Above 1200 Sq/FT Cars, motos, gas & oil and such

[motodavid2000]

got to be one of my favorite threads

you know i was originally going to get a ME degree from there but it wouldn't be what i would enjoy doing on a daily basis. from a money standpoint i can see where it would be a good idea but i would rather work on custom cars all day then at a desk designing the catalytic converters. its a shame there is no money in car repair unless you own the shop. money isn't everything but unfortunately in this country money = freedom. anyway sorry to rant great collection!

rartuin270 -

Thank you for the note & the compliment - sincerely appreciated. Happy that you enjoy the thread.

It is clearly very important to enjoy what you do, and to have a passion for your work. Just remember that at least you know what you enjoy doing. I have known many people that either 1) don't know what they want to do when they grow up, and/or 2) they make lots of money, but are truly unhappy with their chosen profession. There is no perfect solution, nor an exact answer. Take some solace in the fact that you enjoy what you do. That is an achievement in and of itself, and one that perhaps 50% of the population has not yet figured out.

You are correct - money isn't everything. There are many forms of wealth. To be honest, gaining monetary wealth is a little like motorcycling. The destination is not important, it is the journey that counts.

You note that "unfortunately in this country money = freedom". I have traveled a fair bit and it is the same everywhere, not just here - so take heart in that fact. I will also bet that you can ask some rich folks if they feel free, and they will tell you "no".

Interesting article on how much $$ is enough: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110009/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-be-satisfied

Enjoy what you do, have a passion for it, and as you have already correctly stated "money isn't everything". After all, it is called "compensation" for a reason.

Best regards - Dave

 

[rartuin270]

thanks for your input

 

[motodavid2000]

As one who is a Veteran, I appreciate your comments concerning Veterans. It was not always easy and at times it was down right hard but it was truly my honor to serve for 30 years. Your comment means more to Veterans than you will ever know.

Thank you!

Craftsman51 -

Your lengthy service to our country is sincerely appreciated. I am grateful to you and every veteran for your sacrifices (& the families of service personnel) to protect our country and allow us to enjoy the freedoms that exist here in the United States. Thank YOU, sir.

People may think it silly, but when I am travelling each time I see a service member in an airport I make every effort to stop, thank them for their service and shake their hand.

Dave

 

[oomz1975]

This garage is fantastic, I really like you style!

 

[master_jcp]

thanks for all the pics.... very nice garage with a very nice stable!

 

[Rlbol]

The Ford GT40 is just amazing!!
Someday!!

 

[Metal-Marc]

...

You are correct - money isn't everything. There are many forms of wealth. To be honest, gaining monetary wealth is a little like motorcycling. The destination is not important, it is the journey that counts.

...

Best regards - Dave

Great garage, thanks for sharing.

I think your outlook in life is awesome and inspiring.

 

[RUMBLON]

Great looking shop I cant share your love of the exotics, just not my cup of tea. I do appreciate what they can do, just not my thing. I do share your love of the petrolina, gas, it5ems. I have a decent size shop and am all MOPAR muscle cars, gas pumps, ect. So that said, I do like the Viper

My stuff is not near as clean, organized, ect and my front shop tends to get real dirty, especially isnide the paint booth.

RUMBLON

 

[motodavid2000]

My stuff is not near as clean, organized, ect and my front shop tends to get real dirty, especially isnide the paint booth.

RUMBLON

RUMBLON -

Thanks for the note. I have had several people IM me about the "clean shop (garage) vs. working shop" issue. I actually have another building that I call the equipment building on my 12 acre property, as well as an attached three car garage on my house for the daily drivers. I use the equipment building to store my fishing boat, dirt bike, snow blowers and zero-radius mower, small push mower and the riding mower, along with various yard maintenance implements.

When I have any "dirty" maintenance or repair work, I normally do it in the equipment building. I also have a decent amount of storage on the floor I built on top of the stringers of the roof trusses. Here are a few pictures during the foundation build and of the "finished" building.

Attached Three Car Garage - for the daily drivers

 

[phy6]

Excellent garage and personal character! Thanks for sharing the pictures and life advice with us!

Since you own everything outright (what a great way to live!), how much do you think you spend on maintenance and insurance in a month or year?

 

[motodavid2000]

Since you own everything outright (what a great way to live!), how much do you think you spend on maintenance and insurance in a month or year?

Somewhere around $6,300 every 6 months for insurance for 12 vehicles (cars & trucks), and an additional 11 motorcycles.

Maintenance is hard to say, as the Lambos are quite expensive to maintain - when required, but don't need alot actually. I change my own oil in most of my vehicles, but not the Lambos due to the inaccessibility of the filter cartridges without a special rolling platform to access the engine bay from above - which I do not own.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I actually have another building that I call the equipment building on my 12 acre property, as well as an attached three car garage on my house for the daily drivers.

Dammit, I hate you!

I would love to have your "dirty" shop. Looks awesome...

 

[Nighttrain]

RUMBLON -

Thanks for the note. I have had several people IM me about the "clean shop (garage) vs. working shop" issue. I actually have another building that I call the equipment building on my 12 acre property, as well as an attached three car garage on my house for the daily drivers. I use the equipment building to store my fishing boat, dirt bike, snow blowers and zero-radius mower, small push mower and the riding mower, along with various yard maintenance implements.

When I have any "dirty" maintenance or repair work, I normally do it in the equipment building. I also have a decent amount of storage on the floor I built on top of the stringers of the roof trusses. Here are a few pictures during the foundation build and of the "finished" building.

Attached Three Car Garage - for the daily drivers

This post just proved to us all that you are "HUMAN" I just knew you had to have a hidden garage full of mowers, wagons, Tupperware boxes and all the **** that we just all accumulate.

 

[motodavid2000]

This post just proved to us all that you are "HUMAN" I just knew you had to have a hidden garage full of mowers, wagons, Tupperware boxes and all the **** that we just all accumulate.

Nighttrain --- HA HA HA! That made me laugh out loud. Thank you for the "HUMAN" comment! Posting up my equipment building was never exactly on my priority list for the Garage Journal, but I have gotten a few comments about "dirty work" locations, so I decided to just put up a few photos of my equipment building.

Yes indeed I have my share of normal, run of the mill, everyday ****. My wife of 33 years is a farm girl (dairy farm) and she loves to mess around in the yard, pots, planters, flowers, etc. NO WAY was THAT stuff going in my main garage!

So I am lucky enough to have a different building in which to store all the normal stuff and not keep it with my sports cars, motos or collectibles. I also have another "shed" that I built on the property that also stores a few other goodies such as fertilizer spreader, yard wagon, rototiller, shovels, rakes, hoes, post hole digger, garden hoses, tires, etc. It is fairly full now also, but could perhaps hold one motorcycle or a riding mower in addition to its current load of stuff.

When I bought the 12 acre property I had the "grand plan" to have my dream house, build my dream garage, and at least one other building on the property to keep all of the other necessary ****.

I keep this stuff at different strategic locations on the property close to where it is normally used. If not, I would spend too much time simply transporting it. I really love the property and its configuration, but it is huge and quite a chore to maintain. Anyway, thank you again Nighttrain for the good laugh!

Have a great day my friend!

 

[motodavid2000]

Dammit, I hate you!
I would love to have your "dirty" shop. Looks awesome...

RbrtAWhyt -

Thanks for the compliment - and for the comment. I read your posts on other threads, and you & I see eye-to-eye on almost all topics. Thanks for posting!

Dave

 

[manansal]

Somewhere around $6,300 every 6 months for insurance for 12 vehicles (cars & trucks), and an additional 11 motorcycles.

Maintenance is hard to say, as the Lambos are quite expensive to maintain - when required, but don't need alot actually. I change my own oil in most of my vehicles, but not the Lambos due to the inaccessibility of the filter cartridges without a special rolling platform to access the engine bay from above - which I do not own.

the murcielago is actually an easy oil change. and they even put detailed instructions with photos in the owners manual.

don't know about the gallardo.


sweet garages and rides!

 

[motodavid2000]

the murcielago is actually an easy oil change. and they even put detailed instructions with photos in the owners manual.

don't know about the gallardo.


sweet garages and rides!

Thanks for the compliment on the garage and the vehicles. The Gallardo's spin-on filter sits in the valley between the cylinder banks and is maybe 3 feet from the edge of the rear bumper. I watched the Lambo service department remove the filter and they used a really interesting rolling platform that you can lie prone and reach anywhere in the engine bay without ever touching a body surface.

The Murcielago on the other hand is somewhat easier to reach the filter canister, but not that much easier. You have to lift the car to get to the two pan plugs and I cannot get the Murcielago between the uprights on my 4 post lift. Jacking the car using a floor jack just doesn't seem quite right with carbon fiber body panels, so I have the dealer do both the Gallardo and the Murcielago when it is time for filter and engine oil changes.

Dave

 

[Corsario]

wow! your garage is gorgeous! Tell me how it feels to drive the GT compared to the other cars? Can you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of each one?
Keep the good work and take care!

Corsario from Argentina!

 

[kkrproducts]

Hey David,

As a young guy (19) and small business owner, I really enjoy seeing garages like this. It's things like these that prove that with hard work and playing your cards right, anything is possible! Loving your taste in cars and bikes, they all look very well maintained and I'm glad to see that

Best wishes,
Kyle

 

[motodavid2000]

wow! your garage is gorgeous! Tell me how it feels to drive the GT compared to the other cars? Can you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of each one?
Keep the good work and take care!

Corsario from Argentina!

Corsario -

Hola desde los estados! I get asked this question frequently. I love all of the cars, and each is different.

1) The Lambos are all-wheel-drive. This makes these cars corner well and I don't worry about the rearend stepping out in a corner on a country road with a guardrail close to the edge.

2) The Lambo motors make most of their power higher in the rev range and don't have big torque numbers down low. Once the Lambos "come-on-the-cam", they really pull very hard and especially the Murcielago - it is a monster once you get the engine in the sweet spot of the rev range.

3) Both the Gallardo and the Murcielago are 6 speed manuals. I did not like the e-gear transmissions when I drove them. Old school I guess and the metal shift gates in both cars "clack" as you go through the pattern - again old school and "exotic".

4) The Ford GT is a crank-driven supercharged (blown) motor and makes loads of power down low and just keeps pulling thru the entire rev range. American-made muscle for sure. The GT has the best transmission I have ever personally driven. Maybe there are better transmissions out there, but I can't imagine anything much better. The throws are very short, 100% positive and the trans is super smooth. Just a fantastic gearbox. The GT is a rear-wheel drive car and the rear is easily overpowered by the engine and wants to step out (easily) in corners if treated without its due respect. Handling is fantastic however and feels more surgically precise in the corners than either of the Lambos.

5) Both Viper GTS feel a little "old" from a technology perspective when driven against the Lambos or the Ford GT. However, the engines are great motors and the 1997 has the stock cam and therefore has a very distinctive lumpy idle. I love the look of the original GTS Viper coupes and that is why I have one with stripes and one without. The 1997 was my first "super car" purchased new. They are both artwork on whels in my opinion and run very strong. I have dynoed the 1997 solid red GTS and it returned 425hp at the rear wheels. I have also had the 1997 GTS on the LVMS infield course and oval - lots of fun on a track. If you disrespect a GTS it will bite you in the *** - lay into the accelerator with the front wheels off-center.......you'll get the idea pretty quickly!

6) Motorcycles - the Ducati Desmosedici is a 200hp missile -- acceleration and handling without description. This motorcycle will make you soil your pants almost instantly.

Hey David,

As a young guy (19) and small business owner, I really enjoy seeing garages like this. It's things like these that prove that with hard work and playing your cards right, anything is possible! Loving your taste in cars and bikes, they all look very well maintained and I'm glad to see that
Best wishes,
Kyle

Kyle -

Thanks for the compliment. America is the land of opportunity and not of entitlement. Find a true need and fill it, find a real problem and solve it, do it better than anyone else for a reasonable price, focus on making your customer fully satified and treated with respect & high regard, treat your people as highly valued PEOPLE, not tools for your business, do this consistently day in and day out for years and you will achieve financial success. Not easy nor fun sometimes. However, I'd rather have a demanding client or a difficult customer than a boss any day.

Good luck - Dave

 

[Corsario]

Thank you for the prompt reply! I saw a hundred times in the History channel the fight between Ferrari and Ford that ended with the wining of 24 hs of Le Mans race by the Ford GT 40 in 1966. I like all race cars, but the GT 40 is my favourite.
After that, when Ford decided to design a new GT, I was expecting news until I found a magazine with a review of the GT 40 drive test.
It's amazing that technology can shorten distances and give me the opportunity to ask someone who owns a GT.
Here in Argentina we had a guy that made gt 40 replicas, not the new GT, the old one. He also made replicas of the Shelby Cobra with new v8 motors imported from USA. Unfortunately the national government modified the regulations to register hand-fabricated cars, and he had to close his business.
I am posting some pics of his work.
Take care!

 

[motodavid2000]

Thanks for posting the pics - looks like a very nice replica.

Here are a few of the "new" Ford GT:

 

[Leeroy254]

Very nice setup.

 

[Zarcero]

Gosh and all I want is a new pick-up truck. I must redo some goal setting

 

[loudrango]

motodavid....simply amazing.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Not sure whether I missed it or not.

Any threads/pics of the garage build.
That interests me more than the shiney cars ..

 

[motodavid2000]

Not sure whether I missed it or not.

Any threads/pics of the garage build.
That interests me more than the shiney cars ..

I don't have many photos of the initial construction, but I will post the few that I have. I did some of the work myself, like installation of reinforcing steel in portions of the pad sorrounding the structure and some of the design work.

We had to move 2000 tons of fill and stone to backfill the foundation and get parts of the area to grade. Many, many truckloads.

Not many photos, but here are the few that I have:

Delivery of Custom Designed Full-Span Trusses

 

[twokidsnosleep]

This is my favorite garage I have seen on here so far, something to aspire towards.
Love the selection/mixture of supercars and bikes The collection of globes is amazing as well as the oil cans and paraphernalia....really cool.
Congrats on your business success and taste

 

[motodavid2000]

This is my favorite garage I have seen on here so far, something to aspire towards. Love the selection/mixture of supercars and bikes The collection of globes is amazing as well as the oil cans and paraphernalia....really cool. Congrats on your business success and taste

Wow - thank you for the very kind compliments on my garage !! Most sincerely appreciated. You certainly live in a magnificent province. In 2009 I rode my motorcycle through BC on my way to the Yukon Territory, Alaska and eventually the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay.

British Columbia is simply non-stop magnificent scenery all the way up through Stewart and Dease Lake, all the way to Watson Lake, YT where I rode the Cambell across the YT. Anyway, I met only friendly, helpful, pleasant Canadians through my entire trip through AB, BC and YT. Wonderful people. Thanks again.

Dave

 

[aqr81]

Dave, the story you shared of growing up with your parents and the values your Mom and Dad instilled in you reminded me a great deal of my parents. They also grew up during the depression; my Dad was also in WWII – very similar. I’m guessing we are close in age and have each had the benefit of gaining a solid foundation and value system from our parents and built upon that from our life experiences. We have both been blessed in different ways. Sorry for rambling off topic; I just wanted to say that we have that in common…although that may be about all.

Your garage show room and collection is simply unbelievable. I appreciate so much you taking the time to share the pictures, your time recording your thoughts and words of advice and sharing things you’ve learned. I also appreciate the little nuggets of wisdom you have shared as well. The only thing that could make it better would be to actually stand there and see it in person and just soak it all in. Thanks again Dave I appreciate the glimpse into your world and I look forward to continued postings from you.

Larry

 

[firstgenCamaro]

Awesome garage! I think I will go out and burn down my dump of a garage now

 

[twokidsnosleep]

Wow - thank you for the very kind compliments on my garage !! Most sincerely appreciated. You certainly live in a magnificent province. In 2009 I rode my motorcycle through BC on my way to the Yukon Territory, Alaska and eventually the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay.

British Columbia is simply non-stop magnificent scenery all the way up through Stewart and Dease Lake, all the way to Watson Lake, YT where I rode the Cambell across the YT. Anyway, I met only friendly, helpful, pleasant Canadians through my entire trip through AB, BC and YT. Wonderful people. Thanks again.

Dave

Dave, I am pleased you have had good experiences in BC. Coolest thing I did was riding shotgun in a Grumman Goose float plane into Ocean Falls BC. Unreal county up there, mostly untouched. You have probably seen more of it than I have. I was in school so long and now responsible for my office and family. I do appreciate the insight into your business achievements. It takes time to reach one's goals, but we all want to get there NOW. I am sure your collections have taken years to accumulate. As they say the journey is the fun part.

 

[Glen's Garage]

Dave,
Wow, what a great garage. I love the bar set-up and your petrolina collection. In your pics, I saw one Fleetwing globe. Do you have others? I used to collect Fleetwing memorablia. Do you know Scott Benjamin? I sold him three rare NOS Fleetwing globes many years ago. He is the gas globe guru. You have a great work ethic and an inspiration to all.

Thanks for sharing,

Glen

 

[CindyMeitle]

Wow! I represent the Lamborghini Club America, Garage Style Magazine, about 12 other car-centric websites, club newsletters and magazines and several events held throughout the year so I'm appreciating what you have on SO MANY different levels. Just INCREDIBLE! Everything is well thought out, nicely positioned and it all blends.

 

[ZRX61]

Maybe a daft question, but with 12 acres of land, why isn't the garage at least 100ft deep?

 

[motodavid2000]

Maybe a daft question, but with 12 acres of land, why isn't the garage at least 100ft deep?

Great question --

First, land elevation changes (I added somewhere around 2,000 tons of fill to bring the areas surrounding portions of the structure to grade), nearby ravines with flowing water and lengthy negotiations with the Zoning Board yielded the best outcome possible for the size and positioning of the structure.

Second, in my opinion the design, layout and exterior finish of the structure needed to add value to the property and complement the main house, which is a substantial structure in itself of around 11,500 square feet.

Happy Holidays to all - Dave

 

[illmatyk]

Man, that is an awesome looking garage! I'm digging the Lambo as well!

 

[Nighttrain]

Dave,

I am still up for adoption!

Merry Christmas

 

[motodavid2000]

Dave,

I am still up for adoption!

Merry Christmas

Nighttrain -

Hello my friend - great to hear from you ! Hope that all is well with you & your family. Are you ready for Christmas?

We are new grandparents this year (yikes ) and I am still trying to get my head around that new title !! I don't FEEL like a grandfather, but I sure as hell LOOK like one. Father time waits for no one.

Just back from visiting the new grandbaby and wishing her a wonderful first Christmas. ......Santa (grandma) was a major supplier of presents this year !!

Merry Christmas to you !

 

[3bay]

Awesome space and the cars ain't bad either!