The Derelict Garage rides again!!!

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

Well, its been more than six months since I finished straightening up the old garage. For anybody who missed the first thread, here's what I started with

And here is what I wound up with

If you missed the original thread, here it is:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74942

Shortly after I finished that stage of the garage, things started changing for us. My financial situation started going sideways with the housing market staying so stagnant - real estate appraisal just ain't what it once was. So, most of my garage plans had to get put on hold indefinitely.

All this backstory is another way of saying I haven't really done much else...yet. But what I have done is kept myself busy with projects that I happened to stumble upon, or already had material for, or had stupid low budgets. And for now, that's what I would like to share with you.

tatra · Jun 26, 2011

good on ya fergus.............

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

After a few months of trying to cope with rearranging junk in milk crates and the one toolbox I had, I'd gotten pretty fed up with the situation. Luckily a friend told me they were tearing down a lab at work, and they had some metal cabinets I could take for free. I went down to just take a look and wound up with a truck load full of cabinets

There was six or seven of them...they're all metal and very well built...very heavy...and fairly short. I belive they were right about 30" tall, so I promptly built some risers for them:

Killed two birds with one stone: Increased their height and provided a space for more drawers. Never got around to the drawers... need to buy some slides and hardwood plywood to build drawers.

Anyway, slapped on some old solid core doors I got from the Habitat Restore

Bam! Fourteen feet of workbench for about $30 total.

cobraace · Jun 26, 2011

That is how i did a 2bd rental fantastic.

tinbender 66 · Jun 26, 2011

You've come a long way from what you started with! I can't spend money as fast as I'd like to, so I also "invent" things to do, look for cheap or free stuff on CL or just clean the place up. Those cabinets are a big score. I keep looking for some but I can't seem to be the first one to jump on 'em. You should have gotten a "you ****" for those so I'll be first, "YOU ****". Keep the faith man, it'll get done.

jktruck150 · Jun 26, 2011

Man, Those cabinets are cool! Are you going to keep them that color or paint them? Did you ever put on a garage door? I guess I missed your first thread.

ManxRacer · Jun 26, 2011

Is that some homebrew equipment I see on the left? All-grain perhaps? Man of my own heart...

:beer2:

JC23 · Jun 26, 2011

This doesn't surprise me. You used yer head on getting that Leaning Tower of wood back into a decent garage so we' kinda expect you to keep on diggin'! Nice snag and great work!

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

jktruck150 said:
Man, Those cabinets are cool! Are you going to keep them that color or paint them? Did you ever put on a garage door? I guess I missed your first thread.

Yeah...I think I'll paint them. Haven't decided on a color yet. Kinda like the blue though. We'll see. No garage door...yet. I still haven't decided whether I'll build my own or get a sectional door. Who knows. Whatever falls into my lap. it is a priority though.

ManxRacer said:
Is that some homebrew equipment I see on the left? All-grain perhaps? Man of my own heart...

Ah yes my friend. One of my many diversions.

JC23 said:
This doesn't surprise me. You used yer head on getting that Leaning Tower of wood back into a decent garage so we' kinda expect you to keep on diggin'! Nice snag and great work!

Thanks man! Good to hear from ya and thanks for stopping by.

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

jktruck150 said:
I guess I missed your first thread.

Here you go:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74942

99LeCouch · Jun 26, 2011

Just finished reading through the first thread. Nice work! That's using you head instead of using your wallet!

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

Yeah, well I guess this whole thing has turned me a little Scotch after all.

Now instead of thinking "How can I go buy that" I think "How can I find stuff to make it for free?"

jhn9840 · Jun 26, 2011

Was subscribed to your original thread. Your garage has really taken shape looks great. Keep us posted on your progress.

jhn9840
John

fergus · Jun 26, 2011

Well it wasn't too long after I got my cabinets situated that I decided I wasn't really happy with it. I had my radial arm saw on a rickety rolling stand sitting tin the corner of the garage and was ready to build a new stand for it too, wanting it taller to match the height of the bench.

I got out the tape measure and the saw base and one of the cabinets were the exact same width!

While I was at it, I wanted to put my roll away tool chest somewhere else. By moving two cabinets around, I made just enough room for it to slide under the bench top:

So that now means I have a seventeen foot work bench!

I'm well pleased with what I've got so far. Especially when I consider what I've got into it. Not too sure I like the top box sitting on top of the bench. I'm planning on doing some woodworking in the future and it will cut down on my ripping capability on the saw. Oh well. We'll see how that plays out later.

DoyleDee · Jun 26, 2011

progress is progress.....as little as it may be! Nice score on the cabinets!!!! I love free...I'll be a hoarder sometimes with free.

Amitygravel · Jun 26, 2011

Awesome score on the metal cabinets! The workbench layout is great too.

Maybe you should just start up your own brewery ,I don't think you would have any trouble getting anyone for doing quality testing. You would probably have to lock us out to keep us from over doing "quality control".

Great job of making do with what you can come up with ! Looks good.

dave67fd · Jun 26, 2011

Cheap and quick way to make a great bench. Love the cabinets also. Keep them blue as long as their in good shape. If your not a Ford guy, maybe it's a good reason to become one. lol

Red Leader · Jun 27, 2011

fergus said:
Well it wasn't too long after I got my cabinets situated that I decided I wasn't really happy with it. I had my radial arm saw on a rickety rolling stand sitting tin the corner of the garage and was ready to build a new stand for it too, wanting it taller to match the height of the bench.

I got out the tape measure and the saw base and one of the cabinets were the exact same width!

I may be wrong (off the top of my head) but is that a little DeWalt 9" MBF? If so, nice saw! The DeWalts and Delta/Red Star have reputations of being some of the finest radial saws ever made.

fergus · Jun 27, 2011

Red Leader said:
I may be wrong (off the top of my head) but is that a little DeWalt 9" MBF? If so, nice saw! The DeWalts and Delta/Red Star have reputations of being some of the finest radial saws ever made.

How did I know you were gonna drop in and notice that?

Yep, its an MBF...serial number indicates its a 1959 model, if I remember correctly. I bought that during the first phase of the garage. Its a neat piece of equipment, but I almost gave up on it. Not until I did some research did I realize that the regular old construction blade on there was making the workpiece climb. I've got to order a blade with minimal/negtive hook angle to make it work correctly. And one of the best features? I paid $50 for it.

I'm attempting to start my little woodworking hobby with that, two routers, a sliding compound miter, a skil saw and some hand tools. We'll see.

fergus · Jul 27, 2011

Here's a workbench I threw together a few months back. It started out with a bench my uncle had given to me a few years back.

It was all right...was strong enough to hold up my top box, back when I only had that, and had spent a year outside under a tarp. While it wasn't entirely useful anymore, I couldn't see throwing it out, and I wanted another bench. I wanted a mobile bench that was heavy enough to really pound on and hold some heavy stuff, like my saws, welder, chains and anything else that was bulky and didn't fit in a lower wall cab.

I hatched a plan to rebuild it into something whilst spending no money at all and only using materials I had already laying around.

I stripped the outside top boards, pulled out some screws, added 2x4s and a 3/4 OSB top, trimmed the outside with the 2x6s I pulled from the top and braced the heck out of it.

Next up I added some casters I'd bought about a decade ago and never found the right project for...

Then I added a bottom shelf and braced again undernearth that

Lastly, I found a vise that had been laying around in storage for a couple years... actually thought I had lost it or given it away or somethign...

You'll notice something else in that last pic....the bench is very nearly the height of my bench along the wall. Thats on purpose. I wanted something I could use as an outfeed table next to the saw and/or as like a giant saw horse using the wall bench as one side and the rolling bench as another. It's a little shy of the bench height...I planned it that way since my floor is uneven. I'll add some lag bolts to the bottom of the frame of the work bench so I can level it out eventually.

I didn't quite make the free budget...spent ten bucks on some lags and the bolts for the vise! I only used the one sheet of OSB I had laying around and I believe five 2x4-8s that were left over from the garage rebuild. All in all, I'm pleased. Its solid...there is no "bounce" to the top at all. I can jump on it with my 200+ pounds and there is no give. Got a solid place to mount a vise (though the bench will move when I really crank on something locked in the vise. A place for my big bulky stuff and auxillary bench. Last of all, the price was right...

b4wscrambler · Jul 27, 2011

I like what you have done with the place. :thumbup:

fergus · Jul 28, 2011

These days I'm mostly working in the garage. I had a few months were I was just doing little things and enjoying having a functional space after I got the cabinets in and the other bench built. Finally got the old GPW up on stands and pulled the ******. Its gonna get second gear/ synchros fixed...its only been jumping out of gear for fifty years or so.

Here's the story behind this jeep that I posted on another forum last year:

by fergus » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:34 pm
Hey guys,

I've been on this board for a while, but never posted before. I started lurking about a year and a half ago when I got a GPW. This jeep actually belonged to my grandfather. Its been in my family for about 50 years as best as I can figure. My mother learned to drive behind its wheel when she was about 8 years old! Its kinda funny how I actually I got around to taking possession of this thing...

Grandpa died back in 1999. About a year later, I visited his property up in Trinity County where the jeep had been kept for the last 30 years to do some clean up work. I slid behind the wheel and played with the controls to find the gas pedal was stuck to the floor. A quick look determined that the carburetor was actually stuck, not the pedal. No prob I thought... I pulled the carb and took it home with the aim to rebuild it and take it back up there some time.

Fast forward five years...Grandma tells me that she just gave grandpa's old jeep away! She told me she gave it to her church...so that it could be featured in their annual July 4th program...its a pretty patriotic church, apparently. I was less than thrilled, to say the least.

Two years after that, I'm moving for the third time and cleaning out the garage when I come across the carburetor I had removed years earlier. As I examine it, nostalgia quickly turns to disgust as I'm still sour about the whole deal... I mean, really, who gives Grandpa's jeep to the church? Please. I tossed it into the trash along with all the other junk I have decided to leave behind.

In the summer of 2009, I'm down in Los Angeles visiting my family when Grandma sits down next to me. She says "I wanna talk to about something". Great, I thought, here it comes (what, who knows, but it can't be good). "Would you like to have Grandpa's jeep?" "What? I thought you gave it to the church?" I asked. "Well, they never did nothing with it. It's still sitting out there in a storage lot...they're just letting it rust. I think they tried to get it running, but they never could find a carburetor for it". "If I give it to you, I know you'll get it running again." I tried not to grin too big....

fergus · Jul 28, 2011

Another, slightly better pic of the jeep

After rebuilding the carb I bought off ebay last year, this thing really runs great! I mean, great considering its almost 70 years old and made 50 horsepower brand new. It had been parked in my grandpas barn at their vacation home for the last 35 years. It had been driven a couple times a year. I'm gonna say that it probably only had 2000 miles put on it during that time. There's a motor pool rebuild tag on it indicating the pistons are .040 over...and its in French, so it was probably in the European theatre at the time of rebuild.

Its mostly there, but still needs a lot of attention. It will be driveable after the ****** rebuild and getting a new water pump...so that will be a fun little summer 'round town car! Eventually, I'll restore it

Omphaloskeptic · Jul 29, 2011

Grandpa 's smiling!

tinbender 66 · Jul 29, 2011

Great story. I love those flat fenders!

jhn9840 · Jul 29, 2011

Nice garage. One of the best on this site I think. Great little project to go with it. Keep us posted on the restoration when you get to it.

jhn9840
John

fergus · Jul 29, 2011

Well that's a nice sentiment John. I don't know that I agree with you...I can think of about a dozen better builds on here than mine right of the top of my head, but thanks none the less.

Cage · Jul 30, 2011

I was just thinking about your garage the other day and wondering how it was going. Turned out good and looks safe again. I got mine done too but have been way too busy to post the pictures. Congrats ! :beer:

Topcat · Jul 30, 2011

Fergus, I don't reckon theres anything better that a recycled garage....Nice work mate!!!

cruzer75 · Jul 31, 2011

Great job all around!

I have a garage with some issues that will be working on this fall. Walls are bowed out and the roof is sagging big time.

Your original thread and this one have very much inspired me to take care of this thing soon!

JC23 · Oct 31, 2011

OK, you've had some time since yer last post. What's going on up yer way, dude?

Amitygravel · Oct 31, 2011

Yeah really.

Has that home brew started flowing yet ?

tinbender 66 · Oct 31, 2011

X3, c'mon.

fergus · Nov 1, 2011

Ya know... I was just thinkin how I needed to get back to this...Got some more low-budget/no-budget stuff coming your way shortly. Keep yer ears on!

ZRX61 · Nov 1, 2011

Just noticed you have the same lower MAC box as me

Mine needed resto & ended up powder coated & getting used in the kitchen as I'm out of room in the garage for more toolboxes.

fergus · Nov 1, 2011

Wow ZRX, that looks nice! I have considered selling both boxes and going (gasp) with a Harbor Freight bottom box. I'm just not impressed with the drawer action. Of course, a few of the slides are tweaked, but the top box is perfect, and all the slides still ****. Oh well.

ZRX61 · Nov 1, 2011

I'm using mine for kitchen utensils & herbs/spices etc

dodgepolara500 · Nov 1, 2011

what a great family heirloom in that Jeep! I love that it was rebuilt in France with that tag. Getting that going would be great!

fergus · Dec 10, 2011

Well...

I kept thinking I was going to get some more stuff done sooner, but life has gotten in the way. Very little free time these days...career change, some travel, and well, a teenager in the house (see: http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119665 ). In addtion, I've gotten back into making biodiesel again. More on that later, but it has also taken some time.

So anyway, I've got my hands on a few free hangin cabinets and some other big file cabinets...total cost $0.

You can also see my awesome lighting system in the first pic! I was a little short on light over the bench, so that was my temporary fix. I kinda like the nice soft light. I'll figure something out sooner or later.

Lately, I've been working IN the garage more than ON the garage. Wrenching on my outboard, bicycles here and there, got the old rototiller ready for the winter garden, etc. The latest victim: one of the regulars in my shop is my '02 VW Beetle TDi.

This week, it got new front wheel bearings (they where growlin pretty bad - at 70 mph it sounded like a jet at take-off), replaced a torn CV boot, replaced a cracked brake booster vacuum tube, fixed a leak in the vacuum pump and greased the front end. Not the most manly car on the planet, but when you need to drive some miles, 45 mpg at 80 mph aint bad you know? At 171k miles, it drives almost as good as new. Just changed the original brakes as well! Next year it'll get another timing belt, new motor mounts, suspension busings (again) and a few other things.

JC23 · Dec 10, 2011

That sounds like a higher than normal consumption for a Bug. Is it?

The Derelict Garage rides again!!!

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