2 Car Garage Upgrade

[OJ Bartley]

Last October - I went on a 10 day trip to Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic.

We went to the town of Nurburg - and rented a race car and I drove 3 laps around the Nurburgring.

Wow, that's awesome. I mean, nice garage and everything, but driving the 'Ring is something truly special, and something I hope to do one day as well. Any details on that experience? Did you get as hopelessly lost on the 2nd half of the track as I do when I play in racing sims? Seems like it would be a VERY intimidating drive, but incredible fun.

 

[OrneryDuck]

Pretty awesome work so far. I really like the Liftmaster and am surprised by how 'cheap' it was from Amazon. I have the same cheap Craftsman units you had. Should they ever experience a failure, I'll be going the same route.

Nice cars too!

My former 08 G8 GT. (Loved this car, just needed a manual gearbox to be perfect)

 

[bonecrrusher]

OJ - the 'Ring was a 30th bday gift to myself. It truly was a blast.

It was an hour and a half drive from Frankfurt - the Autobahn is basically like our interstate system here in the states.

I booked everything online - and had no problem with anyone not being able to speak English. I used Tripadvisor to find reviews for the hotel, track rental company, etc.

I ended up renting through RSRNurburg - it was about $600 for the race car, the laps, and the race passes. They made everything seamless.

Was I nervous - hell yeah - but after the first lap its not as surprising.

There is one corner that is completely blind and will make you pucker up every time!

OD - I actually just traded in the G8 on a new 2014 SS - I ended up with a better interest rate and dropped my payment 100 a month!

The Liftmaster was easy to install - and gave me a lot of room to put in the lift. Just read the instructions like 3x, LOL!

 

[c6matt]

How is the epoxy holding up? And how tall are the ceilings?

Geoff didn't go to Kettering did he?

 

[bonecrrusher]

Epoxy is lifting where I park the tires. I followed the instructions from Griots and cleaned the floor 3x before I painted it.

Next garage - probably going with porcelain tile.

Geoff didn't go to Kettering - but a friend of mine did.

Scott - he had a black Beretta Z26 and put a blower on it:

 

[bonecrrusher]

Another shop update - now that I have gotten the Vette fixed up, and the lift torn down.

I finally had time to assemble my last Gladiator purchase - this time I got there foot locker/bench assembly and I got it on sale through Lowes.

So far I have put my floor jacks in there, and some shop shoes - its nice getting stuff up off the floor.

 

[dubber]

/\ Very sweet. Thats the first one of those I've seen by Gladiator. Was it a special order?

 

[Gentle_Ben]

That's pretty sweet!

 

[bonecrrusher]

Dubber - I actually did special order it through Lowe's.

They normally do not carry it - but I printed off this link - and went to there customer service desk.

http://www.garage-organization.com/Product.aspx?ProductId=107861&f=pg

They price matched it, I didn't have to pay shipping - and they beat the online price by 10%.

 

[spoonsports86]

am like the gladiator cabinets more and more

i like the size of the lift you have with barely just enough room to work on your cars

 

[bagsanthony]

excellent work! have you tried lifting the 2500 with the maxjax?

 

[bonecrrusher]

Anthony - the Duramax has a curb weight of over 7k pounds.

That is 1000 pounds above the max capacity of my lift.

Also - with my 8'5" ceiling height - I would barely be able to get it high enough to take the wheels off...

 

[ScottyVetteGuy]

Wow, Your garage has come along way. I really enjoyed this thread and I like your vette
Very nice work.

 

[Yonnee]

So in 2010 - I bought my house and totaled my daily driver all in the same month - a lowly '99 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP - nothing special about it besides the fact that it was supercharged.

So I picked up a 2008 Pontiac G8 GT as my new daily driver. These car was built in Australia as a Holden Commodore - and I always liked the Holden brand ever since they brought over the 04-06 GTO/Monaro.

I met 3 guys on the Power Tour in 2010 that imported there cars for the event - 3 HSV Maloo's. 2 of the cars where supercharged and all where RHD.

After drinking some beers with the Aussie's they gave me a contact for one of there buddies that would ship Aussie parts to the US - so I used the contact and ordered some HSV racing shirts and flags for the garage. Can't be too many garages in the US with Holden Racing flags in them.

Love this!! We see so much US memorabilia in Australian garages, but not too many US garages with Aussie stuff.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Scotty - if you are bored I do have a Vette build thread here:

http://www.bangshift.com/forum/foru...981-2005-chevy-corvette-build-upgrades-thread

Yonne - It was a bit of work and communications in getting those flags and stuff over here.

I was so disappointed in the merchandise that V8 Supercars brought here to the US that I didn't buy anything.

I got in contact with the guy that I bought the garage stuff from previously and ordered more shirts/hats.

Also - I bought my second Holden a few weeks back.

I traded in my G8 on this 2014 Chevy SS - I love the car - and have no complaints.

The interior in the VF is so much better then the VE!

 

[jonny01blaze]

Excellent garage and your new SS is beautiful!!

 

[Sunbimmer]

Very nice place you got and excellent choice of cars I might add

 

[Yonnee]

Also - I bought my second Holden a few weeks back.

I traded in my G8 on this 2014 Chevy SS - I love the car - and have no complaints.

The interior in the VF is so much better then the VE!

Nice!!
I've just gone from a '91 Pajero (Montero for you guys) to an '08 6.0L VE Sportwagon (see avatar). Don't think you guys get the wagon over there...??

 

[bww_mnm]

Scotty - if you are bored I do have a Vette build thread here:

http://www.bangshift.com/forum/foru...981-2005-chevy-corvette-build-upgrades-thread

Yonne - It was a bit of work and communications in getting those flags and stuff over here.

I was so disappointed in the merchandise that V8 Supercars brought here to the US that I didn't buy anything.

I got in contact with the guy that I bought the garage stuff from previously and ordered more shirts/hats.

Also - I bought my second Holden a few weeks back.

I traded in my G8 on this 2014 Chevy SS - I love the car - and have no complaints.

The interior in the VF is so much better then the VE!

Nice! Curious, if you don't mind sharing. Was the chevy dealership discounting the SS? Seem to be going list in Chicago.

 

[Crazy Backyard Builder]

The Beretta makes me smile, it is just over the top.

 

[Mavawreck]

Epoxy is lifting where I park the tires. I followed the instructions from Griots and cleaned the floor 3x before I painted it.

Having made similar mistakes before - I think you may have put it on too thick.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Yonne - no wagons here.

BMW - I paid list price for the car - I got the last one for the '14 model that my dealership is getting - they will not get any more until the 15 model.

 

[MIB]

Great to see more Aussie stuff, if you ever want/need more or someone to send stuff over, just yell out, I'm more than happy to help out

Scott

 

[NUTTSGT]

Nice looking garage, you've done some nice work to the place.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Quick update - I picked up a Gladiator stand up cabinet that is 36x72x18. It is there RTA series and was pretty easy to put together.

I got this on sale for Fathers Day - put it together, and got some tools, and other junk up off of the floor/my work bench!

It's just wide enough to get my shop vac out of the way, and put away my Dewalt tool bag that I carry my HF low profile aluminum racing jack in it. After doing 6 Power Tours and getting rid of the run flats - I never leave home on a long trip without it.

The model that I have supposed has the "EZ" setup to it - they threaded the bolt holes in the corners instead of the old design where you had to put a nut on the inside of the bolt holes - it saved some time putting it together, but I still think a nut would be a more secure connection.

 

[MGUY]

A few months back I decided to buy one of those expanding hoses - after some research on the web - I decided on the X-Hose Pro - this one has brass fittings and thicker hose - and it comes a shut of valve built into it.

The fitting quality is better then the cheap ones you can get at the box store since they are brass instead of plastic. My only concern is that I question how the hose is attached to the brass fittings - it just looks like it might wear out over time.

After using my hose setup and my foam gun one time - I immediately found a problem. When using my foam gun - I found that the water nozzle part of it absolutely ***** for rinsing off the car since you can't adjust the spray settings after scrubbing off the car. Now I did like that the Foam Gun that I own has those quick connect fittings on them.

So I had seen quick connect fittings on the popular detailing sites - and thought that was a pretty good idea. They offer them for 10+ shipping which I thought was a bit much - so I found the same set of quick connect fittings at Lowe's for 6 bucks.

I put the quick connect fittings on the garden hose, the foam gun, and my cheap adjustable spray nozzle.

This new setup makes washing off the cars pretty easy - I just notice that I fly through a lot more soap now, haha.

Pics of my setup:

Hi, where did you get your soap gun from ? Thanks.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Mguy - I believe that I got that gun on Amazon.

Here is the brand:

Gilmour Foamaster II Foam Gun

 

[kamib]

What is the width of your garage?

 

[bonecrrusher]

So I lowered my C6 on a set of a coilovers - and then added a set of ZR1 side skirts and front splitter - so this made ground clearance even more of a problem to deal with.

I have had a set of Race Ramps for a long time - and still use them to do oil changes, tightening down swaybars, etc - and with the lowered Vette - I couldn't use them anymore as the front splitter would beach itself on the front part of the ramp and wouldn't let you pull the car up.

I did some research and found that they sell a set of extenders that decreases the angle of approach and allows you to get up on the ramps.

Yes - the front lip hits the wheel stoppers at the end - but now I can at least drive up on them - and then get a jack under the car and lift it up a ton easier then having to jack up one side of the car, jack up the front, move the other jack - just making a huge PITA.

Also - with lowering the car - I couldn't get the arms for the Maxjax lift under the car - so I ordered 2 pairs of the Race Ramps scale ramps - and it provides the perfect height of getting the car up in the air to get the arms under the car with no issue.

Some of you might say why don't i just use some 2x4's, etc - I tried that with the race ramps and all I did was pushed the 2x4s against the floor and scuffed up the epoxy - so after doing that once I said never again. I got these from Summit Racing - with free shipping, a $20 mail in rebate, and I used some Summit Bucks that I had saved up.

 

[bonecrrusher]

As you know - I bought those small race ramps to get the car up on the lift.

Well the oil pan gasket has been leaking on my LS2 - seeping from the bolts - and been covering the bottom of the pan in a mist of oil.

Previously - I took out the bolts that I could reach and put some RTV on the end of the bolt and torqued them back down - this didn't really fix the problem, so I ordered a new oil pan from GM.

The old felpro gasket that I used I had to take the oil pan off 3x when I was building the the motor back in Jan/Feb - I am not sure if taking it off those times screwed up the gasket or what - so this weekend I am going to drop the front suspension, raise the motor up, and replace the gasket. I went with a GM gasket this time - hopefully it seals up!

Those ramps worked exactly as planned and gave me the height that I needed to get under the lowered car:

 

[bonecrrusher]

Not sure if this is appropriate here - but here goes:

I entered into a Gladiator GarageWorks Makeover contest - and I have made it to the second round.

If you could please help me out - click on the link below - and comment on the Gladiator Page with "A" as your comment - it would greatly be appreciated.

Again - please click the link and comment on that page - not mine.

Please share/vote - and thanks for all of your help!

https://www.facebook.com/GladiatorG....139204.52058828971/10152554726453972/?type=1

-Craig

 

[sean Buick 76]

I voted for you! I think you are doing a great job with all the upgrades to the garage and cars!!! I also like your taste in vehicles, GM is the best!!

 

[Jvvmusme]

Where did you get the race ramps ?
Nice garage, nice story

 

[bonecrrusher]

Jvv - I got the ramps from Summit Racing.

So I dropped the oil pan this weekend - and got a new GM gasket in it. Wasn't to terrible of a job - I used the low rise jack stands that I got and it made the job a lot easier.

This sealed up the oil pan - but now the front timing cover is seeping a bit - to get to that timing cover, I have to pull a lot of **** out of the motor bay - and well this isn't that bad - I'll just deal with it for now.

I also modified my MaxJax - I added 90* fittings to all quick disconnect fittings to get the hoses pointed more toward the ground - and reduces the chances of tripping over the hoses - which has happened in the past.

Now for the pics:

 

[sean Buick 76]

I really like the modification to keep the lines from being a tripping hazard! Good job on the oil leak, and I know how it is to chase oil leaks around... Hang in there!

 

[bonecrrusher]

Quick update - picked up a transmission jack for the MaxJax.

This is a Torin Big Red transmission jack that I got at Northern Tool.

I will have to modify the the base that bolts to the hydraulic pump - basically cut it down - redrill the 3 holes for the legs and move it closer to the ground.

I'll take measurements next time I get the lift out and modify it then. Oh and this trans jack was only $120 on sale/with extra coupon - so no I have no problem taking an angle grinder it to make it work for my application.

 

[Surreal001]

Great garage, even better taste in rides!

 

[nsogiba]

great progress, awesome cars.

 

[bry@n]

Looks great. How did you do on the Gladiator contest?

 

[bonecrrusher]

Thanks everyone!

I ended up losing to a guy who's son trolled some of the FB groups that I have been a member of for years - I lost by like 2 votes.

Oh well the guy got smoked by an Army guy who eventually won the whole deal.

I did end up getting one of there starter packs with 2 of there wall channel units and some hooks. I haven't received it yet - but it should be here shortly.

Also - I kind of need to make an announcement. My GF and I have been together for 4 years, and after losing my job earlier this year it made us look at our finances. It is really stupid of us to both be paying mortgages and maintaining 2 houses, lawns, all the misc bills that goes along with both.

So I am putting my house up for sale. Right now I am fixing up some things that I've neglected and getting ready to list it.

We have been looking for some houses in Lincoln county - this is one county west of Charlotte and simply more rural. Where not trying to get away from it all - just move to an area that is a bit smaller and has a cheaper taxes. We did our pre-approval process and I am looking for a house with some land - and at least a 3 car garage. Preferably a 4 car - between the 2 of us we have the SS, Vette, IS350, and my truck. The truck will stay outside.

I plan on leaving the AC system, and the lighting upgrade - but I am bringing all the Gladiator products, air compressor, lift, and all my tools.

I haven't decided what I am going to do with the peeling up Epoxy - I'll probably leave it as is.

I'll update this thread when we find a place - I might be in limbo for a few months moving all my stuff to her place, we'll just have to see.

I'll start a new thread when I get a new space - and put a link here.