Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[Jack90210]

Thank you so much for continuing to share.

 

[Vernmotor]

Just when I thought I had you figure out ..you go and pull a wood working shop out your **** ! Gezz wiz.. you got all the nice thing I want...LOL

 

[Hemihead2]

WOW, just WOW!! Thanks so much for sharing your restoration journey. What you started with to today is just awe inspiring. Thanks to this thread you've got me looking at improvements I can make to my shop. BTW, love those SS acorn nuts on the hose reel.
Mike

 

[BB767]

I too live in a small town, and while you would think that there wouldn't be anyone in the town that would do such a thing, we're close enough to neighbouring larger towns, and the outskirts of a major city, that we have to realise that these low-life's can and do travel. I purposely have not put windows in my shed for this very reason.

And I'm still very much enjoying this thread Thomas. And I read that Chris' is now doing a framing course just to put up "before pics" around the shop as I suggested. You two just don't do things by halves, do you?

While our town is small it's less than 10 miles from a city of over 100,000+ and at times the bad guys like to take road trips so when I built the barn, no windows were used anywhere.

We've never had a problem, but I suppose it's only a matter of time.

Of course not having any windows also helps with winter heating costs.

Chris is champing on the bit to try out her new framing skills. Yonnee I'm glad you find the thread is still interesting. There's more to be had!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

http://www.metalmeet.org/ may be a good place to market that trip hammer, those guys are always looking for vintage metal working equipment.

Jesse James recently started a series of videos on his website about metal forming and shaping, showing how to build motorcycle gas tanks, etc. They're pretty good, without all the baloney that was included on the Discovery TV shows, and you can see all the different types of old metalworking machines he has in his shop. Among all the other machines I'm pretty sure he has a trip hammer very similar to that one.

Stuart isn't it amazing what is available on the internet? That looks to be good tip, thank you.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thomas, Thanks for all of the info on the frp. This thread is some of the most enjoyable reading I have ever encountered on the internet. It is truely amazing to see someone who appreciates history like you do.

Rudyjr glad it was of some help. My home is over 100 years old, my wood shop contains among other things my great grandfathers tool chest filled with hand woodworking tools that date from over 150 years ago. My whole life I've been surrounded by historical items and my father really taught me to appreciate the quality and character that older items contain. Obviously you appreciate history as well, thanks

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Ah HA! I spot a slight miscue
Add a water seperator before the airline goes into the blasting cabinet, you will def collect water at that location.

Ah HA yourself Rick! Boy everybody's a critic aren't they??!! You're not the first nor will you be the last to find slight or major miscues for that matter with my "stuff". I'm always open to better ideas on how to do something. The nice thing about never claiming to have all the answers is when sharp guys like you point out a problem I can readily say, "Hey I think you're right. I need to fix that don't I". That said, I dehumidify the air in the shop so it's never over 45% so there's not a lot of moisture in it to begin with. Then following Eaton's thought on water separation I thought I'd try to get away without putting a separator over there. So far it's not been a problem, but then I haven't used the blast cabinet for hours on end yet. It bears watching for sure. Thanks my friend for your input. I always value it. I've told you before, watch me like a hawk.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Thank you so much for continuing to share.

You bet Jack, it's been fun and informative for Chris and myself. It's forced me to take a close look at everything out here, otherwise I'll have guys like Rick all over my case and who wants that?
I have gotten some great suggestions and as a result the shop continues to improve and I've made some wonderful, talented new friends here.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Here is a smattering of some of the publications I found in the office and shop.

Note the date line on the upper right, 195_ It's already 60 years or so since this was current.

Chevrolet Super Service. Chevrolet published these service guide's for service work on specific components.

This service guide was for servicing 1958 air conditioning units.

This is for servicing a pretty rare Chevy air suspension system called Level Air. It didn't work, the air bags leaked, and most if not all of them were recalled and converted to conventional springs as I remember. Dates 1958-59?

Application chart for Dole thermostats and Weed tire chains, remember them?

Walker not only made floor jacks but oil filters too. This application chart dates from around 1953.

This is also where all the service manuals for all of the shop equipment was kept as well. The manuals are in far better condition than the equipment!

This is just one of the tubs I placed all paper material in when I was cleaning the office/shop out. I never looked at any of this at that time. I just packed it up and moved it out so I could get to work on the shop. This is the first I've seen this material in about 4 years. A quick glance and I saw the manual for the Wilton horizontal band saw ( you can see the bottom of it above on the left) and the Champion Spark Plug cleaning machine among others. I still haven't leafed through this material, just enough for these pictures. I'm pleasantly surprised at the excellent condition most of it is in. Just a little dusty is all. Most of it should clean up very nicely, ready for use should the need arise.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

....you go and pull a wood working shop out your **** ! Gezz wiz.....LOL

I'm trying to make a mental image of that and it hurts......... reeeaally hurts..............

Thomas

 

[BB767]

BTW, love those SS acorn nuts on the hose reel.
Mike

Hey Mike likes them, he really likes them. Way to go! I did it for guys like you who can appreciate quality and innovation when you see it, even if it is 12' in the air! Thank you Mike for your kind words. Good luck with your shop.

Thomas

 

[Vernmotor]

LOL ..I hope that you would see the funny side of that comment.. It's great that you can do so many things..I am that way..some what ..I try to dip in to all things..As like you I am a drag racer.. Here a pic..of our car..My daughter drives most of time.. I drive sometimes..She has 4 track championships..I got none LOL..

 

[gearbuilder]

I have been following this thread from the beginning and look forward to each new post. Your attention to detail is amazing.

One of your earlier posts has made me rethink the amount of time I spend in front of the TV.

By the way I have an unrestored jointer that looks about like yours. Mine says The Frank H Clement Co. Rochester, NY.

Jamie

 

[tdkkart]

http://www.transairaluminumpipe.com/

I like this stuff so much that I'm really tempted to go out and buy it.....

BUT......I HATE companies that don't freely advertise pricing.


Thanks a ton for your efforts Thomas.
This whole thread is just an inspiration.

 

[77bbod]

Awesome thread. I just stumbled across this and spent the last 3 hours reading only 20 pages of it. But I got to get to bed now. The pictures and stories are beautiful. Your son have a job when he did all this with you? Lucky kid to get to experience all that. I am a little jealous.

 

[BB767]

I have been following this thread from the beginning and look forward to each new post. Your attention to detail is amazing.

An earlier post has made me rethink the amount of time I spend in front of the TV.

By the way I have an unrestored jointer that looks about like yours. Mine says The Frank H Clement Co. Rochester, NY.

Jamie

Wow Jamie, thanks for posting that picture of your jointer. But I've got to say it hurts my heart to see it in such poor condition. Truly a sad sight to see. Isn't it a shame such a once, proud machine could be reduced to that by misuse and neglect? I have high hopes you plan on bringing it back to it's former glory? It sure looks like a pretty close copy of my Yates-American doesn't it?



Here are a few more images for you to check.




The small lever "warps" the out feed table ever so slightly so it can create a small bow on the side of a board. This is used when you're edge jointing lumber for **** joint edge glue ups like a table top. By having a slight concave gap in the middle of the glue edge you only need one clamp in the middle to put pressure across the whole edge. The 2 boards being glued will put pressure across the joint when they are pulled together in the middle. Clever, simple idea.




I even retained the original Allen Bradley electrical controls but I did put on a new power cable. This is a Yates-American model M31, 16" jointer.



That's saw dust on the end name plate( gloss black background with gold raised letters) which makes it look fuzzy and out of focus. Yates-American Machine Co., Beloit, Wisconsin. A close examination shows both jointers to be very similar machines but not exact copies of one another. Since my machines ( planer and jointer) were used in the pattern makers shop for the foundry, they were well cared for and still precise, just dirty with worn paint. Nothing a little clean up and lots of elbow grease polishing the tables and control wheels with emery cloth couldn't cure. The paint was all stripped and new paint was matched to the original and applied with a brush. Nothing was sprayed on. I'm not crazy about the color but that's how Yates did it. Since there is so much exposed metal I use a little Johnson's paste wax ( made in Racine, Wisconsin) on all the bare metal parts to keep rust at bay. Plus this shop is de-humidified as well. It took me about a month each to restore, working in my spare time. I wasn't watching TV back then either!

Now before some of you think this has nothing to do with the auto shop restoration, some of the wood machining for the work benches and trim in that shop was done with these machines.

Good luck with it Jamie.

Thomas

 

[sctattooer]

Thomas,
Thanks for taking the time to keep this thread going.

 

[BB767]

LOL ..I hope that you would see the funny side of that comment.. It's great that you can do so many things..I am that way..some what ..I try to dip in to all things..As like you I am a drag racer.. Here a pic..of our car..My daughter drives most of time.. I drive sometimes..She has 4 track championships..I got none LOL..

Jack of all trades and master of none?

I know how you must feel about your daughter, proud but........... See Chris is the one who has won all the big awards, National Best of Show, President's Crystal Emeritus Award etc with her Lincoln Mark VIII. While on the other hand, the best I've ever done is Best Of Class with my '66 Lincoln Coupe. The word frustration has come to mind on occasion......and I try so hard.........really give it my best........... but nooooo, no heavy metal for poor Thomas.........you'd think maybe out of pity they'd throw a crumb my way........., hey I prefer drag racing anyway!

Thomas

 

[Hemihead2]

My late friend, Bill Burnham, used to say - "the only thing you can 'win' with a car is a race. Everything else is based on opinions."
Nice car, Vernmotor. I like 'em all but I'm partial to Mopar.

 

[markviii]

Luckily we're not in the car show "business" for the heavy metal (where can you keep all those trophies except on a shelf in the garage?). And, in reality, Tom's car gets more looks than mine at shows and when we take it out for a drive because the '66 Lincoln coupe is so rare (and HUGE). We've only seen 5 of them since 1979 - none even near show condition (though seeing them did help us with authenticity issues). We often get comments like "they never made a coupe". I did the "heavy" metal rounds from 2003-2008 with my '93 Mark VIII just before the market was flooded with the '98s (the last year for the Mark VIII - I don't like the looks of the second-generation anyway). It's nice not having to compete against the 0-miles trailer queens. I enjoy driving mine too much. Tom likes his drag racing (where I don't help him much) and I let him help with my Mark VIII - a good trade-off from someone's point of view!

Chris (wife of BB767)

 

[Hemihead2]

Don't get me wrong, Chris, I enjoy going to shows as well as the drags. I can appreciate what it takes to maintain a 'driver' in the kind of condition to be successful in a show. I, like you, think you should 'own the car' not have it own you (read trailer queen that is never driven for fear of dirt or road rash).

Based on this thread and the incredible shop you folks have created, I was sure you weren't in the car show "business". However, I have run into too many folks that get all bent out of shape when they don't get a trophy. Some friends of mine are show judges, Grand National Roadster Show for one, and they have some great stories of the upset show car owners complaining about how much they had spent and "why didn't it win!?"

Thanks for continuing to share your awesome shop!

 

[reone98]

Thomas great thread. i saw this on ebay and thought you might be interested in it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310206040994&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

 

[Enloe]

Are you guys going to race the nova at the hot rod reunion in bowling green this year?

 

[BB767]

Thomas great thread. i saw this on ebay and thought you might be interested in it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310206040994&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Well isn't that interesting! Many. many, many thanks for bringing that to my attention. I am in your debt sir.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Are you guys going to race the nova at the hot rod reunion in bowling green this year?

Enloe, please give me some more information about it in a PM. I don't know anything about it as of right now, but I like to race it as much as my schedule allows. Thanks.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I like this stuff so much that I'm really tempted to go out and buy it.....

BUT......I HATE companies that don't freely advertise pricing.


Thanks a ton for your efforts Thomas.
This whole thread is just an inspiration.

I agree with what you're saying. It's like a little game some companies are playing. At times I think that once you express interest in a product, the price goes up.That said, I've had no issues with the company and I did use it again in the barn.

Did I mention that I turned the writing on the pipe toward the wall in here just like I did in the shop? That way it's not all crooked or misaligned. Just a much cleaner look.

I even went back to Rotary Lift again, another great product! Almost 80 years separate my two lifts.

Transair is a very good product and I like it. I've had no regrets at all using it in the shop. For the barn I used stainless steel on all the pipe ******* and bushings, street "eL's ", everywhere I could and brass everywhere else. The whole air line is now made up of non ferrous metal. No problems with iron oxide that way. Free enterprise I guess. They get to run their business as they see fit and we have the choice to not buy the product. I got a quote ahead of time and proceeded with it.

Thanks for your interest and good luck with whatever you wind up doing.


Thomas

 

[BB767]

..... And, in reality, Tom's car gets more looks than mine at shows........and I let him help with my Mark VIII - a good trade-off from someone's point of view!

Chris (wife of BB767)

Well I was wondering how that all worked and now I get it..........she " lets " me help with her Mark....... And I'm grateful she does.

Thomas

 

[mhcomp]

[Back in high school I took some auto repair classes out at the local technical college and they had a weird lift. It was two hydraulic cylinders in the floor, but one for each axle of the vehicle. And they of course were controlled independently of each other. To top it off the controls were flush with the floor right under the front bumper of the vehicle. Too much lift in the rear and you'd dump the car on your head! It also had a nasty habit of slamming up the last few inches of its travel. I assume it was air over hydraulic and was just low on oil or something. But it sure got your attention when it would throw the car in the air - especially when it was your own car.

Shawn

Shawn I've heard and seen pictures of those twin post lifts but never used one. It seems a little dangerous as you pointed out. When a hydraulic lift slams up the last few inches like that, I believe is from air trapped in the fluid side which needs to be bled out. It's pretty hard on the lift too and will damage it eventually if not corrected.

Thomas[/QUOTE]

I was a mechanic at a Pontiac dealer in the middle 50's and that was the kind of lift I had. Kind of wierd but you got use to it. BTW great job your have been and are doing. Don't know if I would have had the ambition that you did though!

Because I was doing hydramatics, the two post lift gave me plenty of room to pull & replace the ****** and anything else I needed to do under the vehicle. Brake jobs were easy too as the front lift mounted under the A frames.

 

[mhcomp]

MENTALHEALTH, not having everything in descending order allows me a great deal of latitude. The best part is you just never know what will turn up. For example, right now while I'm waiting on the floor jacks, here's a little peak at a clean up I started.

This is one of the 15 gallon, bulk oil storage tanks I mentioned and pictured earlier on page 7, post #122.

By just peeling away the years of shop grim underneath is.....

......a beautiful piece of vintage equipment. Almost like magic isn't it?. It's just amazing to me what's hidden underneath. I've got a building full of items that I removed from this shop that I'm just starting to bring back in here and start clean up and restoration of.
Sharing is what this site and this hobby is all about isn't it? The feedback and kind words I've received from you and others is extremely rewarding to me. Makes it all worthwhile, really!!
Check back from time to time, there's always something brewing here it seems.

Thomas

Boy-talk about memories! I remember pumping Quaker State out of those things when I was a grease monkey in the 50's.

I joined the Army reserves in 1953. I then went to hydramatic school through the reserves in Brooklyn and promptly got a job working the transmission rack at a Pontiac dealer at the ripe old age of 18.

You have done an absolutely beautiful job!

Allan

 

[D.J.]

mhcomp:
We had one of those lifts that you have described in High School Auto Shop in Ridgway IL. Ours usually operated ok without trying to dump a vehicle on your head. I believe that shop was built in about 1965 or so and was still working when the school was consolidated in 1985 and may still be operational to this day. I'll check with the present owner , next time I see him I'll ask him if it does. Just my $ .02 Thanks D.J.
________
LovelyWendie

 

[BB767]

This post will look at some aspects of the front of the shop during it's renovation from early, middle and current condition.

This has been posted previously and dates from the early 1970's. Notice the shop had two overhead doors across the front. At some point, man doors were installed on them as seen here. Also the electrical service was overhead which I changed to underground.

Here is a closer look at the right side man door which was the main entrance to the shop. The Briggs and Stratton sales and service sign was left on the building and it rusted away by the time I bought the shop. The Prestone Antifreeze thermometer was gone but I found it's twin in an old freezer in the 2 car garage that was in 100% perfect condition and I installed it in the lift room.

Here is the thermometer installed in the lift room. Looked completely new, had never been mounted before. It's about 28" high and is very accurate. The finish on it is porcelain so it would be durable outside.

This is a now well known image of the front of the shop from fall of 2005. The Briggs and Stratton sign is the rusty smug on the left and the large Johnson's Welding and Repair sign had faded almost completely away. Just above the power meter was the exhaust outlet for the exhaust fan to remove welding smoke.

One of two pieces of equipment I bought for the clean up even before I had closed on the property. I knew I would make great use of a chainsaw out there so I got a heavy duty one, a Stihl 16", commercial grade chain saw. The front of the shop is on the right and you can just barely make out the power meter on the very far right edge. We are just starting to carve out and free the shop here.

This of course is the other essential piece of equipment, the diesel John Deere tractor, here equipped with a bush hog. This was the first day on the property for it. It's sitting in front of the lift room door. Notice the bushes to the right. These were completely across the front of the shop obscuring it from the street.

Here enough brush had been cleared away so that the front of the lift room door is visible. The broken windows in that door let in rain water that eventually rusted up the rear chocks of the lift. The structure on the right side of the building was a storage area for sheet metal.

This is the car that replaced the family 1950's Studebaker, a mid 70's Chevrolet Caprice. My son and I were really hoping that it would get left but we were dreaming. A cousin wound up with it. It was in very nice condition. To the right of the sheet metal storage is a sheet metal brake.

This is a reverse view of that corner. Behind the tree and all around it is "stuff" I haven't cleared away yet. The tree to the left is the ash tree that had the chain around a limb.

This would be 2007 or so and I'm starting the landscaping work. Here cedar mulch is being placed to help control erosion on the slope and hold moisture in for the ground cover I planted.

A problem that surfaced was due to the family home having been physically raised up a couple of feet in the 1950's when a deeper basement was placed under it. That raised the grade to the east of the shop (right side in this picture).

See how much higher the Impala's are in the driveway compared with the Chevy II in front of the shop? When the shop was first built this was all level grade.

The problem that higher grade created was when it rained, all the rain water drained toward the shop. To divert it away, I graded a slight ridge along the driveway that would funnel water down the driveway ( to the right in the picture). I now had to find a way to keep the dirt from washing away right by the front corner of the shop where the sheet metal had been.

I built a small stone retaining wall to hold back the soil here and make the elevation change. To do the small wall and keep frost from pushing it, I had to put in footings, bury the first layer of stone and then stepped back each layer of stone about a 1/2 ". A water proof fabric was placed behind it also. In 3 years it's not budged.......yet! This is the spot where the structure that held sheet metal and metal brake used to be. I also put in stepping stones where you climb up to the lane which leads back to the barn. That's climbing ground cover that greens up in summer and browns up during winter. I planted it to prevent erosion. Stone was also used to create a small lip around the edge of the concrete to prevent soil from washing onto it. Seems to have worked.

When I had the barn floor and driveway poured last fall, 2009, I had the shop driveway concreted out to the street at the same time. This way the tire treads don't pick up small stones and then drag them into the shop. It was too late in the year to do any grass planting along the edges of the new concrete.

If you haven't tired of all this yet, I do have more on the shop coming......

Thomas

 

[Enloe]

bring it on

 

[R1chy]

bring it on

Ditto, this is the kind of adventure a lot of us would like to take - at least I would. As a result we are living vicariously through your posts.

Thanks for documenting and posting, your pictures are great and your efforts are an inspiration.

R1chy

 

[Bevis]

keep it coming...

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

keep it coming...

+1

Any closeups of that sheet metal brake sitting outside?

 

[51rider]

keep it coming...

+ another 1

Yippee! 2 pages of posts to catch up on!

 

[klogan121]

Ditto, this is the kind of adventure a lot of us would like to take - at least I would. As a result we are living vicariously through your posts.

Thanks for documenting and posting, your pictures are great and your efforts are an inspiration.

R1chy

Couldn't have said it better myself! An awesome thread!

Kevin

 

[BB767]

My late friend, Bill Burnham, used to say - "the only thing you can 'win' with a car is a race. Everything else is based on opinions."

Hemihead2, That is a great quote. Never hear that one before and it is so true. I will use it in the future, thanks.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Boy-talk about memories! I remember pumping Quaker State out of those things when I was a grease monkey in the 50's.

I joined the Army reserves in 1953. I then went to hydramatic school through the reserves in Brooklyn and promptly got a job working the transmission rack at a Pontiac dealer at the ripe old age of 18.

You have done an absolutely beautiful job!

Allan

Allan, you do know guys like you are living history don't you. You were there and old enough to be able to pass on what it was like, "in the day" working in these shops with this old equipment. Please feel free to post here any time with information you have that is relevant to the shop and equipment. You are most welcome.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

mhcomp:
We had one of those lifts that you have described in High School Auto Shop in Ridgway IL. Ours usually operated ok without trying to dump a vehicle on your head. I believe that shop was built in about 1965 or so and was still working when the school was consolidated in 1985 and may still be operational to this day. I'll check with the present owner , next time I see him I'll ask him if it does. Just my $ .02 Thanks D.J.

Thanks D.J., I'd be interested to know. Pictures would be great too.

Thomas