I've got a pretty blank slate...

[jfryjfry]

I have heard of the garage journal and been directed here a few times over the years while reading about different projects, but realized this might be the perfect place to come for some help in designing my shop...

about 2 years ago we bought a teardown house in El Segundo. Well, we really bought the 2500 sq ft garage behind the teardown, and after a year of permits and paperwork, followed by a year of construction, the house is 98% done, so the garage is about to have its day.

So I will need advice and ideas but will start a separate thread for that.

In the meantime, I am in the los angeles area, right below lax. I am a stunt performer and my bread and butter is driving cars. But I like building and working on them too. I also enjoy motorcycles, and need to carve out some room for the kid's stuff and a daily driver or two as well.

Looking forward to planning this thing out!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hi and welcome to the forum jfryjfry all the best with your garage.

Stunt performer, wow. tell us more.

Regards

 

[Fixed]

Stunt performer sounds seriously cool. Are you an independent contractor? Ie, do you drive any of your own vehicles, or is it all company stuff?

 

[CSRPenFab]

Welcome from another So. CA resident. Blank Slate sounds pretty sweet and more than tons of ideas around here on how to do it up right!

 

[jfryjfry]

I figure the best way to do it is to make a drawing of what I have and descriptions of what I want to do, but getting pictures ready for a forum is a bit difficult with our current computer set up.

is imgur the best?


and yes, I am beyond blessed to be able to make a living doing what I do. I usually do not drive my own vehicles, but there have been a handful of times when I have used my own for shows. it has always been just driving them (as opposed to crashing them) but I prefer to not. You get rental on them, but the crew treats them as just another tool that belongs to someone else.

I've used my drift/track car on Ghost Whisperer, Video Game High School and Bullseye, and have used my aprilia on a commercial.

But production almost always provides the cars. Sometimes they rent, and sometimes they buy, but more often than not, they show up in less-than-ideal shape. usually that means that the ebrake does not work when we need it to, but it can mean other things too.


so while I do not build cars as my immediate job, I certainly spend time tinkering with mine and putting dedicated ebrakes in cars for friends and sometimes for shows. With this shop, I might entertain the possibilities of more of this kind of work, but the truth is that I work a lot as it is, so when I'm not working, I enjoy spending time with my family and 3 kids. And any time after that is spent on the house. And if a few minutes managed to slip by, then I get to do some stuff for myself.

But I truly enjoy helping others out and will often spend that time working on cars or other projects for other friends.

 

[jonjon1]

2500 sq feet is a good sized shop, I say lay out the floor plan to what makes sense for you, use as much wall and ceiling/loft space as you can since floor space is a commodity in any sized shop, lol...

If you are working on cars a lift is A #1 priority in my opinion..

In my dream shop, I would have a 2 post lift for work, a 4 post for project storage, a semi down draft booth, a rottiserie setup, dual 5hp compressors with a nice 30 cfm air dryer, a nice 10x14 engine room, a nice huge blast cabinet, a 36x36x72 powder coating oven, a miller table with a plasma cutter, mig, and tig setup, of course my took boxes, engine stands etc.. I would have an I beam traveling hoist over my 2 post lift that bends around to over the engine room, so I can take an engine from the room to the car with out pushing it on a stand and drop it straight down and in instead of pushing hoists near my finished fenders and bumpers...

It would be sweet, some day I will clean out my building and do it, I guess i like being shoved into small areas for now, lol.. good luck with your project, cant wait to see how you do..