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5mall5nail5's Modest 2-car Clean-up and Setup

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5mall5nail5

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Bucks County, PA
Great update. Cool stuff with the phone-operated GDO, haha!

Extra points for the gratuitous Corona at the 5:00 mark. Further points for using these great Bose speakers, and finally massive pimpage points for the lighting under the workbench.

Damn! :shocking:

:) Thanks Hugo

It needs a themed fridge now Jon, like a Monster or Bud Light one :D

Hmmmm that's a good idea. I would like a fridge out there... just don't want to clog up more floor space.
 

Mpower5266

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Dec 23, 2013
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Newnan, GA
Great update. Cool stuff with the phone-operated GDO, haha!

Extra points for the gratuitous Corona at the 5:00 mark. Further points for using these great Bose speakers, and finally massive pimpage points for the lighting under the workbench.

Damn! :shocking:

Whoa! A Hugo sighting. :bowdown:
 

Trey T

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Houston, TX
Love your computer setup and PC build. What brand/model is that motherboard? What brand and specs are the memory?
 
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5mall5nail5

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Whoa! A Hugo sighting. :bowdown:

Hugo has been all up in this B!

Love your computer setup and PC build. What brand/model is that motherboard? What brand and specs are the memory?

Thanks - nothing fancy. It's a Core i5 4670k cpu, MSI H81M-P33 V2 mother board, 8GB of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 Mhz ram, an old 400w PSU I had laying around, a Samsung 840 Evo Pro 256GB SSD, and the two Acer 27" 1080p monitors.
 

Seavs

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My comment was a little tongue in cheek... However, if you were to mount it on the wall above something that sits on the floor then you technically wouldn't be losing any floorspace.
 

diggler306

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Jan 25, 2012
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Saskatoon, SK
Love this garage. Cool video too. Nice to read and see pictures, but then having the video just adds a little extra reality to it so to speak. Keep up the good work.
 

bonecrrusher

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Aug 18, 2011
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578
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Charlotte, NC
Love the HF tool boxes and monitor setup.

Where is the computer for the garage stored at?

Thanks for answering the YouTube question - I lost your thread and couldn't find it, haha.
 
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5mall5nail5

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Made a new video regarding my "toolbox tour" - I get a lot of views/questions/criticism on my original one, so here's the new one with the completed bench and all - check it out!

 
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5mall5nail5

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Cool video.

Thanks!

Good stuff. Will you transfer most of your tools from the Craftsman boxes into the HF boxes now?

The bluetooth audio thing is pretty slick!

That craftsman box only has some spare HF quality stuff in it - it does have all my loctite, etc., in it, but for the most part its already mostly empty and will be going to the basement where I intend on setting up my "metal shop". Thanks for the comments!

Awesome job. Love that bench!

Thanks a ton! Love it too!
 
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5mall5nail5

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So I lost an extension spring on the garage door over the weekend.


Didn't notice it until I went to open the door this evening and it wouldn't lift. Good thing the safety cable was there!
 
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5mall5nail5

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Wow - it's been a while since posting anything garage related in here. That said, one of the reasons I've been out of commission is because this:

2016-12-18_06-20-03 by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

2016-12-18_06-19-49 by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

2016-12-18_06-19-13 by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Sigh. This was my office - it was too 1985 for me since I am working home more (and more in general). It all started out with a simple "Hey can you remove the wallpaper?" project to ok, let's 1/4" drywall it to nevermind let's rip down the walls and re-1/2" drywall it to omg wtf.

The observant ones will notice that there is 2x6 framing for an old window in the middle of the room - yeah wasn't expecting that. We have a ~1,000 sq ft addition on the back of our house and the roof peaks through that old window. I guess when the PO had the window replaced they did 2x6 to build deeper sills or something. Only issue was, when they removed it they shortcut and ended up building the wall into the room with three layers of drywall/plywood. It was horrible. I thought it'd take me a weekend to demo. It took three - three trips to the dump and ~1500 lbs of debris. Sigh. Tore out 2x6 and replaced with proper 2x4, reinsulated, fixed hidden junction boxes (grrr), reran romex for good measure since the jacket was knicked in places....

I ended up moving the closet because we have soft AC hose as part of the retrofit (house did not originally have central AC). I hated having the stupid flex hose in my closet and since I wanted an open closet design for my office as a sort of display area, I reframed it. I re-ran electrical, network, and put ethernet and power in the closet ara for my display (Raspberry Pi will display the status of my servers I run). In addition, I ran conduit and pulled some LC multimode fiber and upgraded my house to 10 GbE fiber throughout :) The end results are:

Office remodel near complete by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Office remodel near complete by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

Office remodel near complete by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

10 GbE Fiber by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

You'll notice the door is not cased, nor the windows, and the baseboard heater cover is missing. I have someone coming to replace the door and case it and the windows because I am done LOL. As for the baseboard cover, I ordered a 168" version of the one in our foyer:

2016-12-20_11-17-58 by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

It looks stamped but is actually extruded aluminum with cast and machined end caps. It's a ridiculously well made piece - something I'd make if I could. It's then powder coated your choice of color. Real quality piece if you're stuck with baseboard heaters... just not the cheapest thing out there.

OK guys, Merry Christmas to everyone and happy holidays!
 

WhiteLightning

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Philadelphia, PA
Looks great! Nice way to display the 'L'enses.

Why wasn't the fiber located closer to the desk/PC?

And what is the source of the baseboard heat cover?

Thanks
 
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5mall5nail5

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Looks great! Nice way to display the 'L'enses.

Why wasn't the fiber located closer to the desk/PC?

And what is the source of the baseboard heat cover?

Thanks

The baseboard heat cover comes from:

https://www.go-overboard.com/

Its awesome - ~3/16" extruded aluminum with cast ends that are machine true. Very high quality.

I was originally going to put the PC in the middle of the wall where the fiber is, except I found out I am getting an HTC Vive for Christmas from my wife :rocker: So, I put the desk at the end of the room on the short wall so that the VR play space is maximal

Looking fantastic..:thumbup:

Regards

Thanks you!

Thanks for the update, even if it isn't garage related. Nice job. And happy holidays to you and your family.

Thank you and you as well!
 
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5mall5nail5

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So this is a weird one...

My wife went down to the basement and hit the switch at the top of the steps. Said the lights didn't work - I must have left them on and burned out the bulbs. There were two "sconce" lights on the wall down stairs, 6 recessed lights in one area of the "almost finished but wtf" part of the basement, and then two recessed lights in another part of the "wtf is this" finished basement. The 6 recessed lights did not work... and I sort of just assumed that's what she was talking about. So, I replaced the bulbs - still didn't work. Huh.

The previous owner(s) "finished" the basement with 2x3 framing, wood in a damp basement, with janky wood paneling painted over top. The majority of the work was questionable at best. So, I figured hell I should strip this basement back down to cement and see what we're dealing with anyway. So I start slowly and realize that the switch at the top of the steps actually controls a receptacle sort of behind the steps... yet some light in some form or another turned on previously. Turns out, the knuckleheads wired the sconce lights to LAMP CORD, hard wired to the back of a switched outlet. Ugh.

This made my stomach churn and dread what other nightmare awaits. I tore the wall open, undid that mess, and made do with LED portable shop lights until I could research further, which was today. So, I tear down the longest wall where the recessed lights that no longer worked* were. I could now finally trace out the circuit. Not too much knucklehead work (other than metal boxes in damp basement, etc. and stupid framing/wood paneling). I have it all mapped out. Many junction boxes (some hidden, of course!) but... it... ends at a receptacle. That can't be! Over and over I map it out junction box to to junction box to light switch to junction box to receptacle to first recessed light... to 2nd...to 3rd... to 6th... to receptacle... to.... nothing - it ends there. There's no power feed!

TURNS OUT my photo documentation OCD really paid off. I am laying on the floor of our family room while my wife watches shows and it dawns on me - why was there a junction box w/ about 50' of romex wound up and why would I leave that there if it were potentially hot? I am more careful than that. Wait.. that went some where.. maybe... AH HA! When we moved in and I started R&R on the garage, I removed an on-surface circuit they ran from the breaker box in garage, up and over 2 garage doors, around the corner, and through the drywall into our interior foyer closet and into the basement! I cut that romex and pulled it back into the basement!

9583284857_c4c608b7ef_b.jpg


You can make out the romex going through the wall in the upper corner. That was it... the whole time. I spent hours laying in bed pulling my hair out worry about some weird one-off-***-backwards electrical issue... and here, I prevented that from the get go.

Stay safe guys and take pics of everything you do! You might find it useful in the future! I use Flickr to archive my projects and the nice part is that you get the date taken retained - so that pick was from Aug 24 2013... I had pulled the feed from this circuit 4 - 5 years ago and my wife was used to the sconce lights working, not the recessed lights - not her fault neither of us really remembered which lights turned on since we barely go down there. Sigh.
 
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biscuit141

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Apr 19, 2010
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Location
Indiana
Crazy story. And random, you don’t post in over a year and that’s what you lead with? How is the garage? Lol.
 
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5mall5nail5

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Crazy story. And random, you don’t post in over a year and that’s what you lead with? How is the garage? Lol.

ROFL - i know i know

Garage is awesome! I moved my turbo BMW E34 to the crowded side of the garage so my wife can park our new BMW X1 inside! Once the weather is nicer I think she may park outside. I need to push everything outside and clean the race deck flooring :(
 

Purist

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MAsshole
Always great to see fellow BMW enthusiasts on GJ. Love what you've done with your garage (and cars!). Keep up the good work!
 
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5mall5nail5

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What to update with...

Well - a lot has changed since my last post over a year ago!

First and foremost, I have a little helper now! His name is Austin and he's amazing - he's 6 months old already!

i.php


Next up is I changed the fleet up a little bit.

First, my wifes '07 Volvo S40 died suddenly a year ago when it started pushing massive blowby out the dipstick tube and oil fill cap. That car did so well for her for so long but only made it to 180k miles which is low in my household! Knowing we were expecting our son we needed a little more car seat and stroller flexibility but my wife also wanted to have a car that was fun. We picked her up a CPO 2015 X1 M sport in Black Sapphire Metallic with all options (ultimate package):

20190110204355-ba5c4df1-la.jpg


She loves it!

Once our son came my 1995 525i daily driver was no longer cutting it considering it had no working AC, barely working heat, and was pretty dated in terms of safety goes. So, I too picked up a newer car, a CPO 2015 328 Sport RWD (my choice) in Black Sapphire Metallic. Loving it:

20190111144827-e598b9c3-la.jpg


Since getting it I did a few things to it. I got the windows tinted (30% Llumar), vinyl wrapped the silver "whisker" trim in the front grill, replaced the kidney grills with OE M Performance black ones, color matched corner markers in the front, and picked up a Turner Motorsport carbon fiber high kick rear spoiler:

20190117200146-16d1d83c-la.jpg


20190117195222-224462f0-la.jpg


20190117185914-1aade5b1-la.jpg


You can see from the next picture that the garage was getting a little... sloppy.

20190117185923-c47b2458-la.jpg


I was pulling my 1992 525i turbo charged car out every time I would detail/clean my F30 or my wifes X1. We also ended up doing a bunch of house work and ended up moving a love seat (arghhhhh...) into the garage where it ended up living for about 8 months. I am embarrassed that the garage got to this point but I blame being a busy guy living the new dad life:

20190304141329-3ad2b241-la.png


That photo was from Feb 13th. I made it a priority to clean up the garage. We had a bunch more house stuff going on so I was motivated. I listed the love seat on our neighborhood facebook group and it went in about 10 mins. Perfect!

I had a ton of tools/boxes (and tools in boxes lol) laying around that I just worked around when needed. I finally got to moving things to the basement properly and organizing.

20190304135009-b674ad81-la.jpg


I had a Palmgren grinder sent to me for review, but only after it arrived I found out it was 3-phase. This lived in my garage since 2013-2014! Boxed it up - maybe some day I can use it, but for now, it's in the basement. It did come with an awesome pedestal mount (legit, it's cast iron) and is drilled and slotted for many fitments - I finally moved my more usable Porter Cable grinder to it and found a home in the garage:

20190304142029-eab5e181-la.jpg


This was the "love seat" side of the garage:

20190304135011-ebbcd216-la.jpg


When I'd vent to friends about the state of this place they'd reply "At least you have a garage" or "that's nothing you should see my dads place you can't even walk" - true, but still.

I started by moving a very tall 26" Craftsman toolbox to the basement. Then, I spent time looking at the layout on the opposite wall and determining what would go to basement, stay, or move to the opposite side. I decided if I moved the 48" brake and drill press to the opposite wall I'd be able to line the wall with narrow tools (except for the welding table...) then I'd be able to move the green turbo car over there since I drive it less and work on it less:

20190304135016-0a4704f7-la.jpg


As I moved things, whether inches or feet, I cleaned EVERYTHING. Simple green is my go to - every single surface is spotless now. My TIG welder and welding table had a find dust of grey/black carbon everywhere from projects I had worked on - removed the TIG welder, vacuumed, and wiped every surface. Time consuming but I think it's the only way I'd be happy. Even if the layout isn't perfect at least everything will be clean and orderly.

When I moved the 26" Craftsman box down to the basement I put anything "home improvement" related in it. I also have a ton of duplicate socket sets, screwdrivers, etc. so those went in there as well so I can use conventional hand tools in the basement if working on a server/homelab project but also know where to find my home improvement-y stuff.

You can see what remains on the "turbo car" wall:

20190304135018-94b6cebd-la.jpg


I do have to park quite far from the wall to clear the welding table. It works out though because the gap in tools along the wall and distance allows me to fully open the door - I used to not park anything on this side of the garage because it was too hard to get out.
 
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5mall5nail5

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Once I was able to park the turbo E34 in that bay I pushed to get everything else clean. I started detailing (specifically using Optimum No Rinse for now in the winter) in the opposite bay. So, with a winter storm approaching, I had until yesterday to get everything cleared up so I could move a car in.

i.php


It's not perfect. I'd love to move the parts washer to... some place and put the welding table on the deeper wall but I'd have to run my 50A circuit over there. That would allow me to move the turbo E34 closer to the wall to gain some middle-of-the-room space, but with a pole... is it worth it? Not sure. At least for now I managed to get all of the above done but was about 2 - 3 hrs too late to bring my F30 inside, as it now looks like this outside:

20190304135029-4649f5d3-xl.jpg


Thank god the heater is still working great:

i.php


Snow day here working from home, so I am currently out in the fresh sparkly clean garage all warm, posting up. Instead of bringing my F30 inside I mopped and mopped and mopped the floor. Good enough.

But! That's not all that's going on. Lots of car projects coming on. Well, not lots, but some cool ones in my opinion.

My awesome wife picked these up for me for Christmas:

20190117200753-8331f23e-xl.jpg


They are HRE FF01's for my F30 328 in 19x8.5 and 19x10 - so pumped to get them on (good weather permitting)

I then ordered some rubber for these puppies for my birthday :) I went with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in 235/40/19 and 265/35/19:

20190216185345-2a59d09d-la.jpg


I started sizing stuff up and realized how yucky the stock brakes look - I have 30k miles on my car but the stock rotors rust on the hats, calipers, etc. I'd either need to pull everything off the car and powder/ceramic coat, or...

20190304145937-e814bb2c-la.jpg


20190304145940-81cadc30-la.jpg


Wera 3/8 ratchet for scale :)

20190304145943-9c37101d-la.jpg


Going to look awesome!!!

20190226151048-850e9ce1-la.jpg


While typing up this newest update, USPS just dropped off the TPMS sensors necessary to mount the Michelins, so I am ready to roll. Just waiting on Motul 660 fluid coming Wednesday, then I'll schedule a PTO day to do the install.

20190304143245-15b407f7-la.jpg


Now that I've got the one bay cleaned up in the garage I am in great shape for doing quick work on this project. I need to find my Motive bleeder now that I think of it...

After this I will be doing a ton of detailing once the weather turns nicer. I picked up Cquartz UK 3.0 ceramic coating and tons of MF pads and compounds to get the car looking awesome.

Thanks for the read guys!
 

thetastelingers

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Mar 12, 2007
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718
Location
Soddy Daisy
Pretty good update man! Congratulations on the kid! Looks quite at home behind that wheel!

The garage is looking much better after the cleaning.

HREs are going to look SO GOOD on that car as well as the new brake upgrades!

Thanks for sharing
 

pbon

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May 14, 2017
Messages
3,498
I like the couch picture. I am suffering from the loveseat in the garage right now. It’s been there for about 6 months.
 
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5mall5nail5

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May 23, 2010
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Bucks County, PA
Pretty good update man! Congratulations on the kid! Looks quite at home behind that wheel!

The garage is looking much better after the cleaning.

HREs are going to look SO GOOD on that car as well as the new brake upgrades!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks man on all fronts. Yeah still not 100% content. The welding table should go on the opposite side but I'd need to run a 50A circuit up and over :( Then I'd have a good like... 34" to the wall. Grr.

I agree - HREs and brakes are gonna look killer!

I like the couch picture. I am suffering from the loveseat in the garage right now. It’s been there for about 6 months.

Ha - yeah man, I wish I had posted it up on the FB group sooner because it went in < 10 mins. It's a Bernhardt love seat, so it's a super nice piece but just didn't match our house any longer... and we just kept it in the garage for eons lol. I kept complaining to my wife about it she only sort of understood lol - finally gone, feels good.
 
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