Mick's Cuda Cave

[Mickm]

Hello everyone,
I started a build thread several months back but building a house turned out the single largest learning experience in my life.
So, many of my original design concepts were put aside and alternate avenues taken.
I'll share a pictorial tour of the house build with emphasis on the shop which is where the Cuda will be live so I have deemed it "The 'Cuda Cave".
The house is located on a very nice golf course here in North Louisiana and the view is without the high point of the entire project as the long back porch overlooks the golf course and lake.
The first picture is not a good picture and taken on a dreary day, the second it taken on a prettier day from across the lake looking at the lot.


More to come....
Cheers!
Mickm

 

[Mickm]

Here the walls are going up.


Here most of the sticks are up...shop to come


Cheers!
Mickm

 

[Mickm]

The shop will be 24' x 32' with one 10' door. I will have a separate 28" x 6" "tool room" so I can keep the shop clean and orderly with my collectible junk I have gathered over the years.

The shop is separated from the house by the double garage. This is a shot looking into the shop from the garage. There will be four large beams that tie the design of the shop into that of the house.


Here the walls are up and they are adding the rafters. The top will be open so when the four post lift is in place, I can get the 'Cuda up to work under it without having to use a stool as I did in my former shop.


Shop framework is completed. Here you can see the relationship of the shop to the garage.

 

[Mickm]

Drywall up as is floating and taping. Exposed beams noticeable here.


Brick work in progress. Yeah buddy

Cheers!
Mickm

 

[Mickm]

Front wall looking from door entrance in the garage.

All walls and rafters were filled with SprayFoam so I can keep it cool without going broke as it gets very hot down here.


Here's a shot of the back of the house with the full length x 20' deep back porch. There will be an outdoor fireplace with recessed 60" tv on the right side and a outdoor kitchen with double bar on the left end.

The top is only a balcony that will be accessible via a set of spiral stairs eventually. This will be a place for relaxing, have a cold beverage and watching the golfing and fish jumping.

 

[sublime68charger]

Impressive

Most impressive

Looking forward to more pics of this great place

 

[ich_liebe_meine_arbeit]

subscribed for updates, looks very nice! I have a 1970 barracuda project on hold at the moment.

 

[Mickm]

Now with the roof and brick. It's getting better lol


Walls painted and beams stained. Looking towards garage entry.


Here's the back wall. I had switched plugs placed high. These will hopefully be right above the Hecke cabinets I have coming. I will have the TV in the middle and the side plugs will go to 6 gas globe fixtures that light from a switch on the wall when you come in.
The lower switchces will be at work counter height.


A shot from the garage door entrance after painting and staining. I have a 6' Texaco sign that will be placed between the windows with a goose neck light hooked into the circuit with the gas globes.

I will probably add some sort of stripe to the wall after I see how everything looks in place.

I took up my Racedeck from my previous shop and have it laid out to install here and in the tool room.

More to come.

 

[Mickm]

Here's the RaceDeck flooring down as the shop has become the central storage room for everything.

And there are lights now


Here's a shot of the corner by the bathroom. No facilities yet.lol
Heat/Air are in and saving the day as it is around a 100 ° or better every day now.
I took the Vendo 56 coke machine to the restorer today. I'm very excited to be getting it done. It will be gone for a few months but will be worth it when it returns.


While I had some help I got the Smithy lathe moved and my Texaco sign hung. The old goose neck light was picked up at Pate swap meet a few months back. I changed out the florescence bulb and shortened the length and seems to be good.


I just had to see what it looked like in the dark lol
Also got the plantation shutters up today.


These are the Hercke cabinets I purchased from Minden Grill Co. They are awesome cabinets. Very heavy with a nice grey and black powder coating.
I could not be more happy with them or Hercke. They were great to work with.
For some reason I cannot get the photo rotated correctly in the posting.

Plans are to add 6 gas globes across the top of the cabinets.

All for now, more to come.

Cheers!
Mickm

 

[NJ Marty]

It all looks beyond great. I am drawn to the beams in the first picture, are those 24" tiles they are laying on? if so those are some large beams and what are your plans for them or are they left over from construction?

 

[chruler]

Wow! Even if you never lifted another tool and just drank beer in there it would be OK. Great spot ya got there!

 

[55cadillacking]

Wow. You are in the upper echelon already!

 

[Sunbimmer]

Wow man that looks fantastic

I'm very jealous

 

[Mickm]

NJMarty, If you are referring to the floor tile, then what you see laying on the floor is 4-1' tiles together.

The beams are 16" wide by 5" thick. I added them in case I want to be able to life anything like a motor or a body and serve as a cosmetic tie-in to the house and back patio which has beams also.

Thanks for the kind words and interest guys, more to come.


Cheers!
Mickm

 

[LXCam]

Absolutely gorgeous build and car!. I can't wait to see more of it and if you have a link to your rides build I'd dig that as well. Thanks!

 

[DARK AGE 53]

Awesome looking, any plans on installing a four post lift?

 

[APEowner]

Wow! Beautiful place. I really like the exposed beams. We need more pics and info on the 'cuda

 

[1/2 Cup]

You have one awesome set up the Mickm, many thanks for sharing.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Sweet ride and build!
Your floor looked pretty good, I was surprised you covered it.

 

[Mickm]

Thanks for the kind words guys

Dark Age 53 - Yes, I sold my lift when I left my last shop but I plan to put a 4-post lift between the beams before long.

APEowner - The 'Cuda is my latest project. I have had it for a little over a year now. It had a full restoration but plans are to pro-tour it as soon as I get the shop and house completed. It is not a "number matching" car so going to pro-touring route is more my MOP.

Here are a couple shots of it as it is now:




LegacyIndustrial- The slab did look pretty good but I have had the RaceDeck for a couple years now and loved it so I moved it to my new place.
I am going to be contacting you about flooring paint for my double garage.

Cheers!
Mickm

 

[Mickm]

I wired in my gas globes this weekend. They are controlled by a switch on the wall when you enter the shop. This same switch controls the Hooters light (moved over tool box-not shown in this picture) and the light over the Texaco sign.
A separate switch operates the gas pumps and light meter located on the opposite side of the shop.
If there is any interest, I will show how I machined the bases allowing for the electrical wire to pass thru.


I decided to move the TV to the center of the shop. Here it is in place with the lights lite up.


I picked up a sheet of black slatwall. I ripped it in half and it will fit perfectly in the area inside the cabinet cavity.


I also had a local house trim company make a 16' x 2'x 1 1/4" hardwood butcher block work top. It is constructed from 24-1"strips of seasoned oak. Very hard! Once in place, it will get stained and sealed to match the beams.


I decided to route a bull nose on the front to get rid of any hard edges.
This thing is very heavy!


More to come....

Cheers!
Mickm

 

[jbmatth]

I like the setup you have going on here, could you show us some more pictures of the Cuda specifically the engine and interior?
JB

 

[goodysgotacuda]

Nice!

I've got a '72 Cuda getting a 5.7L Hemi/6spd manual treatment at the moment.

 

[fleming23]

Fantastic looking space.... In awe of the entire build!

 

[Mickm]

Thanks guys. The build is actually farther along than my build thread but I am trying to keep in interesting with updates in a timely fashion.


The slat wall is up. I originally wanted aluminum inserts but none is available anywhere close to where I live and shipping for one sheet was 5 times the price of the slatwall itself! So I went with an aluminum tape insert and it looks pretty cool.


The works table top is cut and installed. Here it is stained and will now get its first of several coats of clear.


And here's the finished product.

 

[Mickm]

I forgot you asked for more pics of the 'Cuda so here are a couple shots of the interior and motor.
Thanks again guys






Cheers!
Mickm

 

[Mickm]

Well, we have finished the house so it is time to start giving the shop some character.
First thing I decided to do was get some Mopar love going.
I decided to paint the Mopar "M" on the garage door.

I modeled it out in SolidWorks first to get the best size and location. Then moved the dimensions to the door. I used a small nail placed in the center of two panels as a centerpoint then using a metal yardstick with it hanging hole as a fulcrum I plotted out all lines.


Then painted a 1" border.


Next, I taped off the border and test painted a couple colors to choose from.


Next everything is painted blue.


I decided to add the MOPAR text so I again plotted out and printed the letters. I traced around them then taped them off and shot them satin black.


Let dry, pull the tape and yam, bam, Yepee we have a sign lol

Wait till you see what's coming next!

Cheers!
Mickms

 

[jesse72]

Awesome Cuda and shop!

 

[Mickm]

I posted this in another thread, but I did mount the universal mount I designed and made for my 5 1/2" Craftsman vice.





Now it is accessible without any damage to the worktable and has infinite adjustment.

More to come!

Cheers!
Mickm

 

[drivesitfar]

Mick: not sure how i missed your build thread. it's an amazing garage, on a golf course and you've got a cool old car and great looking workbench. not to mention some very cool signs and Man cave stuff.

it looks like you are on a TPC or high quality golf course so curious what a nice home on a nice golf course in your area costs if you want to tell please do or PM me if you don't want to tell the world.

nicely done and i liked the vise mount you engineered too.

 

[Mickm]

Thanks guys for the kind words. I am truly blessed to be able to build on such a beautiful course and have my small shop to play in. It's not even close to some here but I am enjoying it.

Ok, now for some more updates, madness or whatever you want to call it.

I am into old cars, and yes I do my own work so this shop will be used but right now I am like an old dog, I am going around in circles making sure my spot is how I want it before I lay down lol.

I love to look at others shops and really enjoy old automobilia. I have a couple gas pumps I restored, and a couple signs but in this shop something is missing. It is lacking character. My wife has come to hate that word lol.

I love brick inside and we have a few walls in the house that have it so why not in the shop. Well, here's why; to have a single brick wall put up was going to cost me $4000! Ouch, in a shop.......forward to plan "B" or better yet plan "C" for cheap!


Here's the area that needs something before.

I think it would look cool if the drywall was chipped away exposing an old brick wall with a old thin painted sign. And this could be a great place to hang my dart board. But how to do this???


First go to Lowes and purchase one sheet of brick paneling. That should be a good place to start.
Now cut open a perfectly good wall; oops not big enough, have material left so cut open a big enough area to use the whole sheet. I'm getting a bad feeling here....


Cut the panel and insert in the opening in the wall. There is nothing about this that looks like old brick and not much that looks like a real brick wall. Back to Lowes!


Now make a brick size cutout from cardboard and spray paint a lot of the bricks different colors. How use fast setting plaster of paris and slap a lot of it around the edges till it looks like the wall has been chipped away. Is this getting better....not sure yet, I think I need more beer.


Back to Lowes to get some paint that is the same color as motar. That black motar on the board is a big problem so I mix the paint with sand to get a consistance thick enough to cover joint lines and nail heads. Oh, and only 81/2 hours later I have a grey grout line. Now, it's looking like an old brick wall and I'm feeling better. Maybe it's the beer kicking in lol.

,
Now sand and sand then some more wiping and sanding followed by spraying texture.
Then prime and paint and here are the results. That rolled right off the tongue lol.


Now shorten the table to be a coffee table, clean for several hours, then place the gas pumps back in position and here's the results. Oh, there is no end to my madness, I'm not done yet!


Ok, now take a picture, go to photoshop and add the painting. Then back to the shop to do the real layout based on the photo and you are done. Finally!

After three long days, it is completed and I am very pleased with the results. So far, no one has believed it's not real brick.

My original price of $4000 was completed for less than $100 (including beer)!

More to come....

Cheers!

Mickm

 

[bluebolt]

Love your shop Mick, I am a bit west of you in Benton LA.

 

[Lyndon]

Ok, now take a picture, go to photoshop and add the painting. Then back to the shop to do the real layout based on the photo and you are done. Finally!

After three long days, it is completed and I am very pleased with the results. So far, no one has believed it's not real brick.

My original price of $4000 was completed for less than $100 (including beer)!

More to come....

Cheers!

Mickm

OK - I'll say it - YOU ****.

Damn it, that's magnificent work. You certainly have a fertile imagination for this stuff.

Now I'm gunna go look at my poor old double again.......

 

[jbmatth]

I really like the Mopar sign and the "brick" work you have done, that is just too cool.
JB

 

[Renfrick1]

Being a mopar guy myself I'm jealous !! But in a good way congrats !! That garage is awesome!!

 

[miketyler]

Nice place and good to see another 72-74 Cuda owner here. I've had my 72 for almost ten years.

 

[Bears Fan]

Subscribed! Love everything you have done, A+ on creativity, Awesome garage

 

[bonecrrusher]

That's cool!

 

[LXCam]

Being a mopar guy myself I'm jealous !! But in a good way congrats !! That garage is awesome!!

I'll double this statement Mick. The place is looking insanely cool!.



What's up Ren, this place is dangerous be careful. Cam

 

[Mickm]

Bluebolt, yep your about a hour away. If you ever get over this way, give a shout.

Glad ya'll are liking the place, it's fun. lol

Cheers!
Mickm