New Old Stock Garage

jackylcrackyl · Dec 14, 2011

I've been in this garage for the better part of seven years. I guess I'm gettin' the itch for a change. It's a standard suburban 3-car garage approximately 22x30. When I moved in there was a heavy duty work bench in the back corner of the 3rd stall, some open overhead storage and a single 15A circuit that supplied power for the entire garage--there's a couple lights from inside the house on the circuit too. Needless to say if I used a saw, the lights would dim.

Well, over the years I added a couple 4x8 sheets of pegboard, put in some other inexpensive shelving and installed a 60A box so I could eventually get the power properly laid out. The peg board is full, my shelving is full, I've accumulated more tools than I have room for as I've worked on the house, my motorcycles, and the truck over the seven years.

In the quest for storage ideas I stumbled on the Garage Journal--Heaven! I've been lurking a bit and am now fully motivated, or is it inspired, to make my work space more useable for working on my bikes, while still being able to hold two sedans in the winter.

Here are a few pictures of the current state of things.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 14, 2011

First order of business has been to work on getting heat in the garage. I want the Windchill to be outside, not inside. I got a decent deal (~$400 after discounts) on a new 75K BTU natural gas heater at a local fleet & farm store a couple weekends ago. Managed to get it mounted, an electrical circuit run with a shutoff switch at the heater, and the thing vented through the roof. Let me tell ya, that's no fun when it's below freezing. Only thing left is the gas line. I'm leaving that to a professional. The install is scheduled for this Friday.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 14, 2011

The garage is New Old Stock because I have a tendency to purchase older stuff. There's four bikes in the garage in the summer and the newest is a '90. The truck in the driveway is an '89.

1968 Yamaha 180 YCS1C - first bike
1986 Honda XR80R - the boy's
1990 Honda XR250r - mine
1989 Yamaha FJ1200 - the torque monster

machine_punk · Dec 14, 2011

definitely looking forward to seeing where you go with this!

Do you have any plans yet on how you are going to increase your storage? Do you tend to build with wood or metal?

I've grabbed my popcorn and soda...I'm going to watch this one...

jackylcrackyl · Dec 14, 2011

machine_punk said:
Do you have any plans yet on how you are going to increase your storage? Do you tend to build with wood or metal?

I got my hands on four 6' Steelcase cabinets. Not quite "12-gauge", but sturdy and appropriately priced--free. I got a 38" tall Steelcase a few weeks ago that is in the pictures. It holds a lot of my power and air tools, so I'm optimistic about these 6 footers.

I'll also be putting is some soffit-type storage with sliding doors. So many others on GJ have successfully executed this, that it seems like a must do. This is especially true since I need the space for non workshop storage (camping gear, christmas lights, coolers, blah, blah, blah).

jackylcrackyl · Dec 14, 2011

The cold front is on it's way, so I'm glad the gas line for the heater is going to be installed on Friday morning. I need to work on getting insulation in the ceiling and walls soon after that, otherwise the gas bill will be through the roof.

In the meantime, I got one of the Steelcase 6' cabinets in place next to the house entrance. I used the opportunity to throw a bunch of **** away that accumulated on the makeshift shelves that were there and on top of the Pepsi machine. After reading other threads, I'm suddenly motivated to throw things out.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 15, 2011

The Main Motivation

I really want to get moving on insulating, rewiring, and finishing the walls. My goal is to have enough time in the garage this winter to finish renovation of the old '68 Yamaha 180 YCS1C.

It was my Dad's first bike. He sold it in the early '70s and I bought it back from the guy in the early '80s as my first bike. After a lot of thought, I've decided not to simply bring it back to stock, but to create a cleaner and lighter tracker/scrambler. I'm definitely influenced by the cafe bikes and plan to use the bike as a way to develop skills for future builds. The project is on hold until I can get the garage in a state where it can be used during the winter. Bought a welder a while back and haven't spent the time to learn to use it. The time is NOW!

Nighttrain · Dec 15, 2011

Cool bikes. I am also on hold on some projects trying to get my shop finished. I have a couple of bike I want to build also. I saw the same heater you have on another post today, I think you will like it, it has very good reviews.

Red Leader · Dec 15, 2011

Nice bikes. I am a vintage Husky guy myself, but I'd have nowhere to put a bike in my space. The W650 seems to take up enough room.

Any thoughts on color once you are done with the walls? Gonna go with a theme at all?

I need to hurry the heck up and get a gas line going out in the garage myself. It will happen! Within a week! (hopeful...)

jackylcrackyl · Dec 15, 2011

Red Leader said:
Any thoughts on color once you are done with the walls? Gonna go with a theme at all?

I am always drawn to more vintage shop colors like green and gray. Suppose you like that.

Always like blue, but not sure I can find a shade that is garage appropriate.

As far as a theme goes, I'm a fan of simplicity. I also like the old 30's and 40's gas stations, but am not into too much of the "accessories" like a ton of signs or gas pumps or stuff like that. A little clever signage is cool, but the main purpose of the garage is build and fix stuff. The soda machine is likely the biggest prop, but it's really a replacement for a beer fridge. Got a sweet deal on it about 10 years ago for only $100. What guy would pass that up?

jackylcrackyl · Dec 15, 2011

Spent a couple hours tonight taking all of the stuff down from the overhead shelving and moving the big wooden box of sports equipment from up against the shared wall with the house in preparation for the gas line run tomorrow morning. Had to do some cleaning in the unfinished area of the basement where the line will run down there. Again, I took the opportunity to throw a bunch of grunge out that wasn't ever going to get used realistically.

Man, I can't wait to have heat in the garage!

I think I'm going to put OSB on the ceiling (provided code in my city will allow it) and drywall on the walls. Still contemplating putting some OSB under the drywall on two of the walls. I probably should, otherwise 10 years from now when I'm trying to hang something new on the wall, I'll wonder why I was such an idiot and tried to save a few dollars.

machine_punk · Dec 16, 2011

After fussing with studs, measuring, stud finders, and a few 'errant' holes over the past couple of days, I AGREE...put the OSB on the walls (and find a way to mark it that way for the next guy...so he won't be frustrated too.

Jack Olsen · Dec 16, 2011

Cool bikes! And your pictures already show an impressive transformation underway on the shop. Heat out there means getting back months that you'd otherwise lose. I'm biased, but I think you've got a solid plan in place.

Subscribed.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 16, 2011

Let There Be Warmth

Got the gas line for the heater installed this morning as planned. The pro made short work of running the line across the basement, through the sill, up to the garage rafters inside the wall (I'll have some drywall patching to do), over to the heater on the opposite end of the garage, then connected everything up. Had to tap into the high pressure side of the line due to the distance, so an additional regulator was needed at the heater.

The heater works great! I still need to get a thermostat on it, so it is jumpered right now and I just turn it off and on at the breaker for the circuit. That's on the list of this weekend. It' also very apparent that I'm going to need to get the ceiling insulated and covered to get any real effective heating. This 75K BTU heater is powerful, but with 10ft ceilings and a very tall peak, I'm doing a great job of heating the rafters. Hey, it's really warm if I climb up on the ladder.

Boring, but below is a before gas and after gas shot of the heater from the floor point of view.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 17, 2011

Let Me Shine Some Light on This

Came across a smokin' deal on CL today for some 24"x48" 4-bulb T8 Flourescent lights. The post said there were 16 of them at $10 each. I called to confirm they still had them, then made a beeline across town with the truck after work. I get there and see that there are 12 complete with box, ballast, bulbs, and diffusers. The other 4 are 24"x24" with 2 U-shaped T8 bulbs. Plus there were 2 additional boxes that were missing various parts, but will be able to be used to make one good one. Picked it all up for $140. A guy from work wants to buy four of the 24"x48" ones for $10 each, so I'm only in it for $100 in the end. Man I love CL--at least today, anyways.

Spent some time staring at the ceiling, measuring, figuring, and planning. I'm going to put in 9 of the 48" lights, and all 4 of the 24" lights. This will get me in the 120 - 140 footcandle range. Read--really damn bright! I'm planning on two circuits to give some options. I may even have 2 - 3 incandescent fixtures for instant on light when I just need to run to the toolbox quick for a screwdriver or something.

Red Leader · Dec 17, 2011

Re: Let There Be Warmth

jackylcrackyl said:
Got the gas line for the heater installed this morning as planned. The pro made short work of running the line across the basement, through the sill, up to the garage rafters inside the wall (I'll have some drywall patching to do), over to the heater on the opposite end of the garage, then connected everything up. Had to tap into the high pressure side of the line due to the distance, so an additional regulator was needed at the heater.

The heater works great! I still need to get a thermostat on it, so it is jumpered right now and I just turn it off and on at the breaker for the circuit. That's on the list of this weekend. It' also very apparent that I'm going to need to get the ceiling insulated and covered to get any real effective heating. This 75K BTU heater is powerful, but with 10ft ceilings and a very tall peak, I'm doing a great job of heating the rafters. Hey, it's really warm if I climb up on the ladder.

Boring, but below is a before gas and after gas shot of the heater from the floor point of view.

Excellent! I'm hoping to do something similar soon. And yes, a vintage color (green/blue/etc) will look awesome. :thumbup:

jackylcrackyl · Dec 18, 2011

Made a trip to the home store this morning and picked up the stuff I didn't already have laying around for wiring the lights. Also got a thermostat and enough R-38 to insulate the ceiling. Spent about six hours in the garage this afternoon cleaning out all the **** I had sitting up in the rafters, wiring up the boxes for the 13 lights going into the ceiling, and moving stuff around on the floor so I could get a ladder under the boxes. Actually, I made my son move all the stuff on the floor around. He's 10, so it's good work for him. Lot's of up and down on the ladder.

Hope to finishe a couple small things left with the wiring, get the thermostat installed for the heater, and put a huge dent on the insulation tomorrow. May be a bit ambitious, as things always seem to take longer than I would expect.

machine_punk · Dec 18, 2011

I'll bet you are excited to have a warm garage (soon), which will add months to your shop time each year.

Have you considered some sort of ceiling fan, to get all that heat back down to the floor?

Hotrod1959 · Dec 18, 2011

I am all about reusing-re-purposing anything. Nice you picked up those lights. My family is originally from MN. By the way cool bikes.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 18, 2011

machine_punk said:
I'll bet you are excited to have a warm garage (soon), which will add months to your shop time each year.

Have you considered some sort of ceiling fan, to get all that heat back down to the floor?

I had thought about it before. However, I think the fan on the heater does a pretty good job of creating circulation. I may add some type of larger shop fan or something like that in the future. I always like the old fans from the 30s and 40s. It might be cool to find one of those.

jackylcrackyl · Dec 18, 2011

I managed to get most of what I planned on doing today. Finished wiring for lights, installed thermostat, and got about 25% of the insulation up in the ceiling. The wiring always takes longer than I think it will. Had to create 13 whips for the light boxes and install before I could start putting up insulation. Can't complain about consistent progress, though.

It sure is easy to dedicate an afternoon in the garage on a Sunday during football season when your team *****.

jackylcrackyl · Apr 10, 2012

It's been almost four months since I posted. After Christmas I completely got side tracked with stuff (vacation, kidney stones, back problems, family stuff) and have only been able to work on the garage part of a day, once per weekend.

Of course, now that spring is here, the garage will compete with other projects like fork seals and springs and a clutch slave rebuild for the FJ1200. Heck, I even have the lawn mower in there tonight to replace the blades.

I managed to get the ceiling insulated, wired for lighting, covered in OSB (except by the heater, which involves taking it down), the lights installed (except two that will be near the heater), and some soffit storage above the garage door.

The soffit storage is key, as I need to get **** up off the floor so that I can start getting the walls wired for outlets, insulated, covered and finished. I'm going to put another couple sections up above the Pepsi machine and cabinet on either side of the door into the house.

I also need to get rid a some lumber, or at least build a storage hanger for it in my shed. Keeping it around is pretty handy, but man does it accumulate and get junky. I just need to remember that the construction grade stuff is cheap and unless it's a full length, or nearly, it's not worth keeping around.

Here's some progress:

New Old Stock Garage

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