks Strouty :)

I'm not a fan of lifting from the reinforced quarter panel areas of the Audi A3. After finding out that Audi has provisions for lift pads on reinforced body areas, I ordered up a set from ECS tuning. After quick inspection of the body areas hidden by the lift pad points, I also figured this was a good time to hit them with cavity wax. I did a fair bit of research on long term corrosion tests last year and came up with Mike Sander's "grease", ordering up a 25kg can. It is a bit of a pain to use as it must be heated. I came up with a pretty slick solution..heat tape on my cavity gun. Pics are pretty self explanatory.

pad1.jpg


pad2.jpg


pad32.jpg


pad3.jpg


pad22.jpg


pad4.jpg


pad5.jpg


pad6.jpg


pad10.jpg


pad11.jpg


pad12.jpg
 
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rye

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Nov 6, 2014
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Nice job on the garage! Tons of great ideas here. I can't imagine implementing this many things in such short time, that's nothing short of amazing.
I've got an even smaller space in progress, and it's like living tetris trying to reno my space with nowhere else to put things. I love what you have done to get things off the floor and I'm trying to implement some similar upper storage with sliding doors. Are the bottom tracks flush with the shelf? I recall you used uni struts, it looks like the shelf hangs from the uni struts, is it all very rigid? It looks like it could be wobbly if the shelf just hangs there but hard to tell from the pics.
 

drivesitfar

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Woody: nothing short of amazing. great idea with the grease and as long as i'm ending up owning my Hondas i should look into buying some for my little fleet. of course we don't have 100 degree temp swings very often like you do up there in the paradise of the northland.

BTW is your snow gone now or are you still doing all this work in your shop with below freezing temps?

glad to see you made your big US tour and made it back home safely.

cheers
 
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Denwood

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Rye, thanks for your comments. It seemed to take forever to get the shop done..but perhaps 5 months is not so bad. Keeping a small shop like this organized is a matter of discipline after every work session...but it's self regulating(ish) as everything has it's place.

The shelves are very solid, particularly loaded. All the strut channel does is support weight as the back edge of each shelf has a glued/screwed 2x2, which in turn is screwed to the studs in the walls. The bottom tracks are pretty much flush with the shelf, and angled downwards 15 degrees so heavy boxes etc don't catch on them.

Dean, the snow is going quickly, but it's still dipping down at night to -15C. The Reznor heater that came with the shop gets it comfortable in 5-10 minutes. The shop seems to stay just above zero with heat off, partially due I suspect to solar gain as the sun intensifies. I posted a few thermal images of the roll up door (back a page or two) at 96F on a -10 day.

The grease really needs application to a warm car, so either summer or a warm shop is required. There is another product, Noxudol that came up in my research as much easier to apply and containing ingredients (MSDS) that not only coats the underbody, but actively reacts with rust. Noxudol was the dealer treatment from both Isuzu and Toyota during safety recalls related to subframe premature corrosion.

Unlike Krown and Rust Check (popular here) the Mike Sander's grease does not just wash off underbody areas, but in hot weather it becomes somewhat active to creep into seam areas. There is no solvent, therefore it is relatively "pleasant" to deal with.
 
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Spooling

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Sep 18, 2014
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Hey Dennis;

Awesome garage!

I was wondering where you sourced your Cree LED T8's and how much did they cost? I'm working on sourcing garage lighting right now and am finding it tricky to find stuff in Canada vs the US. I'm currently leaning towards going flourescent T8's using Platonics guide.
 

jbmatth

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I saw this thread when you first started and thought, wow nice job raising the ceiling. Then now I check back and wow what a change! I'll be tagging along to see where you go with this next. Great job.
JB
 

Modern Jess

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Rye, thanks for your comments. It seemed to take forever to get the shop done..but perhaps 5 months is not so bad.

I'm going on three years now on my shop, which was arguably less ambitious (no roof modifications). So yeah, I think you've done good.

Clever solution on the grease application. I don't think I would have thought of that. Will have to tuck that away for future reference. :thumbup:
 
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Denwood

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I saw this thread when you first started and thought, wow nice job raising the ceiling. Then now I check back and wow what a change! I'll be tagging along to see where you go with this next. Great job.
JB

JB, thanks :) The big push to finish over winter is more or less done, so now hopefully we'll be doing more work in the shop, rather than on it :)

Jess, the best solution for a larger job is to use a crock pot, double boiler or similar so you have a quantity of grease liquid, then use the heat tape on the gun to keep the wax at temp in the gun. When you spray it in hot, capillary action really pulls the material into crevices..which I think is key to it's performance. That said, I guess you don't worry too much about cavity wax in your climate :) As I type this, it's snowing outside...
 
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Denwood

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After six months in storage, the bus fired right up. Having an accusump installed means 35psi of oil pressure before I even turned over the engine :) The audi i4 engine that was swapped in for the flat 4 purrs like a kitten, and has 50% more hp than stock. It's in its new home..at least for now. We're listing it for sale. Was a nice night for a quick pic.

September 2014 (before shop renovation)
8ftceiling.jpg

April 2015
newshopvan.jpg
 
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drivesitfar

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Woody: not sure why you are selling the family's VW, but there must be a good reason. when i saw the video you made of it i was sold and i don't need one. how about posting up the video link again for those looking to buy one can enjoy. let me tell you the person buying your VW is a very luck person because you are amazing with the way you take care of your vehicles.

good luck

BTW the garage before and after pictures with the VW inside hardly look any different. :bounce:

wasn't that only 6 months ago? i'm still working on my ORGANIZING thread, but this last month i helped a client close down their 100 year old steel fabrication business and came home with this truck. i'm not a mechanic so i'll need to find one, but I've paid more for a good vise than i did this truck and it runs and drives ok.
 

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Denwood

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D, as much as my girls love the van, we use it more or less as a tent at the summer spot. Vans like this one have held their value very well, so the decision to part with it is in line with simplifying, stream lining etc. Your "new" truck is something I would actually get some use from, particularly at the shop!

The van video (click to play it) is below. The Westfalia is shown pulling out of the shop before the renovation, so you really get a sense of the difference!



final1.jpg
 
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drivesitfar

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Woody: if we lived closer i'd let you park the truck at your shop and i'd borrow it on the rare days i'd need it. sadly we are too far from each other to make that happen.

Even though I've seen your VW van video before i tried to watch it again and your link just went to Youtube's main page. i tried a couple times so check your link unless you think it's just me.

good luck
 
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