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Joel's Tiny 2 Car Garage

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Jo3l

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I would second the costco LED lights. That's what I did in my shop (which was really dark, with a single bulb), and it made a world of difference. You can see the difference in page 1 or 2 (maybe 3) of my shop build (link in sig)

I like the cabinet, toolbox, and workbench setup! Perfect amount of storage. Nice job. Hope to see lighting progress!

Haha, you guys really love your lights! It's on my list, but there are a few other things I want to tackle first.
 
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Jo3l

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I've been a Disneyland fan since I was a kid - which is appropriate since it's mainly aimed at kids. As a pretend designer I now can enjoy all the small touches Disney adds to their parks, and wanted to bring at least a little of that to my garage. On a recent trip their these trash cans in Toontown caught my eye.

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So even though I already have a lifelong trash can, I thought it would be fun to replicate the decal for it.

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I used my mediocre Illustrator skills to punch out a reasonable copy.

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And now I just needed to turn it into a sticker. I've had varying degrees of success having "things created by people other than me" printed at sign shops. Luckily because of my profession I'm a regular customer and have built a relationship. The general rule of thumb is they seem to be cool with having a few printed for personal use vs. 500 that you are obviously going to re-sell. All that to say a few days later I had a couple in various sizes to try out.

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In the end I decided to go with the larger 8" size. It's a little detail that no one will probably notice but me, however those always end up being my favorites.
 
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Jo3l

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A small lighting upgrade. While I contemplate tearing up the entire ceiling to install more lights, I found a less destructive solution for the workbench. I got these cordless LED lights off Amazon. They have magnet holders on the ends, so they can just stick right to the underside of the cabinets. I'm sure the heat will not be kind tot he batteries, but so far I haven't even had to recharge them. A nice solution that at first I though would be temporary, but if they work out I might just leave them.

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laketrash

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Dec 17, 2009
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71
Location
Lago Vista, TX
Through a very long series of events I managed to come back into possession of my childhood bike several years back....

First, nice garage! Obviously well planned and looking great.

Care to share that long series of events, was it random or did you specifically go looking for it through any of the BMX forums, or other sites? I would love to try and get back the 1990 Haro Master I had.
 

fowldarr

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Coastal Oregon
First, nice garage! Obviously well planned and looking great.

Care to share that long series of events, was it random or did you specifically go looking for it through any of the BMX forums, or other sites? I would love to try and get back the 1990 Haro Master I had.

Off topic: Nice Land Cruiser.
 
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Jo3l

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First, nice garage! Obviously well planned and looking great.

Care to share that long series of events, was it random or did you specifically go looking for it through any of the BMX forums, or other sites? I would love to try and get back the 1990 Haro Master I had.

Thanks laketrash!

I'll be happy to share since you asked, All non-interested partys feel free to skip :)

I first received the bike on Christmas day, 1990.

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VHS video from that day

Unfortunately the following year I foolishly left it parked in front of my friend's house and when I returned it was gone. We went cruising around to see if we could find it & came upon some kids riding a different bike but carrying a set of wheels. They immediately ditched the wheels & ran. We rode over and checked & sure enough they were the wheels off my bike. My friend had recognized one of the kids so his mom called the police. They went to his house, questioned him, he said he didn't steal it, and they left. However, in a move that I still find shocking, the police (who apparently were very determined to stamp out bike theft in 1991) made a follow up visit a week later & as they pulled up the kid was sitting in his garage disassembling the bike.

There was clearly some awesome parenting going on in that house that I assume went something like this:

Parent
"Hey were did that fancy new bike in the garage come from?"
Kid "Um...I found it"
Parent "Oh okay. Hey, weren't he police just here asking about a stolen bike?"
Kid "Um... they were looking for a different bike"
Parent " Oh okay, seems legitimate"

So anyways I got back several grocery bags full of parts and the the young bike thief got a "stern warning" which I'm 100 percent sure sent him down the straight and narrow path.

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Over then next year rebuilt my bike to 1992 standards as many of the parts had vanished.

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And it remained my pride and joy... until I got my first car.

There was a kid I had mentored who absolutely loved the bike and wanted to buy it. I didn't need the money but really liked the idea that it would give him as much joy as it had given me, so I traded the bike to him in exchange for a pizza. After that I kind of forgot about the bike until 2005 when I found myself living in an apartment and would have to haul my trash to the dumpster all the way on the other side of the complex. I looked at buying a bike just to ride when I had to dump garbage, but by that time BMX bikes had changed a lot - or maybe I had just gotten old. Then I started to wonder if my friend still had my bike form 9 years before. So I contacted him & it turned out that even though he had moved away the bike was still at his parents house here in town. His mom tried to just give it to me, but I insisted that I give him back his pizza money for it.

So for the next glorious year the bike and I hauled trash together a few times a week.

But then something odd happened. I found myself getting irritated every time I would see the bike. I had this picture in my head of the bike, but as you can see from the photos it had become something completely different from the one I had gotten for Christmas all those years before. And now every time I would see it I would just get a reminder of the little snot that had stolen it. So even though it had spent 18 years in it's current state, I decided I would restore it back to Christmas day 1990 condition.

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And that was the start of a decade long restoration journey. I'd say it's done, but as I'm sure you all know they're never really done. To answer answer to laketrash's question, yes I used the BMX forums some, but in the end the best resource was checking EBay daily and building up my own massive reference file.

Thanks to anyone who reads this whole post, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed sharing it.
 
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fnbadaz06

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Phoenix, AZ
Nice garage !!!!
I just put a mini-split in mine, along with doing a DIY insulation job on my west facing garage door. Now when it's 113+ outside, I have a very comfortable 77* garage to work in when needed :)

Once I get the engine back into my Z06 and can move it out of the garage, I'm planning to finally begin the long overdue makeover.
 
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Jo3l

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Jo3l

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Nice garage !!!!
I just put a mini-split in mine, along with doing a DIY insulation job on my west facing garage door. Now when it's 113+ outside, I have a very comfortable 77* garage to work in when needed :)

Once I get the engine back into my Z06 and can move it out of the garage, I'm planning to finally begin the long overdue makeover.

Wow very jealous! I'm reading through your AC thread now, and my list keeps getting longer... I'll look forward to your garage makeover soon :thumbup:
 
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Jo3l

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In combing through the garage gallery, I realized that the "shop clock" is a point of pride for a lot of members. So I started my search to find a cool example so that I too could join the club.
And I found the perfect one!

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There was just one small problem.
That is, there were 495 small problems. So I headed down the same path that I have so many times before in my life.

I wanted something cool.
I couldn't afford it.
So I built my own.

The first thing I had to do was find a suitable stand in. My two requirments were that it have a nice bezel and that the size of the face be under my printers maximum size (11"). I checked all the local stores and settled on this one at Target for $9.99.

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The next step was to disassemble it as much as possible.

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I was very fortunate as the face of this one was just a printed piece of cardboard.

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Then the really fun part (at least for me), re-creating the artwork. The 11x17 photo paper is about $2 a sheet.

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As I said before I was fortunate that the original face was cardboard. This came in handy again because I could trace it to get the exact face size I needed.

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I've ruined many a project trying to cut curves with a knife. In my limited experience, the best way to cut circles is with scissor and a little patience.
**Sticking out your tongue while cutting helps a lot

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A perfect fit!

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The original colors of the hands weren't going to work for me, so I hit hem with some silver spray paint and added some of the "glow in the dark" color. I also decided to ditch the second hand.

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And there it is! Hopefully this doesn't upset any owners of the real clocks. I really am a fan, I just don't have infinity money.
 
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Jo3l

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One of the upgrades that had definitely been on my list was a new toolbox. I had gotten my old one as a hand down, but 10 years of the non- ball bearing drawers had pushed me over the edge.

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I decided the lower chest option would be ideal for me as I don't have a ton of tools, and I can use the chest as additional work space if needed. The model I chose is an International 56" 10 drawer 6 caster version that I could order from Home Depot.

When you order they give you two options, delivery to your house or to the store.

Always choose the store!!!

I learned this the hard way on a previous order. If you have it delivered to your house, it will get shipped to a local shipper, who will keep it in their warehouse for as long as they feel like it. After 2 months I gave up and actually had to drive to the shipper and pick it up. Anyways, lesson learned.

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Just like Christmas!

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Yay! No shipping damage.

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And now for the controversy. I had originally wanted the 56" Craftsman chest, but upon research discovered that Craftsman buys these boxes and puts their name on them for $300. I realized that I could probably put their name on it a lot cheaper myself, so I did.

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Up next I'll be tackling those nasty floors...
 
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Terranova

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Grove City, OH
Redline 500b circa summer of '85
DK neck replaced the crappy anlun one. Also the cranks are stock but the gear isn't. I think I also replace the old tired black grips with some red red lines. Added a from break as well for those sweet endos.
View media item 86587
 

GirlnAgarage

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Texas
Garage looks great. Huge difference in feel after the paint. I like the gray. Don't sweat the lighting, it's easy. I put up half of my new 4' LEDs in the garage last night. You can see my house from space now. I need colored walls to absorb some of the light in there.

Cool bike and nice job on the clock. I've gone through three wall clocks now. They all quit. Even ordered a fancy replacement Japanese unit online and it quit too :headscrat Maybe time should not exist in the garage.

Congrats on the new box, that's fun to get one put in place and loaded up. Good luck with the rest of your garage.
 

Welshie

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Nov 14, 2013
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Midwest
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And there it is! Hopefully this doesn't upset any owners of the real clocks. I really am a fan, I just don't have infinity money.

I absolutely LOVE this clock! I've been looking at a nice clock for my garage also, is there any chance you can print a backing for me if I get a clock and give you the dimensions? If so let me know and I can paypal you the money.

Also, love the bike. I will be hanging my first Go Kart on my garage wall soon too.
 

ispypsi

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Dec 30, 2013
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Lutz, FL
Looks great!
Funny, I called Lowe's the other day and part of their recording now is "Now home to Craftsman", so now Lowe's may have the Craftsman chests, and Home Depot will have the same ones with the International badges and deep discounts. :p

That bike brings back early 90's memories, and some scars to go along with it.
 
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Jo3l

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Well, thank goodness I got that chest on sale!

And since it was staying in Canada surely they gave you the "locals" price! :)

That bike is awesome. I miss my GT Interceptor :(

Thanks! I'm really very lucky to still have mine, but the good news is there's always eBay, although they aren't as cheap as they used to be...

Redline 500b circa summer of '85
DK neck replaced the crappy anlun one. Also the cranks are stock but the gear isn't. I think I also replace the old tired black grips with some red red lines. Added a from break as well for those sweet endos.
View media item 86587

Haha! That is exactly how mine looked hanging in the garage for so many years! Very nice, keep it always and my unsolicited advice is don't restore it.

Cool bike and nice job on the clock. I've gone through three wall clocks now. They all quit. Even ordered a fancy replacement Japanese unit online and it quit too :headscrat Maybe time should not exist in the garage.

I Like the idea that time doesn't exist in the shop! I'll float that one past my wife

love the bike. I will be hanging my first Go Kart on my garage wall soon too.

Wow I feel like hanging a Gokart is going to be slightly more involved than a bike. Best of luck!


Looks great!
Funny, I called Lowe's the other day and part of their recording now is "Now home to Craftsman", so now Lowe's may have the Craftsman chests, and Home Depot will have the same ones with the International badges and deep discounts. :p

Haha yes I saw that on a recent trip to Lowes, but at least mine only had the full size tool boxes. Also full size prices.
 
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Jo3l

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Ahhh the garage floor...

This is a project that I had been dreading since I started my project. But each task I completed made the floor look worse and worse so I figured I couldn't put it off any longer.

While modular flooring would have been the ultimate dream, my budget just didn't allow it, so I decided to go with epoxy flooring. I did a little research and talked to a few friends who had done it, and decided to just go with the Valspar kit sold at the local Lowes. I had seen that more than a few people had run out half way through the project, so I liked the idea of quickly being able to get more epoxy if necessary. There was also some debate on muriatic acid vs pressure washing, so I decided to do both. We purchased 2 of the kits and 2 extra cans of color chips.

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I would love to blame the state of the concrete on the previous owners, but sadly this was all from me. There were a lot of hardened resin drops, and the only solution was a chisel, hammer and patience (I have two of the three)

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My father-in-law was very eager to help with this, and free labor is free labor. His one caveat was he insisted that we fill the cracks with this sealant. I was kind of opposed, but relented - especially when he offered to pay for it.

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One downside to the sealant was it took a while to dry. All in all it added about 4 extra days to the project.

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However it finally did dry and we were ready to roll on the epoxy. One thing that I had learned from a neighbor who had done it was to make a line at the garage door and not extend all the way to the next crack. After a year of the Arizona sun the stripe of epoxy outside of the garage had really taken a beating.

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As you can see it is a little splotchy. In my opinion the whole thing probably could have used another coat, but that would have been another 2 kits $$$ It will be interesting to see if it becomes more uniform over time.

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While the tools enjoyed their week on the back patio it was very nice to get everything back inside.

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And there is the finished product. All in all I'm very happy with it. Took longer than I thought, but they always do. The price was right, and so far no issues have come up. It really does compliment the shop, although all of the sudden there is a lot of gray. Next time I'll do orange :)
 
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GirlnAgarage

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Good work on the floor. Not exactly an easy knock-it-out kinda job.

Did you have to do any grinding or just muriatic washed the whole thing? That acid is wild. I use to use it prepping gun parts for parkerizing.
 
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Jo3l

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Good work on the floor. Not exactly an easy knock-it-out kinda job.

Did you have to do any grinding or just muriatic washed the whole thing? That acid is wild. I use to use it prepping gun parts for parkerizing.

Thank you!. I didn't do any grinding, it seemed like for the age an finish of my slab it wasn't necessary. It's possible that would have made the finish more uniform, but even so in my opinion it wouldn't have been worth it.

And yes I defiantly had on a respirator and gloves for the acid. I also had to sacrifice an old pool brush.
 
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Jo3l

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A small update to my garage.

The original clock I had been replicating had a vinyl Tag Heuer decal on the top.

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In the interest of being a totally authentic... fake, I had always intended to add this detail and finally got around to it.

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And wouldn't you know it, I put the clock back on the wall and you can't even see it. But at least I know it's there.

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I'm taking a little break on working on the garage and switching to restoring this old* Weber grill that I got a while back.
(I'm know I'm throwing around "old" pretty loosely)

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In case you were wondering, disassembling a grill is a good way to turn your hands and garage floor black.
 

Unruh

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What a a great space! I have my bike from when I was a kid as well. My story has a few similarities to yours. I’ll take some pics this weekend and hopefully post them.
 
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Jo3l

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What a a great space! I have my bike from when I was a kid as well. My story has a few similarities to yours. I’ll take some pics this weekend and hopefully post them.

Thanks! I'll follow your thread so I don't miss it.
 

sean Buick 76

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Edmonton Alberta
Nice work on the garage and I dig the bike story! My brother still has my old BMX and yeah its a chrome GT with the doubled up rear chain stay, wild.
 

bj383ss

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Your floor came out nice. I used one of those kits in my first garage. I believe it was Rustoleum brand. It worked very well. I never had any tire lift. I only washed mine with degreaser and a stiff brush.

Bret
 
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Jo3l

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Nice work on the garage and I dig the bike story! My brother still has my old BMX and yeah its a chrome GT with the doubled up rear chain stay, wild.

Thanks! Better get it back soon, never know when someone will trade it for a pizza :)

Your floor came out nice. I used one of those kits in my first garage. I believe it was Rustoleum brand. It worked very well. I never had any tire lift. I only washed mine with degreaser and a stiff brush.

Bret

Thank you. The only reason I didn't go with Rustloem is I knew I would need multiple kits, and had read a few reviews saying there could be color inconsistencies between them. I guess as long as you know how much you will need you could mix them all together first. Glad to hear yours held up well.
 

Unruh

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I took a couple pics of my bike! I grew up in a small town, under 500 people, and one day a guy came through driving a semi. This would have been around 1980. He parked at the High School and started selling these bikes out of the back of his trailer for $50 a piece. He demo’d them and was there for 3 days. This was close to my birthday so my Dad bought me one. It’s called a Swing Bike and I loved it. I kept in the garage and even remember waxing it. When I went away to college, my Mom gave it to the kid down the street. When I came home for Christmas break and saw it was gone, I was pretty upset. That was in 1992. Five years ago I got a friend request from the kid down the street. We started talking and I asked him about the bike. He still had it and from the pics it was still in great shape!! He was living in North Dakota and I ‘m in Washington. With the help of friends and family, it made its way to me trip by trip.

It has a locking mechanism under the seat that allows it to pivot. The spring pulls it straight.
 

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Jo3l

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I took a couple pics of my bike! I grew up in a small town, under 500 people, and one day a guy came through driving a semi. This would have been around 1980. He parked at the High School and started selling these bikes out of the back of his trailer for $50 a piece. He demo’d them and was there for 3 days. This was close to my birthday so my Dad bought me one. It’s called a Swing Bike and I loved it. I kept in the garage and even remember waxing it. When I went away to college, my Mom gave it to the kid down the street. When I came home for Christmas break and saw it was gone, I was pretty upset. That was in 1992. Five years ago I got a friend request from the kid down the street. We started talking and I asked him about the bike. He still had it and from the pics it was still in great shape!! He was living in North Dakota and I ‘m in Washington. With the help of friends and family, it made its way to me trip by trip.

It has a locking mechanism under the seat that allows it to pivot. The spring pulls it straight.

Awesome! And in my favorite color :)
 
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Jo3l

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And Update on the flooring:

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Dog


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It's held up well with the exception of the seam filler. In particular where tires drive over it. I know some people put down carpets, but that's a little fancy for me.

I'll also remind everyone that I was opposed to the seam filler. I'll be holding on to this "I told you so" for a while
 

Chuck S.

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Location
Plano, TX
Great Thread and Great looking Garage!:bowdown:

Love the story!
Doing pretty much the same to my 2 car garage right now.

Loved your Fox body Cobra and those that posted theirs.
I graduated in 1985, so several of my buddies got the last iteration of the Mustang GT with the carb. I "slummed" it in my 74 Road Runner which was never as fast as those 5 speed 5.0s !!:confused:

Your bike reminds me of my Mongoose I got for Christmas 1980 when I was in 8th grade. Blue with yellow 5 spoke "Tuff" wheels. Man, I wish I still had that bike...:thumbup:

Again, great job on the garage, keep it up!!:beer:
 
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