“Full custom” 1960s influenced Garage Build

[Baja_XJ]

The panels are metal, they are marketed as Soffit or Wall Panels, either one. They were sourced through ABC Supply, specifically the brand is Metal Sales Corp. and are based out of Sellersburg Indiana. They offer them in several widths but I went with 12 so it was less likely to sag on the ceiling between fasteners. When you order them, they cut them to custom length at the manufacturer so you don’t have to hand cut every piece.
I am happy with them, they provide a finished look, easy to install, and the company was great to work with. Only thing to keep in mind is light fixturing and anything that you might have hanging from the ceiling. Modern LED shop lights are lightweight enough that I’m going to put riv-nuts in it with eyelets for the chain, and be sure to put the rib-nut at the edge where the screws are for maximum support.

 

[BSAschields]

Awesome... If I cant find an old service station to buy when I win the lottery , this will do just nicely... Following along !!

 

[Baja_XJ]

Been outside doing dirt work the last few weeks putting in a full perimeter french drain that I should have done years ago before I backfilled the slab with dirt, digging that in to run off at the street, connecting house gutter downspouts into it, hanging the new 400a meter base, trenching in for the service cable, mounting HVAC bracket on outside, etc bunch of small stuff.

Have HVAC scheduled for install at the end of October so have to button this stuff up this week and get back on the drywalling of the wall the indoor units will be mounted so I don’t have to put them up on an unfinished unpainted wall and take them back down at some point.

I have a savings account I contribute into weekly to fund all of this and it ran dry as of late so I’m also back to working 12 hour days 7 days a week to accelerate the rebuild of said savings so that I can keep trucking but that does delay my wishful November done stamp to more like March or April since I’m losing out on my working hours at home for the time being.

 

[Baja_XJ]

Almost got this drywall whipped. Primer and paint tomorrow!

 

[Baja_XJ]

 

[Baja_XJ]

HVAC is in, have to wait a couple more weeks for Duke to come for my service transfer before I can fire it off but getting closer.

 

[larry4406]

Nice shop!

 

[Gangly]

Way to stay steadfast in this endeavor. That much closer, congrats to you!

 

[Stuart in MN]

That light tan band at the top of the wall on the front of the building looks like prime real estate for big letters that say Phillips 66 or Standard, or your choice of filling station. There's probably places closer to you that have them, but an antique store in Minneapolis called Hunt and Gather has a large stock of big storefront letters like old filling stations used.

 

[Baja_XJ]

Been a hot minute since I’ve updated this thread, so figured I’d drop a line.

A lot has been knocked out, and a lot still needs done haha. Like the saying goes… the last 10% takes 90% of the time.

Right now it’s mostly detail work. Caulking drywall-to-beam **** joints and all the millwork, making filler plates and caulking the ceiling around the bracing. After that it’s paint on all the red iron, window trim, and door trim.

Cabinets should be showing up about then, so once those are installed I can finish the vertical corner round, do the baseboards, start hanging lights and finishing wiring. Then it’s back around one more time to paint conduit and baseboards.

Slow grind at this stage, but it’s finally starting to look like a finished space.

 

[andyvh1959]

Wow, very, very nice.

I gotta get my *** in gear and clean up my shop.

 

[Baja_XJ]

Appreciate it. And yeah… this thing evolved way past the original plan. What started as a race/fab shop slowly turned into something much nicer than I ever intended. When a project drags on this long, things change… priorities shift, you change, scope creeps.

That shift brought its own challenges too… making everything work cleanly and intentionally. It’s also a lot less 60s styled inside now, and more like a 60s speed shop that closed, got bought, and turned into a studio apartment in the 70s or 80s. At this point it’s more creative studio, lounge, and secondary entertaining space than the shop I designed six years ago.

And on cleaning your shop… trust me, this place was a disaster forever. Start small, clean a corner, move one thing. Momentum does the rest.

 

[69charged]

I’m likin the new direction!!!
I haven’t been on in a while as we recently moved so I had a little catching up to do.
I think it looks great, and I particularly like the lighting in the car and kart picture. Looks badass.

 

[Baja_XJ]

Cabinets showed up. The gap at the wall behind the car is intentional, a tall locker cabinet arrived flat-packed due to size and has to be assembled for that void. Everything’s just staged right now to proof in person what I modeled and confirm it all works as planned.

It’ll be a while before the next update. I’ve got details to button up, painting to finish, and then the cabinet install… a lot of work with not much visual payoff yet. Hopefully the backlog of photos helps someone down the line.

There won’t be a toolbox in this space. Cabinets for the win. This system offers 12”–36” wide cabinets, 24” deep and 30” tall, with six 4” drawers each. I’ve got two 24”, one 12”, and one 36” wide drawer unit, which already gives me more drawer space than my two Yukon 46” boxes and that’s only four of the eleven cabinets. The rest handle parts, large tools, small equipment, maintenance fluids, and detailing chemical storage to keep everything cleaned up. The kart will be rolled out occasionally so that the counter where it sits can be used as a bar top for entertaining.

 

[Thisistimm]

Man what a cool build!

 

[gahrajmahal]

The building looks really great! Your kart looks really great too. Tell us some about it and where you race.

 

[Baja_XJ]

Honestly the kart is just for backyard dirt ovals. Most of my friends are ex-racers, and as life, families, and costs caught up with us, running real tracks stopped making sense. So we started restoring old 90s karts and building small tracks on whoever had property.

We’ll get together 5–6 times a year just to scratch the itch and turn laps without all the logistics and expense of sanctioned racing. Everyone comes from different backgrounds… dirt oval, MX, drag racing for them, desert and short-course off-road in my case.

Nothing wild. Old chassis that don’t work at modern speedways anymore, Harbor Freight Ghost motors converted to methanol and mildly modded… around 15ish hp. All bullrings, all about fun.

We were doing the whole K1 indoor thing the last couple years, but at roughly $250 a day each it started feeling like lighting money on fire. This made way more sense… build our own karts, build our own tracks, spend the same money and actually own something when the day’s over lol

 

[littlebean]

what a great build

 

[gahrajmahal]

BahaXj, when I was a kid the gang of us on our street had a half dozen home built carts with all manner of engines. (Mid sixties) We were taken to mid-Ohio track on rare occasion and ran around, and also went to several sanctioned races which was like nirvana to us. In my 20’s a friend I worked with raced every week in the four stroke class using Briggs and Stratton with same engine for every cart. He took me along one practice day and what a difference it was from driving all of our mix and match junk as a kid.