Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT 24x30 build in progress

[Rich H.]

Unfortunately the '71 D-100, factory big block truck is probably going to scrap unless somebody wants to do something else with it. Anybody want it?

It's got a running 440 and 727, they're both staying with me, I may keep the 8 3/4 axle also but could be talked out of it.... but other than that, she's probably a dead duck. Been sitting for years, not using it anymore...the engine and trans will definitely live on in another chassis.

 

[Rich H.]

I brought my long term '68 Charger in, too. It doesn't look like much, but it has less than 50,000 miles on it. Big plans for it. I've owned it a long time.

 

[Rich H.]

Org and re-org hasn't really begun yet, I don't know which layout is going to work best for me, other than maybe the bench in the middle.

Still don't have all the tools in there, have a long way to go yet but will just start working on the truck after I get the heat on. Get the 440 on a dolly and when the carcass is out of the way, clean up and give the layout some more thought.

I don't like the light hanging down below the I joist like that. Just tried it to see how it'd work, and it *****. I'm going to hang them from the loft floor instead, in between the joists so that the light just magically comes out the bottom. It'll look alot better that way.

Need a pantload more lighting, and as much as the guys on the lighting forum might call me a fool.... most of the lights will probably end up being those nasty inefficient T12s. Why, you ask? Because I can get damn near all the fixtures I want, for FREE. Same buddy who hooked me up with the exhaust fan has a truckload of fixtures, all working, "take as many as you want, have at it, just leave me a couple/few". So for now that's probably the way It'll go. And also the reason I will probably avoid the lighting forum entirely....Those guys HATE T12s.

Nothing glamorous or amazingly incredible going on here, and it's still a bit disorganized, but this is where it's at right now. I'm very happy...the shop is going to do what I need it to do....but will be happier when I get a few projects knocked out.

 

[Rich H.]

So that's about it for now. Next time you see the shop, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, it'll have another one of my Mopars in there and there will be multiple projects going....

If anybody has one of those snappy Garage Journal names for my shop in mind, please post up. Whenever I try to think about it, it's always 'ok rich, now get the heat working, part out the truck, do this, do that, etc" and I forget all about the snappy name thing....

 

[Vernmotor]

Ok I read it all and up to speed now LOL..I don't know how I miss this one ! Looks great !

 

[Rich H.]

Thanks Vern, nice to see you on here buddy

 

[WILD-BILL]

Rich, that makes my project look like a outlet replacement

Not sure about you but I found rather quickly that there is NO job in the construction ind that I want to do. I'll stick to turning wrenches

 

[Rich H.]

Oh yeah, totally.

Just because I "can" do something halfway decent sure doesn't mean I enjoy it and want to!

Not only that, but I got tired of confrontations with subs about everything I wanted. For instance I was 99% sure nobody would insulate it the way I wanted, at what I wanted to pay, so I just said "forget it I'll do it myself". Good Lord what a ton of work...but it's done now. It's insulated better than my house

 

[Rich H.]

Oh yeah and one more little update, I got the heat fired up Saturday and it works! I got 100 degree water pumping through there, and anti freeze in the system.

Unfortunately I have a stubborn air pocket right at the sediment filter, and the thermostat still hasn't shown up yet so I had to bypass the relay/hot wire the pumps to 110 to make them work.....so it ain't quite ready for prime time, but almost.

 

[Vernmotor]

O my!! Bill here too ~!!

 

[Rich H.]

 

[RodneyPierce]

Looks really good Rich! Nice to see a similar size garage go up. Mine is 24x32. Im going to start hanging drywall here this winter in mine if everything goes as planned. Excited to get it done.

 

[Rich H.]

Thanks and good luck Rodney.

The drywall work was probably the worst aspect of it for me.
The only thing I enjoyed about it was getting it over with!!!

If you've got a link to your buildup I'd like to check it out.

 

[DynoDave]

Congratulations on the new shop Rich. Very impressive, and you did several things I wish I'd thought of.

 

[Rich H.]

Thanks Dave and hope everyone had a Merry Christmas

I know I said next time you see it I'll have another vehicle in there, well that didn't happen yet

But I did get the heat working, and got some work done...everything's good.

Prior to this I had accidentally christened the rocksolid floor with a few blobs of 10+ year old, well used, blacker than death 20w50....Sure like how easy it cleans up!!

 

[Rich H.]

And of course after I cleaned up the oil, it was time for round 2....

And again I was really diggin' how easy it is to clean up....

There's kind of a film left behind afterward, which I was using a mist of Windex and a final wipe down to clean up. I wonder if that's what I should be using? Might try some other products later? Anyone got preferences? I use Lysol All Purpose around the house, maybe I should try it in the shop too?

 

[stangman39]

Like your Charger! Great garage.

Happy New Year to all.

 

[royalton10]

Rich- Great looking garage.

Garage name idea...Michigan Mopars or perhaps MM.

Have a great day!

Doug

 

[Nighttrain]

Somehow I have missed this build. Very good write up. Only thing I would do different is to pay your boys by the job and not by the hour I would also only put in hand fulls of insulation too and not the whole bag if I was being paid by the hour.

Every time I see a Charger the more I want one. Looking foward to the build.

 

[Kevin54]

Fantastic job Rich. You have a space to definitely be proud of

I can't wait to see what other updates you will come up with.

What's the plans for the Charger, other than restoring it. Possibly a Black Bullitt Charger http://www.ponysite.de/charger_welch.htm

 

[Rich H.]

Thanks guys!

MM? The M&M garage? Not bad...
RMG? Rich's Mopar Garage?
RMW? Richs Mopar Workshop
Eh....don't know what to call it...
but please keep the ideas coming, maybe something will
eventually stick

Updates are definitely coming, still got alot of things to figure out in there
but I'm going to just let it evolve and make decisions over time.

One thing I did figure out? Cabinets are going to be difficult....I'll either hit my head, or they will be hard to reach in many locations. I think I will keep doing without them for awhile to see how it goes.

Plans for the Charger are 426 Hemi clone in the original colors (medium
blue metallic, white top, white interior). Fairly close to stock, nothing to
really try to go fast with. It's originally
a 318 ps/pb/ac car, I drove it everyday in the late '80s and it was my only
car for awhile there. It was a beauty, turned alot of heads back then.
Paint and body deteriorated over time,
I started attempting paint and body outdoors...learned quickly that's a bad idea...it sat..deteriorated some more....and here it is.

Have got a bunch of projects stacked up besides the Charger...will keep posting pics/action shots of whatever's happening as long as I'm willing to shoot and you guys are willing to look

Have a happy 2012 everybody....stop by and check in anytime

 

[rburke65]

From whom did you purchase your radiant heat system. Nice build....lots of work. Envious over your Charger....love those things.

 

[Rich H.]

R,

The panel and boiler came from Menards in Davison, MI. At the time there was a sale going on....

Got a few potential updates to the shop to post about, am in the beginning stages of a few changes/additions. Nothing earth shattering, but good functionality upgrades.

Don't want to spoil it, so don't want to give any details yet

However I am happy to say somebody wants the old '71 truck, I took a deposit on it, and it'll get a new lease on life sitting behind somebody else's shop, being picked away at for parts as needed. I like that idea more than sending the old girl to the shredder.

 

[1971 f100]

Do you know where your GC got the trusses from. I am breaking ground this spring and I also live in S.E. MI, and want to use scissor trusses. Any info would be helpful. thank you, Kirk.

 

[what have i done]

I missed this too.. Nice job and write up. The mooney wall is something I will be using to blow insulation into the walls.

 

[santagary]

I used the mooney wall/cellulose system throughout the main part of my garage, 30' x 50', with osb over that for 4' then white pegboard throughout instead of dry wall on the walls. The ceiling was sheetrocked, but is not taped or painted yet...good thing, cause I'm going to rip out the ceiling in the right bay, take out the upper level floor joists and have then space for a lift! I'm a huge believer in white pegboard as I've mentioned in many posts before...I even have it on two walls in our 80' by 60' hay barn to hang pitchforks, tools, etc. to keep as much as possible off the floor. OSB is on the other 14' walls.

 

[rmckee]

Very nice build, Rich. Great to see you and your boys tackling the work yourselves. The floor turned out extremely clean, and I love the Mopar collection! How many project chassis do you have? When you mentioned there "being more in the garage" next time you posted, I was scratching my head to figure out how many cars you could fit in a 24x30 and still have room to walk around (or even breathe!) Can you fit 3?

Look forward to seeing more!

Ryan

 

[Blueshark]

I have enjoyed reading about your build. Great choice on higher garage doors, one decision you will not regret. That floor looks like a dream to have and maintain.

Several years back I built a garage with a 800ft apartment on top with my father, great memories. Great build keep it up.
Jay

 

[what have i done]

I used the mooney wall/cellulose system throughout the main part of my garage, 30' x 50', .

To you or the OP or hell anyone who has done cellulose insualtion in the walls--did you use the Menards/lowes blowers? Were you able to dense fill adequately with out clogging issues?

got any suggestions? can't afford spray foam. Like the looks of the mooney system as the dense field helps reduce noise transmission. this and the insulation price are huge benefits for me.. Also when I read this post earlier I know you have a link to where you bought the webbing, but I can't find it now. Where was the best price for the webbing?
thanks for any suggestions..don't mean to hijack this great thread

 

[santagary]

I had a pro come in with his crew and do the whole garage in one day with two or three helpers while I was at work making money to pay them!

 

[Rich H.]

Wow, looks like I need to check in a little more often.
I wasn't ignoring you guys, just figured I would post up later when I've got some pictures or something.

Kirk,
I believe I saved one of the labels from a truss, and will look and see if I can find it. It has the truss mfr's name and location on it. I am pretty sure he actually ordered them from HD who then farmed it out.

Ryan,
Nope, can't fit many more cars in there that's for sure, I could fit three but not with any room to work......but with two in there, I have alot of extra room for component work (engines, axles, interiors, etc). Once the truck is outta there my '69 GTX will probably take it's place.

The Mooney wall was a bunch of extra work...but looking back? I don't regret it one bit. The quality of insulation and sound deadening is incredible. Same with the insulated slab and floor heat.

For the blower machine, you need to check out what machine the different stores will rent you.....Greenfiber:No good for this app,made for attics.
Krendl:Winner, lots of extra power. The new Menards here had the Krendl and with a little patience and the settings + feed rate, could actually overpack the walls until the insulweb bulged out. I actually had to remove a little bit to get the walls straight in a couple areas.....so I would recommend a Krendl for most anything.

Menards actually sells Insulweb now! They sell it under the name "insulation fabric".
I've forgotten where I bought it, would have to go back to the beginning of the thread to dig up that info....but FWIW Menards has it for the same price/same dimensions.

Wait....how about "The Mooney Garage"......hmmmm

Thanks for the interest and compliments guys, I will be back pretty soon with more pics and goofy comments.

 

[Rich H.]

I got lit

Remember the "free take all you want" old T12 fixtures?

Well I went and got them.

And got a couple T12 bulbs.
And right away, could tell I wouldn't be happy with the light output.
And one of the old magnetic ballasts made this cycling, humming sound like something out of Dr. Frankenstein's Lab. I mean LOUD. Yeah.

So I sanded the rust off, repainted them, swapped in new T8 electronic ballasts (found great deals on ebay), left the single pin tombstones in there and went to 59 watt T8 bulbs.

It was rather interesting trying to mount these 8 foot fixtures by myself. Especially the one in the middle. The walls are 10 foot, so I spent alot of time on the ladder. I guess I won't bore you with how I did it, but if anyone cares I'll post.....glad nobody there was watching at the time, they would have thought I was nuts!

 

[Rich H.]

Wanted to go the same direction on this end but couldn't reasonably do it, without taking up shelf (or loft) space. Don't want to be breaking bulbs or knocking reflectors off when I'm moving stuff around on the shelf.

I left enough room for a 4 footer in between, in case I need more....and also have one more rebuilt 8 foot fixture left over that I'll find a home for eventually.

 

[Rich H.]

Menards 4 footers under "the shelf"....

 

[Rich H.]

Just the shelf lights without the mains...

wow I didn't realize how huge some of these pics are...oops...hopefully they work ok and aren't too ridiculously big.

 

[Rich H.]

And I got a new air compressor

Another Menards thing... Exact same unit as the Kobalt Lowes sells for about 600. Menards price 479. Then I had a $45 in store rebate to apply to it, AND it was the "everything is 11% off" weekend. Bottom line, with tax it was $404 out the door, but the 11% will come in the form of another in store rebate...works for me, I will use it!

It's hooked up to the CMan tank behind it, so I got 120 gallon capacity all together.

 

[Rich H.]

......And that's about it


...well, not quite....

If you go back a couple pics, you will see some boxes sitting behind the Charger.

Finally found a deal on some cabinets! They're slightly used commercial "break room" cabinets, formica laminate over melamine/particle board...pretty much just what I wanted, bigger than I expected....but I'm considering maybe changing the color by putting on some new Formica.

Need to think about that some more, look at some more formica samples, and need the truck buyer to come and get it out of the way before I can seriously go after refacing the cabs.....

 

[Rich H.]

The D-100 is officially sold and gone...got a few bucks. made a few folks happy who needed parts, and got one bay back

Here's the latest state of chaos...yes, I know I need something to hang the air hose on...left over reflectors, cabinets all over the place, etc....

 

[Rich H.]

The formica is peeled on some of the sides and bottoms. The fronts are pretty nice though and I like the color.

Still not sure about putting new laminate on them, it's a shop, I am not that picky. I might just hang the wall cabinets as is. They look garage quality to me...Think they look ok?

 

[Rich H.]

The base cabinets are going in my basement, which looks like I will be digging into this summer most likely. These will definitely get new formica, either in black or maybe fake metal.