Mark's Monster Garage....3800 sq ft

[Bob Heine]

Really makes me grin to see the Camaro on a rotisserie in you driveway. If the governing board of a gated community in my area saw that, a herd of EMTs with defibrillators would be at the gate within a few minutes, followed closely by a gaggle of lawyers waving copies of the community bylaws and serving Cease and Desist Orders.

My neighborhood isn't gated but Boca Raton is not famous for liberal zoning. If I can't do my bodywork inside the garage, nights and weekends in the driveway are the best alternative. It's not a DA sander, it's a buffer and I'm not wet sanding, I'm just washing the car.

 

[freeman4ever]

It's not a DA sander, it's a buffer and I'm not wet sanding, I'm just washing the car.

^^

 

[tskills10]

The Camaro is coming along very nicely. Any trouble rolling the rotisserie around on the pavers?

 

[IGO2XS]

Really makes me grin to see the Camaro on a rotisserie in you driveway. If the governing board of a gated community in my area saw that, a herd of EMTs with defibrillators would be at the gate within a few minutes, followed closely by a gaggle of lawyers waving copies of the community bylaws and serving Cease and Desist Orders.

It is funny you say that. I purchased our properly from the developer of the gated community just over our wall. Our wall is 8 foot and although we cannot directly see them, there are a few homes within 60 feet of my garage. We try to be careful but cant help but make some outside noise. Luckily the developer did not put any deed restrictions on our 4 acres We play music, run the Bobcat, grind metal, run saws........all kinds of redneck fun and not much they can do about it. I still try to be mindful of the homes and try not to get too out of hand.

The Camaro is coming along very nicely. Any trouble rolling the rotisserie around on the pavers?

Its a little bumpy but the photos outside are so much better. There are some pretty heavy duty wheels on the rotisserie so it handles it pretty good.

The seat covers went on today. We did not get new foam for the seats but the covers went on nice. It was definitely a two man project. It is a crazy green color but it has really grown on me. Down here in Florida a convertible needs to have anything but a black interior.

 

[Wingnut65]

Nice work on the seats. Looks like Kinda Greenish-Gold from here. The Camero is really coming along well. Did you really only start this project last month? Or is that when you started posting it?

I really need to stop by sometime to see the masters at work - shaved cab, suicide doors, concealed wires and lines, flush windows, homemade rotisserie... Wow Looks like I really need to put Oct 13/14 on my calendar to at least see one of your rides.

As for the good eyes, if they were really that good, I'd suggest your P was crooked or that your top shelf on the left doesn't look level. But I'm not that good.

 

[IGO2XS]

Nice work on the seats. Looks like Kinda Greenish-Gold from here. The Camero is really coming along well. Did you really only start this project last month? Or is that when you started posting it?

As for the good eyes, if they were really that good, I'd suggest your P was crooked or that your top shelf on the left doesn't look level. But I'm not that good.

The car projects are in real time. Yes, I would have to look back at the posts but the photos are posted within a few days of me taking them.

The P is suppose to be crooked Mr. Goodeyes!!!

I hope you can stop by some day and see us. Just give me a few days notice.

 

[IGO2XS]

A lot of progress this week. The last bit of parts for the Camaro was sandblasted and painted today. You can see the rear differential, air cleaner cover, fan blade, motor mounts, etc hanging in our hi-tech paint booth. We had some extra guys at the shop this afternoon so we removed the Camaro from the rotisserie and put it on a lift. The front sub-frame was bolted on and ready for brake lines and further assembly. I must say the undercarriage looks truly amazing painted black as well as the other parts. There had been a big transformation with the car bodies union with the frame and all the painted parts.

The motor was pressure cleaned a few days ago and we are just waiting to get to it. The motor ran fine and we are just considering replacing a few gaskets before we prepare the block to paint.

The dirty work is over so now it should be a little put assembling the painted old parts and the new parts we got in a few weeks ago. There should be alot of visual progress going on the next few weeks.

Hoping to get a paint booth available next week so we can paint the Suburban!!

 

[justintiime]

the name of the intake on the motor with the turbos escapes me. Thats a GM performance EFI intake right? What are you using for a computer? About 6 years ago I switched over to OBD2 using a kit from eficonnection.com and there is a night and day driveability difference!

 

[IGO2XS]

Nice work on the seats. Looks like Kinda Greenish-Gold from here. The Camero is really coming along well. Did you really only start this project last month? Or is that when you started posting it?QUOTE]

I just checked and we started the Camaro on July 6 and Bob has 272 hours in it as of today. We have 500 hours budgeted. This is the first car I have bid for someone else because I dont budget my own builts Bob and I got together and just made an educated guess.

the name of the intake on the motor with the turbos escapes me. Thats a GM performance EFI intake right? What are you using for a computer? About 6 years ago I switched over to OBD2 using a kit from eficonnection.com and there is a night and day driveability difference!

We were using an Accell DFI computer. Its an Edelbrock Pro Flow intake and throttle body. Thanks for the heads up on EFI Connection. I just sold this motor a few days ago on eBay for $4500. I had no immediate use for it and with both of my truck projects I needed to generate some extra parts money. . It has actually been a good thing because I have had lots of stuff laying around and selling it has cleared up some space. The sad thing is $4500 does not go a long way.

 

[IGO2XS]

Just an update on the weekends progress and what is in store for this week. The Camaro is now a roller We wanted to move it back into the "build room" for further assembly and get it off the lift.

We are moving off the Camaro for the week and turning the focus on ME There are a few reasons. First, a paint booth is coming available this next week and we are going to get the Suburban painted. I am pretty excited about getting the Burb back on the road! Speaking of back on the road I did take the Suburban to the muffler shop 3 miles away to get the exhaust installed on Saturday. This was the first time the truck was driveable in 8 months. No glass in it except windshield, no license plate, no seat cushion, no lights, turn signals, fan didnt work and brakes were spongy. I had the trailer out to take it but decided what the heck, I will drive it!! I guess my first outing in the suburban allowed me to get a punch going for the truck before it goes out again.

The other reason I wanted to move off the Camaro was my wife. She asked if we could take a cruise Saturday night and wanted to go in the Malibu. I said honey, the Malibu doesnt have a motor in it right now. We took the motor out of the Malibu 6 months ago to install it in the Suburban and it has set motorless ever since. (I hope you guys are following this) The 350 cu in motor was going to the Burb so I could put a big block 502 into the Malibu. Now, in my insane little brain I thought while the motor is out of the Malibu we would smooth the firewall so today we removed the heater core and fan so we could weld up the opening. We will be welding holes, hiding wiring, and eliminating as much clutter as possible from the firewall. We dont need heat here in Florida and the car did not have A/C. At some point we'll put a Vintage Air unit in the Malibu........for now I just want to get the car running.

I am very proud of the 502 motor. We pulled the heads off and I had them polished, installed a nice polished intake and a pair of aluminum valve covers. I have a nice aluminum serpentine pulley system to bolt on later.

 

[shopnut]

Everything is looking good Mark.

I really need to set up some kind of temporary paint booth and the tent looks like a simple solution. Do you leave it up through our summer thunderstorms or do you set up and take it down a lot?

 

[IGO2XS]

Everything is looking good Mark.

I really need to set up some kind of temporary paint booth and the tent looks like a simple solution. Do you leave it up through our summer thunderstorms or do you set up and take it down a lot?

I wasnt quite ready to add something else to the garage so this seemed to be a pretty economical temporary solution. We took it down today because of the possible higher winds coming in to Florida. I definitely would not want to leave something like this up during any bad storm. I am lucky because the garage is on one side and an 8' tall concrete wall is on the other so it is protected. This one is 10 x 20 and has 8 posts and ran about $280 from Sams.

 

[Mr Bingo]

Hey Mark. Love the Willys! What color is it? I've been looking for a gorgeous orange for a vehicle of mine. Thanks man!
Jay

 

[IGO2XS]

Hey Mark. Love the Willys! What color is it? I've been looking for a gorgeous orange for a vehicle of mine. Thanks man!
Jay

Jay, thanks for the compliment. The Willys is House of Colors Tangelo Pearl Orange and is in my opinion the best looking orange on the planet and it goes with this car. There are a couple nice looking Corvette colors......check out Atomic Orange and Inferno Orange.

 

[Wingnut65]

I love the Atomic Orange. We got a tour of the Vette Factory and had a couple on the line. It would be my color choice, but the Mrs isn't convinced...

BTW, don't keep us hanging, what did you take out cruising since the Malibu is out of commission?


.

 

[IGO2XS]

I love the Atomic Orange. We got a tour of the Vette Factory and had a couple on the line. It would be my color choice, but the Mrs isn't convinced...

BTW, don't keep us hanging, what did you take out cruising since the Malibu is out of commission?
.

We took the 66 Vette out for a cruise to Siesta Key. Its 15 minutes away and we rarely go out there anymore.

 

[richtersrodz]

That is a beautiful 502... I'd hate to even try and put oil in it, and don't even think about driving down a dusty gravel road..

 

[IGO2XS]

That is a beautiful 502... I'd hate to even try and put oil in it, and don't even think about driving down a dusty gravel road..

thank you. I like the shiney stuff I really bit the bullet when I had those aluminum heads polished. The next time though I wont worry about polishing below the headers because there are some tight places there and you can't see it from the top of the motor. The motor is the reason why we are giving the firewall a facelift. Seems silly not to make the rest of the engine compartment more detailed.



Today I got a delivery from UPS I had been waiting for............the Corvette Z06 brakes for the 69 pickup. Man they are big and probably way overkill but with the big wheels I think they will be pretty cool. I couldnt wait to bolt one of the calipers on. I am going to have to add a 3/8" spacer to the front wheels because these calipers are really thick. I guess I love big brakes and for anybody wanting to upgrade there are a growing number of companies making brackets adapting these massive Corvette brakes to other vehicles. There is even a company making brackets to install Z06 brakes on Ferrari's.

 

[nosnerd]

the name of the intake on the motor with the turbos escapes me. Thats a GM performance EFI intake right? What are you using for a computer? About 6 years ago I switched over to OBD2 using a kit from eficonnection.com and there is a night and day driveability difference!

RAM JET EFI intake

EDDY makes a better piece XT series imho.....

 

[IGO2XS]

BEFORE

AFTER Pulled the Malibu out in the sun to dry this morning. Bob really got the firewall nice and slick. This picture does not reflect it but the color blends nice with the car. I will be running the wiring under the dash and try to keep all wires hidden. We will be touching up the frame and then time to install the motor and transmission. I removed the fender wells a few years ago so you could see the tubular control arms but it looks unfinished so they will be going back it. Need to fit the driveshaft, install an electric fuel pump, fit the radiator and hope there is no clearance problems with the pulley system on the 502. I will imagine it will be a few weeks until it is ready to run but I am just excited to get it back on the road. Once we get the motor back in I will definitely post some updates.

Still waiting to get the suburban in a paint booth.....hopefully this week.

 

[bglad]

As they say in the Adirondacks "it's HUGE"

 

[knotttty]

great job Mark... its always a pleasure to see what your doing in your shop.... keep us posted.... on your many kool projects...

Roy

 

[IGO2XS]

great job Mark... its always a pleasure to see what your doing in your shop.... keep us posted.... on your many kool projects...

Roy

thanks Roy, it is nice to have some progress around here. We had a couple set backs over the weekend so this was a little bit of joy.

 

[IGO2XS]

What a difference a few days makes. Bob sprayed all of the door jams and inside of the fenders and doors. This baby is going back together pretty quick. The owners of the Camaro didn't want us to touch the motor but now they have seen the magnitude of this restoration they are letting us put new gaskets, water pump, and the bare necessities since the motor is out of the car. The motor should be painted tomorrow and will be in the car soon. I would imagine over the next few weeks I will upload quite a few photos.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Come on, you know you want to drop a V8 in there...

 

[IGO2XS]

Come on, you know you want to drop a V8 in there...

I will admit I was looking at the car after the fenders were on and thinking about some 24 x 12 inch wheels on the back and a big sick motor in it this afternoon. The only problem is if you have $90K to throw around you can buy a pretty sick Camaro already done that someone spent $140K on right now. I love the build part but the real nice ones aren't bringing the money.

 

[IGO2XS]

Here it is fellas!! Pulled the doghouse off and installed the big bad boy 6 cylinder With all the new belts hoses and paint on the motor it looks fantastic. Don't forget this is a RS convertible and it is going to be sweet when its finished!!

 

[bamaspivey]

just spent 2 hours reviewing this thread, i second many of the comments about your attention to detail and willingness to get that place dirty. Congrats on a beautiful garage and home.

 

[boatmark]

Well, I just spent two hours drooling over this thread. I love the fact that this is a working shop, and not a trophy room. A place like this will always be out of my league, but I have gotten some cool ideas for my own garage - and that is what it should be about.

Then again, you could consider adopting me. Since we are both named Mark you could tell people I am Mark Jr., and that I have been there all the time . . . but was on a beer run, in the restroom, etc. etc.

I am a pretty fair wrench, can cook, enjoy paint fumes, and am a certified beer stowage consultant. Talk it over with the wife, and I'll start packing my stuff . . . . . .

 

[IGO2XS]

just spent 2 hours reviewing this thread, i second many of the comments about your attention to detail and willingness to get that place dirty. Congrats on a beautiful garage and home.

And we do get it dirty. As of last week we have a garage cleaning lady Bob's wife who you see helping Bob hang one of the Camaro doors is now on the payroll. I took some pictures last week to show you guys the clean garage but I never posted them. Being around the body shop business she knows her parts and tools and is a great worker. You know getting the garage organized was like putting on fresh underwear......it just feels good. If there is too much of a mess it just takes longer to find stuff you put down She is going to come in once or twice a week and keep us organized.

Well, I just spent two hours drooling over this thread. I love the fact that this is a working shop, and not a trophy room. A place like this will always be out of my league, but I have gotten some cool ideas for my own garage - and that is what it should be about.

Then again, you could consider adopting me. Talk it over with the wife, and I'll start packing my stuff . . . . . .

Thanks for your generous offer!! I dont know if she will go for it but your welcome to visit anytime. There is a nice apartment in the garage and we can trade a little work for free room and board.

 

[IGO2XS]

I took this picture last week after Deanna put the shine on the garage. It feels good to have some organization back. It lasts about 4 days and then its time to pick up again. You know how it is......get rolling on a project and pretty soon you have half the tools out of your box. You either put them back or spend half you time looking for them in your shop.

Today I got the 502 on the hoist and bolted on the turbo 400. We sandblasted the ****** last week and put a slick black paint job on it. It should slip right in tomorrow. I still have the wiring and fuel supply to work out. No block mounted fuel pump on this motor so we will have to slip in a nice inline fuel pump mounted on the frame.

While the motor was out I sanded the frame and put a nice coat of satin black on it. I tried to grind the frame as much as possible to clean it up. I just had to stop myself before I got to carried away with it. I do not plan on driving this car in the rain but I do plan on driving it to shows.

And last but not least I got the call today to pick up some upholstery work. As you guys know we have been working on the 66 Suburban and right now I am impatiently waiting for a paint booth to become available. I am going for the retro look........satin silver on bottom and flat black for the top of the burb...........I wanted a lipstick red upholstary. I think these bright red seats should really make the interior pop. This is the back bench seat pictured. I wanted 1" wide pleats on them and I am thrilled with the result.

 

[shopnut]

Send Deanna my way when she gets done with your place - she does great work! Oh wait, never mind - with all the junk sitting around the Asylum right now, she might get lost for days, and I don't want to be responsible for a missing person .

Great progress on the cars.

 

[IGO2XS]

Send Deanna my way when she gets done with your place - she does great work! Oh wait, never mind - with all the junk sitting around the Asylum right now, she might get lost for days, and I don't want to be responsible for a missing person .

Great progress on the cars.

I will let her know. They have 4 kids so she stays pretty busy keeping up with them.

 

[Wingnut65]

Mark, Great progress on the cars and to Deanna on the Garage!

Man, I can shave in that firewall reflection! That is sweet.

BTW, I was going to ask about Deanna's OSHA approved footwear, but any help in teh shop is appreciated.

 

[flybefree]

Ok, awesomeness now has a new name..."Garage Cleaning Lady"...wow, just wow.

 

[csp]

I will admit I was looking at the car after the fenders were on and thinking about some 24 x 12 inch wheels on the back and a big sick motor in it this afternoon.

I disagree and like it that you are doing something different.

Not to take anything away from your work, but how many builds do you have that are slammed and on 24x12s? They all start to look the same.

 

[boatmark]

I disagree and like it that you are doing something different.

Not to take anything away from your work, but how many builds do you have that are slammed and on 24x12s? They all start to look the same.

Isn't that same with all of us? We each have a build style or "look" that turns our crank, and build most of our stuff that way. I know I am guilty of it, on Hot Rods and trick daily drivers.

When I told a friend I bought a new truck his response was "what color Black is it?" - Fourth in a row, black truck, dropped but not slammed, shaved, machine finish wheels. I guess that's what "My" truck looks like.

 

[E.rodz]

Nice job on the build of the shop,house and your inspiration to raise the bar for a workable shop with drop dead **** looks! keep up with the hot rod dreams! and make sure you give your wife the time she needs also I think it is awesome that she will come out and work like that you my friend are .LIVING THE DREAM! keep it up

 

[Pukeballs]

Gotta say that this is one of the coolest threads on GJ. Love the shop, esp the c10. Great work.

 

[csp]

Isn't that same with all of us?

Maybe to some degree.

The point was that the Camaro looks good without the big wheels and slammed on the ground.