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Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Tom's Neighborhood Workshop

Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
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gearhead1960

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Manassas, VA, a small blot in history
Love the look of the shelves. Are they attached in any way to the pipes that we can't see in the pic? If not, I see an accident waiting to happen. All it would take is someone knocking into the side of one of the shelves to sent it off the pipe and crashing into the stuff below. Maybe even causing a larger chain reaction. You might want to get a pipe clamp such as this or similar to secure the shelves.....
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Billings, MT
Congrats on the new job!

Shelves are cool; what drywall anchors did you use?

:beer:

Thanks Trapps! I'm really happy with them.

For this project and the other shelves in the office, I used Toggler SnapSkru self-drilling anchors, but I did drill pilot holes slightly smaller than the shank of the anchor. that way you can tap them into place and screw them in with a screwdriver, which feels a lot more secure to me. That being said, I'm not an expert. The other ones I've used with great results are WallClaw anchors. You just whack them in with a hammer and they're crazy strong. Only problem with them is they're all neon green so they need to be painted if you'll see them at all. But otherwise they're my favorite.

I used the Toggler anchors for this project because it was much more precise and faster for me to mark and pre-drill holes and screw them in than hammering in the WallClaw ones, especially for 72 holes. or 24 in the case of the smaller shelves. For smaller projects though the WallClaw anchors are great.

Love the look of the shelves. Are they attached in any way to the pipes that we can't see in the pic? If not, I see an accident waiting to happen. All it would take is someone knocking into the side of one of the shelves to sent it off the pipe and crashing into the stuff below. Maybe even causing a larger chain reaction. You might want to get a pipe clamp such as this or similar to secure the shelves.....

Thanks!

So, they're not attached to the pipes as of now, but on the smaller shelves the boards are clamped between the flange and the cap, pretty effectively locking them into place. The big shelves on the wall would be nigh on impossible to fall off because they're effectively caged by the pipes and the wall. In theory you could knock them off an end pipe and the weight of the contents could cause them to seesaw, but they can't go far. The contents dumping could be an issue though. I may test that out.

Definitely will get some strap clamps for the coffee station though, the kind with only one mounting hole you see used on EMT conduit. Or I suppose I could drill through the pipe and run a screw through it if I want it to be super clean.

Good suggestion, I'll have to look at that.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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The office needed some finishing touches before it was ready for my first day at work.

I set up my monitors, docking station, and various other bits and bobs. Being a desk worker, I think a lot about ergonomics so I toyed with a few different setups. This is just what I landed on.

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Those little puck lights under the small shelves were an impulse buy from Amazon. They're battery operated, but variable brightness and have a remote. They look nice lit up like that, so I'm happy with the $15 I spent.

I was able to start getting the shelves filled out too, though there's still plenty to do there. Coming along nicely though. You can see my wife has already found a basket and location for her knitting supplies, and I've put out some of my old cameras and part of my Clive Cussler collection. Starting to feel like this room is actually used now.

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I also took the time to do some serious cable management and organization at my desk. Cables lying everywhere drives me completely nuts, so I used some split loom wire conduit and zip ties to clean everything up properly. Took a bit of fiddling to figure out the proper setup, but I'm really happy with how clean and organized everything is now.

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Great thing about expanded metal mesh is that it's really easy to zip tie to.

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I also knocked together a laptop shelf for the desk. I didn't like having my work laptop and personal laptop floating around my desktop, so I grabbed some offcuts from making the shelves and quickly made this shelf that screws into existing holes in the desk frame. This part is actually one of those lifting sections for standing, but that's a feature I won't use, so the frame makes a good spot to mount this to. I plan on cleaning this up, staining it, and sealing it with poly over the weekend.

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You may have noticed the new light fixture as well. These were a score from Amazon, and really not that expensive at $40/fixture. I bought four of them to replace the office, hallway, bedroom, and stair lights. They're just the right look and throw out awesome amounts of light. In fact, I had to get weaker bulbs to make it not glaring, but it looks really nice now. Try finding 3000k Edison bulbs in 40W equivalent. I dare you! I ended up getting a bunch of individually-packaged Feit bulbs from Home Depot to make this work, but I'm happy with the result.

Light fixtures are one of those little details that really make a big difference. It made the house feel a lot less 1960's and a lot more modern.

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Okay, that's enough about my office for now. How about some more progress on Sandy?

Also, looking at the picture quality I've posted lately, I've got to get back in the habit of using my real camera. Jeebus.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Okay, back on track now with the Land Cruiser, though time is diminishing faster than I want it to. Ain't that life though?

After finishing the paint job on the interior of the fenders, I moved on to the exterior. They needed some sanding and shaping to get properly cleaned up, and I think one of my arms is now burlier than the other. Unfortunately, no one will jump to "sanding" as the reason.

Once I felt good about the sanding, I masked off the areas of the fenders that didn't need to be touched. Note the gently curved paper rather than a hard tape line. This helps with feathering and should allow me to sand them to the point where the transition is pretty smooth. That being said, all of this will be covered by trim, so it's rather moot. Just practicing. Once masked, I sprayed them with acid etch primer.

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With the acid etch laid down, I put on several coats of filler primer. By "several" I mean "six." There's plenty of little pinholes that you can't see until up close, and some sanding needs to be done to smooth it all out. I think I'm going to knock the sanding back and clean it up, then add some of the finer skim filler to help with the curve and the pinholes. Largely though, they're pretty damn close to ready.

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Up close, they're looking fairly seamless, though that curve needs to be softened a bit at the bottom.

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Notice the Land Cruiser has been removed from the shop. That's because my brother in law and I moved it back to his place to speed things up while he had some spare time. First though, we had to work on this thing:

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This little slice of American badassery is his 1968 Camaro. It is, shall we say, not quite stock. Power is delivered to the GM 12-bolt posi rear end via a heavily modified TH400, required to cope with the power coming from the absolutely nuts 572 under the hood. As a result of this bonkers drivetrain combination, my brother in law does not do big launches with it or put bigger, slicker tires on it for fear of turning the rear end to scrap metal. He plans to put a manual in it and convert to a 9-inch at some point in the future, but for now it's more of a cruiser despite the monster lurking under the surface.

Anyway, we had to swap out the alternator on it. The old one had fritzed. I took the old one off while he swapped the pulleys. We got everything squared away and he reconnected the battery before I tightened the nut on the wiring lug. I then proceeded to touch the wrench to the valve cover and voila! Instant smoke screen. One of the wires, the one running to the starter, became hotter than the surface of the sun and shed it's plastic skin like a molting snake. Dammit.

We had to strip back the wire loom, which appeared to have been arranged by an ape (not my BIL's work), until we could diagnose which wire had failed. Tracing it involved removing the air filter and the distributor too. It's almost as though this engine compartment was not designed with the 572 in mind. After the obligatory trip to O'Reilly, because of course he didn't have the correct connector, we were able to rebuild the wire and get everything buttoned back up with enough time remaining to get the Land Cruiser positioned on the lift and call it a night.

The following day, we were able to get working on it further. To make welding the repairs easier, we stripped out part of the interior. Realizing this was a golden opportunity to add some sound deadening, I opted to fully peel back the interior from rear hatch to front seats. It would also allow me to diagnose my parasitic drain problem stemming from the aftermarket stereo and relocate the amp. I also got a good look at the floor pan and discovered almost zero corrosion, save for a few small, unconcerning spots.

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I also pulled out the third-row seatbelts and threw them away since I won't be using them, ever. I sold the third row seats a long time ago.

My brother in law started cutting into the body while I cleaned up the small spots of corrosion with a wire wheel, some acid-etch, and some rust inhibitor. Nothing too scary, just a few spots that needed cleaning to prevent any future issues.

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My BIL kept cutting away sections until he got where he needed to be. It looks scary right now but doing it this way allows us to pretty much weld the repair panel in as one big piece rather than in layers. That should speed things up and make alignment a lot easier, though it's a lot scarier to look at. Here's where we are at the moment.

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Hopefully we can get our butts in gear for a few more days before his work schedule gets super nuts and get these pieces welded in. Then the areas behind the rear wheels should be fairly trivial to knock out and replace, but one catastrophe at a time I suppose. Meanwhile I can avail myself with a little work on the fenders, and get the front of the body shell cleaned up. Maybe I'll even pull the hood off and get going on that too. We'll see.

Progress is progress. Onward!
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Billings, MT
Finally started using my camera again!

I knocked out a quick project this weekend. My office needed an ottoman for that side chair I brought in. It was nice to have a comfy chair, but being able to stretch out a bit on breaks and have Beret relax in there was something I wanted to make happen. I tossed around a few ideas and did some online shopping, when I noticed that a few companies made something that looked like a crate with a pad on top of it. I happened to have a spare crate, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Here is the aforementioned crate, a USMC ordinance (flares) crate dating from 1954. It's actually lived in Billings since that time, as the stencil seems to indicate it was destined for a Marine named Hastings with an address closer to downtown. That's pretty neat.

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The crate needed some slight mods to make it work for my purposes. First, I had to take off the latch to allow the pad to sit on top evenly. I still wanted most of the metal hinge though, so I brought it over to the vise and ground off one end of the hinge pin. A few whacks of a hammer and a drift, and the pin popped out.

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I popped the remainder of the metal back on the crate.

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I then removed the bracing on the lid, as I wanted the pad to sit close to flush with the top. The hinges would make perfectly flush impossible, but I wanted it closer. As you can see, the lid of the crate is tongue and groove, so keeping it lined up was an easy task. I used a prybar to pop the braces off, then hammered the nails out. I shortened them a bit to fit inside the crate, then screwed them in on the inside of the lid using drywall screws.

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With that done, I had to run out to the shops to get the necessary supplies to make the pad for the top. I stopped at a local Jo-Ann fabrics store and picked out some upholstery fabric, as well as a 15x17" high density foam pad. Then I stopped at Lowe's and grabbed a small 3/4" project panel. I brought that home and cut the project panel down to size, lining it up with the overall outside dimensions of the crate rather than the dimensions of the lid. I figured a bigger pad was preferable. With the panel cut to size, I brought it all inside to do the upholstery.

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My supervisor seems pleased with the work I did.

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Upholstering was pretty simple. I lined the pad up with the panel and trimmed it with a knife. I then cut an oversized piece of fabric off and wrapped it around the pad and project panel, using a hammer stapler to tack the fabric in place. It took a bit of fiddling, folding, and trimming, but eventually I got it all finished up. I have a couple small adjustments to do to the corners, but I'm pretty close to completely done. I'm really pleased with the way it looks and I'm happy with the functionality, including the fact that it has internal storage. Best part is I'm into the whole project for a whopping $32. Not too bad for a piece of furniture.

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wreckdiver1321

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I like the ottoman a lot, nice work. I have an old ammo crate I need to figure out something to do with.
Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it. I did take a moment to loosen the screws holding the pad down and tucked some excess fabric in, so it looks even better now.

I like giving the stuff in my house a specific purpose. Beret and I are very "anti-junk" people, so I don't like having a bunch of stuff I don't use. I think that makes me weird amongst GJ folks. 😂

I just read though the entire thread. My question have you added up how much you have invested in that $5 55 gallon trash can?
Thanks for stopping in! Good to have more people around the digital coffee table.

Matter of fact, I did add it up.
55 gal drum: $5
One flap disc: $3
One grinding disc: $3
Casters: $14
Solvent: $6
TOTAL: $31

Pretty good considering your standard 55 gallon shop trash can would be $30-40. If you found a drum with a removable lid, you're looking at $24, or even less if you don't have to clean as much junk out of the drum with solvent.

Plus it looks better than those plastic ones and has wheels.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Billings, MT
Box of sound deadening material arrived last night. Goddamn that stuff is heavy. My mailman wanted to know if I bought a load of gold bricks. Anyway, I bought the Mat66 stuff from Amazon. Wish I didn't because it's a product of Russia, but I didn't notice at the time. Oh well, I need it and I'll still use it.

I've only got 72 sq ft of matting, but I'm betting that will be enough to make a huge impact on the road noise. I'll do the floor and doors, as well as the trans tunnel and firewall. I'm going to do lightweight insulation above the headliner in the hopes of also helping the temperature stability. The Lexus LX470 is basically a 100 series Land Cruiser, and they have extra door seals to make the interior quieter, so I might look into that as well. I'm putting in all this effort because this truck will be going on long road trips, so I want it to be as quiet and comfortable as I can make it.

I looked at my list and I don't think there's much more to do in terms of buying big ticket items. Nothing that needs immediate attention anyway. It's mostly the finishing stuff at this point. Big battery, tires, storage system, ham radio, a few other things.

Not ever enough time or money is there?
 

quantumparrot

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Dec 22, 2015
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Did you settle on a workbench top yet? On my 6' wide bench I have a layer of 2x lumber laid flat glued together (I think its 2X8), then a layer of OSB on top, glued down, then 1/4" underlayment glued on top of that, with a bunch of brad nails. The underlayment has a nice grain to it, and stained and sealed looks nicer then my kitchen table.

I took the 2x8 that makes the edge of the table to my cousins shop, where we dadoed two 1/2" slots, 3/8" deep, 1 1/2" and 3" in from the edge. Thats the underside, I stuck some strip light in there shining down, lighting up the drawers of the 52" wide HF toolbox underneath it.

Love the 100 series. I looked around at 80 series back in 2016, but ended up with an E-locked 3rd gen 4runner instead, as at the time the 4runners were less then half the price. Since then we have been off roading and camping in most of the western states. We aren't overlanding, as our tent goes on the ground and we don't have skottle. Offroad camping is the best, it's just extra peaceful knowing you are miles from anyone or anywhere.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Did you settle on a workbench top yet? On my 6' wide bench I have a layer of 2x lumber laid flat glued together (I think its 2X8), then a layer of OSB on top, glued down, then 1/4" underlayment glued on top of that, with a bunch of brad nails. The underlayment has a nice grain to it, and stained and sealed looks nicer then my kitchen table.

I took the 2x8 that makes the edge of the table to my cousins shop, where we dadoed two 1/2" slots, 3/8" deep, 1 1/2" and 3" in from the edge. Thats the underside, I stuck some strip light in there shining down, lighting up the drawers of the 52" wide HF toolbox underneath it.

Love the 100 series. I looked around at 80 series back in 2016, but ended up with an E-locked 3rd gen 4runner instead, as at the time the 4runners were less then half the price. Since then we have been off roading and camping in most of the western states. We aren't overlanding, as our tent goes on the ground and we don't have skottle. Offroad camping is the best, it's just extra peaceful knowing you are miles from anyone or anywhere.
So I think I've opted for pre-cut butcher block sections I found at Home Depot. I'd like something thick and heavy duty, and they really fit the bill pretty well I think. Pretty straightforward too. Your setup sounds pretty great though. Tough and good looking for sure. I think I'm going to buy mine vs. build for no other reason than saving time.

Thanks! The 100 Series has been a real trial for sure. I went into it a little blind and I can't really back out at this point. Luckily I'm making a bit of progress on that lately, so hopefully I'll be able to use it this year. We'll see. I'm still blown away by the quality and capability of the Land Cruiser platform. This definitely won't be the last one I own.

Haha I consider myself an overlander, and I have neither of those things. That being said, I do have an Oztent, so it's close. But yeah, we do the same kind of thing and I absolutely agree. You get to see so much more and go so much further with a small setup like ours.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Billings, MT
Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures for you guys, but a few developments have occurred. I apologize for the wall of text.

The Land Cruiser
In an attempt to speed the body work up, my brother-in-law and I moved Sandy back over to his shop. From there, we started working on the rear door dogleg sections that have caused us the most grief. To make things easier, we cut out one continuous chunk six inches on either side of that corner. We left a body reinforcement panel below to help line everything up, and we're just about to the point of fitting the donor section in place. Anticipating the metal work needed, we tore out all of the lower interior behind the front seats, so we're now down to bare body shell. Great news-no more rust has been discovered. While I was there, I pulled the amp out of position and am working on a new home for it. I also did away with all of the third row seatbelt hardware, because I won't be needing it. Weight savings! I also removed the last remnants of the spare tire hoist and pulled the lower tailgate in preparation for paint.

This is when I hit a sudden snag - sort of. My BIL was almost out of time before turnaround at the refinery, when he'd be working 14 twelve-hour days, then one day off, then another 14. He'd have no time to assist, and I'm well over my head at this point. On top of that, all remaining time he may have had has been cancelled because when it rains, it pours for that poor guy. His sister's car lost compression at random, so I helped tow it to his shop. It's been requested that he assist in sorting that problem out, because his sister is on the verge of destitute as of now. Further, a couple days later, the engine in his mom's Chevy Equinox went into limp mode. After a dealer diagnostic, it's been determined that all of the timing and balance shaft gears/chains need to be replaced. So that engine needs to come out. Obviously, those are more important projects that I plan on helping with, so the Cruiser has taken a back seat for now.

But then, the other day, we got talking to our neighbors across the street. My son saw their daughter (about the same age) out playing with her PowerWheels Jeep, so he had to go play with her in his PowerWheels F150 Raptor. She hopped in his truck and they went for a drive, eventually ending in my garage. Out the went and into my house while my wife and I were in the neighbor's front yard watching. That son of mine is a smooth operator...

I knew the husband is a car guy, as evidenced by the '67 Mustang in his garage and '74 Scout in his driveway. We get to talking and he asks about my Land Cruiser. I tell him about the body work situation and he offers to paint it for me when I'm ready. I ask if he's got access to a booth, and he says, "of course, I work in a body shop in town!" Well, no ****. Turns out the guy across the street from me isn't just a car guy, he works in a custom body shop where he does metal work. Not only that, he's a hell of a nice guy who has graciously offered to help me with Sandy. I cannot believe that! What are the odds?

The House
Not a lot going on here. We have a dresser coming from my mom and dad soon that I will do a minor refurb on so my wife and I can consolidate into one big one rather than two standard sized ones. I've been thinking about painting down in my gym area to bring it more up to date than 1966. But I'm not in a hurry on that front.

Biggest thing is we bought some tile for the fireplace surround in the living room. We're going to redo the tile, then do a new solid-wood mantel and rustic wood paneling from floor to ceiling surrounding the tile and mantel. Should look absolutely killer. Just need to find the time. Oh, and I'm looking at a few landscaping projects once the broken sprinkler line in my yard gets repaired.

The Workshop
Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets and buy your tickets, Tom vs. Garage Floor round 4 is coming on Tuesday!

Spring has arrived here in Montana, and the weather will be perfect to get the HellFire flooring job done. I emptied the shop out yesterday and got everything stored temporarily in the shed or the garage, and I swept, vacuumed, and hosed off the floor. Then tonight I did another etch job before hosing it out a couple more times. It should be ready to accept the HellFire now. Tuesday is supposed to be rainy pretty much all day, so with the humidity I can get it to cure properly. So strap in boys, more drama is coming!

Hopefully not.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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:unsure: For some reason in THIS group...........not absurd at all...🥴
Ha! I suppose that's fair enough.

Just catching up on reading my subs...hopefully, all went well on Tuesday with the floors.
Thanks for stopping in Brent! I need to get back into reading everyone's threads. I've had a lot of time taken up with my new job and other pursuits.

All, Tuesday was pretty successful. I was able to get three layers of HellFire down and they cured up nicely. I ended up using less product than I expected, so I still have two gallons. I've opted to roll those out today with the dark tint to make the floor a bit darker. Then I'll have five layers and it should be crazy tough. I did all the additional prep steps Legacy suggests when you have to wait longer than six hours between coats, so I just have to mix it up and roll it today.

I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to it. HellFire is nasty stuff. It's thin, thinner than latex paint, and it STINKS. It's got an extremely powerful solvent smell that takes forever to clear. It clings to your hair and clothes too. Right now, if an open flame occurs within 10 feet of my shop, I'm pretty sure it will be in orbit.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Finished up the workshop floor last night, so I now have five layers of HellFire down and it's curing up. Actually, It's cured enough to walk on safely at the moment. I'm leaving the shop sealed up for the time being to keep the humidity high and help it cure properly. I'll get pictures up today and show the process and results.

Spoiler alert: I'm pleased. Really pleased. It turned out as well as I had hoped. My Sisyphean Odyssey has come to an end.
 

quantumparrot

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RE the de-rustification of Sandy, how back to OEM perfect does it need to be? Are you planning on steel bumpers and sliders? The rear quarters would be covered up by the sides of a rear bumper, and indeed some clearancing or cutting might happen in the future for bigger tires, same with the front fenders, and rocker panels. This is just me, but I almost feel like you are doing TOO good a job on the body, for a vehicle that will likely graze a tree or rock or two once you get overlanding.

Are you going to be making your own armor? I recommend it, just cause its fun.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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RE the de-rustification of Sandy, how back to OEM perfect does it need to be? Are you planning on steel bumpers and sliders? The rear quarters would be covered up by the sides of a rear bumper, and indeed some clearancing or cutting might happen in the future for bigger tires, same with the front fenders, and rocker panels. This is just me, but I almost feel like you are doing TOO good a job on the body, for a vehicle that will likely graze a tree or rock or two once you get overlanding.

Are you going to be making your own armor? I recommend it, just cause its fun.
So yes and no.

It definitely doesn't have to be perfect, especially with regards to the rear quarters and the pinch weld. I've got a Dobinson's dual swing rear bumper waiting to go on, as well as an ARB front. The rear will be covered, like you said, so the repairs below that body line don't need to be OEM-looking.

While I don't plan on making it perfect, I do want it to look good. It's my project vehicle after all, and I want it to look like something I'm proud of. I know some people don't care how their trail/travel/overland vehicle looks, but I do. I get saving the time and energy, but for what I do with my trucks the odds of damage are pretty low. The Land Cruiser will have more ground clearance and a shorter wheelbase than my Nissan Frontier that went everywhere I wanted to go. For that reason, I'm not planning on bigger tires. I'll be running 265/70R18s, which are maybe half an inch bigger than stock. With the clearance it already has, I don't need to go up a size, so no worries about trimming. Also, I don't plan on full frame-mounted sliders. I'm building pinch weld sliders. More clearance and all the protection I really need. Land Cruiser Products makes a version of these which I'll essentially copy. They're far tougher than you'd expect.

So yeah, I'll be at least building sliders for it. I've also already made a transmission/tcase skid plate for it. I replaced the center crossmember that holds the transmission up, with the plates welded to that. A modified version Of the Trail Tailor Creeper skidplate. I got an Asfir front aluminum plate and the Trail Tailor LCA skids to finish it off.

As is probably obvious, I'm aiming for a lightweight build. I'm also using a lot of my experience to think through what I really need vs. what is overkill.

Sorry for the long-winded response haha!
 
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wreckdiver1321

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This week, my Sisyphean Odyssey is at an end. THE FLOOR IS FINISHED!

To recap, I have had a hell of a time with my workshop floor. I tried to stain it, and when that failed I ground the floor, then tried various methods of oil/stain removal, then tried staining again with poor results, then tried more cleaning and grinding, then tried a final stain, which did not work. I sold the polyurea kit I got to finish off the floor, and bought @LegacyIndustrial's HellFire as my plan B. HellFire is an extremely tough opaque coating, so I should be able to cover the nastiness that my floor has become while providing even better protection than my Plan A. Unfortunately, winter arrived and brought cold, dry air. So I gave up for the winter months and focused on the Land Cruiser.

Recently, the weather turned in my favor, so I decided it was time to get the floor sorted once and for all. I moved Sandy to the garage, pulled out all of my tools and and equipment, then cleaned and etched the floor. I allowed two days for the floor to dry and was ready to go.

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Per Legacy's instructions, I needed to maintain 60-90% humidity in the workshop for the floor to properly cure. To further complicate things, I wanted to ensure I got the coating underneath the overhead door, so I needed to seal the shop's environment while the door was open. To that end, I took the tarp I had underneath the Land Cruiser outside and nailed it around the doorframe.

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Using rocks to hold the tarp down, I flattened the tarp against the doorframe and needed to seal it against the siding. To that end, I tested a few tapes to use in order to seal the tarp against the door opening. Aluminum HVAC foil tape held the best, so I taped the perimeter of the tarp up and called it good. My 4 year old helped me by handing me the strips of tape, the hammer, etc. He had a blast helping daddy work.

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I wanted to limit the loss of heat/humidity as much as possible, so I opened the door about eight inches and put a block underneath it to hold the door open before starting to humidify the space. I used the biggest, baddest humidifier I could get at Target, as well as the one we happened to have at home already. It's a big area that's now not perfectly sealed, and Montana is a dry state, so I wanted to make sure the space maintained the proper level of humidity. It worked really well actually.

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I let that sit overnight, and by Tuesday morning, I was in business.

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I gathered all the necessary (and some not so necessary) supplies. If you plan on doing this coating, you need to take every precaution to keep your skin covered up. Long sleeves, pants, and gloves. Also, I had read about the strength of the smell, but this was something else. A respirator isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity. This stuff is seriously hazardous.

Beyond the PPE, you need everything you'd normally need for painting a room. I couldn't get my hands on an 18" roller locally, so I just stuck with what I had, knowing I would throw almost all of it away after the fact.

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HellFire isn't like paint, it's a lot more watery and tends to "creep" into gaps and cracks. It also needs to be mixed regularly since the particles fall out of suspension a little quickly.

I started by cutting in the edges and the section under the door (by hand, no taping) before painting the expansion joint. Then I moved on to rolling out the floor. Legacy gives a 300-400 sqft/gallon coverage, but I was able to roll my entire 529 sqft with just over a gallon. It took probably two hours though thanks to my tiny roller. The first coat is horribly ugly, so be prepared if you plan on doing this coating.

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Subsequent coatings look better and and go down faster as you go, and they use even less product. Thank God for that, because it's kind of a miserable job. After the first coat, walking into the shop stung my eyes badly. The stink was like a living being, clinging to everything it came into contact with. Hair, clothes, skin, everything. It's horrible.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead as well as I should have, so my third coat began at 12:30AM and ran until 2. Then I went in, took a shower, and got three hours of sleep thinking I was probably finished so long as that coat looked nice. Well, in the morning, it didn't look nice. The roller marks were very obvious and I wasn't a huge fan of the untinted HellFire. So I started looking at doing at least one more coat.

First, the prep. Knowing I had left the 6-hour recoat window, I followed Legacy's instructions to re-prep the floor: scuff with a Scotch Brite pad, then wipe down with denatured alcohol. To speed this up, I made a Scotch Brite broom.

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Feeling pretty worn out from the previous day, this was enough for me, so I closed up the shop for the day.

The next morning, I restarted the humidifiers. After work, I started my fourth coat. I poured the final two gallons into a larger container, then dumped the 8 oz tint pack in, giving me the 4oz/gallon maximum stipulated by Legacy. It took a while to mix it in, but I could hardly notice the difference in the can. Once I used the brush to cover the edges and expansion joints, I saw the difference immediately and was very excited. This darker color looked so much better to my eyes than the undyed product.

Finally, the roller marks. I Found the best way to combat this is to "back roll". Take your fully wet roller and roll a full line until the roller is pretty dry, then start at the top and roll it back with no pressure on the roller. Instead of stopping and rolling in the opposite direction, pick up the roller and start again. This cleans up the lines pretty nicely, but you still have to be really careful.

I did two coats of the darker color to ensure it was a smooth application. 12 hours later, here is the end result:

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HOLY. ****.

This looks fantastic! I cannot believe this is the same floor! The end look is exceptional. I love how smooth it made the floor and I'm really happy with the final color. It's still curing right now, but by Sunday I should be able to start moving tools in and getting my bench set up.

The best part? I CAN FINALLY MOVE ON WITH BUILDING OUT MY WORKSHOP!
 
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Robey5

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406
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North of Detroit, Mi
We absolutely love Montana; but our trips in to the state have been basically to BigSky where we ride fat-n-stinky for a week or so, and then come home.

I started reading your thread, and was intrigued by the floor at first, and then (6 pages later) I was staying with with it until I got the conclusion. That floor looks BA, and it looks like it will clean up real nice with all the various weld projects and such that you will be into.

As an aside: Sandy is a rig from the rust belt; for sure: that amount of ****/rust can only be found in a state like Michigan that uses salt to clear roads, and CaCl to grade our dirt roads year round. I am following: enjoying the ride thus far.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Billings, MT
It looks good Tom, definitely been quite a process getting to this point!
Ha, you're not kidding! If I were to do it over again, I'd just go straight for this coating and call it a day, though I'd probably get the glossy clear coat with it. I like that look. That being said, I'm really happy with how it looks now, so I'm going with it.

We absolutely love Montana; but our trips in to the state have been basically to BigSky where we ride fat-n-stinky for a week or so, and then come home.

I started reading your thread, and was intrigued by the floor at first, and then (6 pages later) I was staying with with it until I got the conclusion. That floor looks BA, and it looks like it will clean up real nice with all the various weld projects and such that you will be into.

As an aside: Sandy is a rig from the rust belt; for sure: that amount of ****/rust can only be found in a state like Michigan that uses salt to clear roads, and CaCl to grade our dirt roads year round. I am following: enjoying the ride thus far.
Ah man, you gotta get to other parts of the state! Big Sky is pretty, but there's a lot cooler places out here. Let me know if you want to come visit and get out of that area, I'll give you the rundown.

Thanks for hanging in there! I know it's been a trial getting to this point, but I'm glad I kept with it and ended up with the HellFire flooring. I think it looks great. Yes, it's crazy durable with a sustained heat resistance of 350 degrees, and it's more or less impervious to abrasion and chemicals. Per the tech data sheets:

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Since it completely seals the concrete, anything that gets spilled on the floor just beads up and sits there. The smooth surface allows for easy clean up with a rag, broom, or mop. @Shea tested it extensively and found that even after sitting for 24 hours, almost nothing stained it. It's pretty impressive stuff and I'm happy to have used it.

Yes, it's my opinion as well that Sandy spent some time in the rust belt, though I don't know where. It's been in Montana for several years though. Were this truck any more rusty, I probably would have given up long ago and sold it on. I'm pretty much at my limit for rust repair to be honest, even thinking about moving on after it's all back together. I know that's a bit nuts and I definitely wouldn't part with it right away. I'd give it a year to see how things hold up and how I feel about everything. It's probably more frustration than anything else.

Anyway, glad to have you onboard! Gonna be an interesting ride.
 

jbrentd

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Jul 8, 2015
Messages
1,039
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The floor looks great! Glad to see you're happy with it after all of the work you put in to it. I'm curious to see what it looked like just before you applied the coats with the tint.
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Aug 12, 2021
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Billings, MT
Oh man that floor turned out wonderful!!!!

Wow! What a difference. Looks great. Glad it turned out well after all your trials and tribulations....

Looks great! The Legacy products are great!
Thanks guys! It was an odyssey for sure, but I'm very happy with the end result. Now onto more fun things. I've been hard at work on the next phase and should have a lot more done this week.

The floor looks great! Glad to see you're happy with it after all of the work you put in to it. I'm curious to see what it looked like just before you applied the coats with the tint.
Thanks Brent! Say no more:

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Note this is a phone picture so the quality isn't great, but this is a pretty accurate representation of the color of the floor. Kind of a "battleship gray" look. There is more gloss in this picture than the end result because it's still wet, but otherwise this is pretty close. You'll notice a lot of roller marks in the one if you look hard enough too. Anyway, I wasn't a huge fan of the untinted color, so I decided darker was the way to go. To better compare, here's another phone picture from two days later after the first tinted coat went down. Again, more glossy.

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Not a massive difference by any means, but I'm much happier with the darker look.

We finally opened up the shop yesterday and got it aired out. Still stinks like solvent in there, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. Probably will take a while for that to dissipate fully.
 

Robey5

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Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
406
Location
North of Detroit, Mi
I have been very apprehensive about using a coating like that in Michigan, because salt is so gnarly to such a sealer/coating. Looking at the beautiful finish you have makes me wonder how well it would work with a couple daily drives that deal with salty winters in our garage. I have not used such a product nor researched it much — did you purchase it directly from Legacy’s website? Or a distributor? (Maybe I missed it a couple posts ago).
 
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wreckdiver1321

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Aug 12, 2021
Messages
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Location
Billings, MT
Newsprint and charcoal are two good things at absorbing smells.
I've considered wadding up a couple newspapers and setting them in there. I'll more than likely just deal with it by opening the doors as much as possible. I like working with the daylight anyway.

I have been very apprehensive about using a coating like that in Michigan, because salt is so gnarly to such a sealer/coating. Looking at the beautiful finish you have makes me wonder how well it would work with a couple daily drives that deal with salty winters in our garage. I have not used such a product nor researched it much — did you purchase it directly from Legacy’s website? Or a distributor? (Maybe I missed it a couple posts ago).
This stuff is unbelievably tough, based both on the info from Legacy and from the review from All Garage Floors. I'd imagine it would hold up pretty well. I don't think the salt would bother it at all. The only real thing you'd want to keep in mind is the abrasion from salt crystals, but I doubt the salt would be a problem. It washes off really easily with a hose and a squeegee. I'd give Scotty @LegacyIndustrial a call or send him a PM on here, he'd definitely have a conclusive answer for you.

Purchased direct from Legacy's website, and it's actually pretty damn affordable if you compare it to other options. They also sell a clear coat that has similar properties but gets you that glossy finish. Or they have a full kit that includes the tint pack, the coating, the clear, and even the application tools if you need them. They've got the option for doing color flakes like a traditional epoxy coating if you want to go that route too. It's pretty comprehensive.
 
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