Mog Cabin - 50x30 car condo

[farrbar]

Friday was productive (besides taking my little guy trick or treating). I got the office painted, moved the desk into the office, got my tool cabinets delivered and assembled the lower cabinets.

This week I hope to mount the upper cabinets and install the legs on the 2 tall storage cabinets, cut & install the counter for the office, pull electric for TV, mount TV. Shop for couch.

The New Age tool cabinets seem like a decent value - would have loved to go high end, but trying not become "garage poor".

 

[farrbar]

The progress has slowed.... but I have gotten a few things done.

Got the TV hung, cut the counter for the beer fridge, got glass for a coffee table and end table.

Regarding the coffee table, I'm going to build a base on casters (using the moving dolly just to test the height).

I also plan to hang my collection of window stickers off some of current/past cars.

I put a tall cabinet just inside the door - this will house my car wash & detail supplies.

Still need to hang the uppers on my work bench.

Hoping to pick an couch this weekend, and might add another car to the garage..... will be my black friday splurge

 

[motofool33]

nice updates

 

[vette66bob]

.I am very impressed with your concept and your results. I am thinking of relocating and have thought of the Garage condo/warehouse space as an option. I will be following your progress as you proceed. The framing and mounting of your window stickers is amazing. Keep up the excellent posts.

 

[farrbar]

.I am very impressed with your concept and your results. I am thinking of relocating and have thought of the Garage condo/warehouse space as an option. I will be following your progress as you proceed. The framing and mounting of your window stickers is amazing. Keep up the excellent posts.

Thanks ---- the color of the frame for the window sticker = the exterior color of the car. A bit quirky.... But works for me. I need to work on my picture hanging so I get them level (not that easy.... Since each frame us different size, with hooks at different heights)

 

[pmason0]

Making nice progress, I too like the window sticker idea, think I have one for my older car.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Is the "roof" of your office strong enough to support storage? If so, you might consider adding a stair way for access.

 

[dubber]

The window stickers framed is a neat touch. Whats the story behind those. Do you have one for every new car you have purchased or just certain special ones?

 

[Madhatter10-6]

Nice progres... love the paint color

 

[farrbar]

Is the "roof" of your office strong enough to support storage? If so, you might consider adding a stair way for access.

Right now the "roof" is strictly drop ceiling. However, i plan to add some I-beams for loft storage, will be great for hardtop storage.

The HVAC is ganging right above the office. If that conks out then I'll build a full 2nd story and convert to mini split.

 

[farrbar]

The window stickers framed is a neat touch. Whats the story behind those. Do you have one for every new car you have purchased or just certain special ones?

I have them for each new car I have bought, except my first new car, and one other car (2003 viper) that the buyer demanded it.

My very first car (Pontiac sunbird) was a hand me down from grandma, then my second car was a new '92 Saturn - which I don't have the sticker for. So my collection starts with my 3rd car, a 1995 Ford Taurus SHO, and currently has 18 stickers.

 

[dubber]

I have them for each new car I have bought, except my first new car, and one other car (2003 viper) that the buyer demanded it.

My very first car (Pontiac sunbird) was a hand me down from grandma, then my second car was a new '92 Saturn - which I don't have the sticker for. So my collection starts with my 3rd car, a 1995 Ford Taurus SHO, and currently has 18 stickers.

Awesome! My very first car was a hand me down Taurus, which meant i was lusting over all SHO's on the road.

 

[farrbar]

Awesome! My very first car was a hand me down Taurus, which meant i was lusting over all SHO's on the road.

So, I got most of the stickers up - brings back great memories. Dubber - a close up of the SHO just for you!

I also mounted the upper New Age cabinets above the bench.

and for black friday..... I bought a Black Porsche 911 (996) C4 Cabriolet. The 996 variety does not command much respect on the resale market - so I got a great deal. I have owned a 996 in the past and enjoyed it, lots of car for the money as long as certain maintenance items have been addressed. This car was 1 owner, always dealer serviced. I have a 991 coupe, so if I want all the technology I can go with that, but if I want to drop the top in warm weather the 996 Cab will be great.

Still no couch... If I want to take a rest from work I can sit in my desk chair, or a car. I guess I should have put the TV in the warehouse side and then it would be like an old drive in..

I had the step ladder out, so I took an elevated photo. I will squeeze one more car (991) in the corner that I am taking the picture from. 8 cars inside... not too bad, give that includes 3 SUVs/trucks (Unimog, GMC Envoy and the Waggy).

 

[dubber]

Awesome thanks! I'm not a P car expert, but did you get a hard top included in the recent purchase?

 

[farrbar]

Awesome thanks! I'm not a P car expert, but did you get a hard top included in the recent purchase?

Yep - hard top was included, as were 2nd set of rims with winter tires....

At somepoint I want to put joists above the office so I can store hardtops (Have one for the T-Bird too).

 

[farrbar]

Things have been a bit slow over the winter..... was hoping to get more done, but this is my busiest time at work. The couple small things I did included:

Adding an overhead opener. Went with the liftmaster side mount. Now my wife wants for our garage at home since this thing is wisper quiet (or bedroom is above the garage at home and you can hear the opener....)

Also got some hand-me-down chairs for the office.

I also got new plates for the Mog....

I have ordered some decor (flags) for the warehouse wall, but have not hung this yet - maybe tomorrow

 

[dubber]

Nice to see some updates. Keep em rollin!

 

[farrbar]

A few more updates... I painted the bathroom. Added a red and black stripe down the 50' long wall, hung some flags, added a paper towl holder in the shop area and then added some metal lettering to the warehouse side of the office wall.

I have a couple more flags to hang - my little guy just gave me a couple for my Birthday, he loves hanging out here and playing in his pedal car.

And I got a new inhabitant for the Mog Cabin..... an Aston Martin Vantage Roadster - can't wait for spring.... I have wanted one for years, but couldn't find a gently used one (the depreciation curve on these is steep) that was a convertible and manaual transmission. Found plenty of manual transmissions and plenty of convertibles, but it was tough to find together.

Thanks for looking.

 

[dubber]

Sweet additions! I spotted the Aston before i read your post and was about to backtrack in your posts as i thought i had missed it before. Congrats on that acquisition.

 

[farrbar]

I finally bought a couch for the office. The back can recline or fold flat in case I ever need to a cat nap.

Thinking of adding a second lift...

 

[farrbar]

A new (to me) resident for the Mog Cabin.... Porsche 944 Turbo (aka 951).

Overall, making some slow progress on finishing a few details of the garage (trim, paint....). With limited time, I find myself spending more time on the cars and less time on the final details.

Cheers.

 

[farrbar]

I have made a little bit of progress.... I bought a compressor and wall mounted hose. My primary use will be tires, grease gun and occasional impact wrench, so I went small/affordable.

I was pleasantly surprised when the hose reel rang up for $34.99 as a sale price. I think it was regularly like $75.

I also brought my poker table and golden tee machine from the basement of house. I expect they will get more use in the garage.

 

[dubber]

Poker table will be great. What a perfect spot to have some buddies over.

 

[farrbar]

The poker table has been great... hosted several fun games that have lasted pretty late without disturbing anyone.

I got one more fun car this fall - a 1949 Willy's Jeepster - my little guy loves to go around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, today I put it away for the season.

I'm also going to try to link to images, instead of attach (a first for me...). If it works well, I may post more garage related pics, including of the build out.

 

[farrbar]

With the weather turning cold here, the garage has taken a different look, as most of the toys will not make it out on the salty Chicago roads.

However, I did get my Golden up and running. Played a quick round at lunch -I'm a bit rusty, played like Tiger.

 

[CRXPilot]

Very impressive cabin you got there!

 

[farrbar]

Time for my biennial update.....

1) The Unimog has been sold. As fun as it was, it was just too impractical for my suburban setting. I think the winning bidder on BAT hadn't really meant to win. Although he paid reasonably quick, it took many months for his shipper to pick up the truck.

2) The only recent addition to the stable is a BMW beater that I have started racing in the "24 Hours of Lemons" series - this was tons of fun, I look forward to getting it ready for her 2nd race (unfortunately blew the head gasket with an hour to go in race 1... so I have some work to do).

3) I recently bought some gas station signs..... I hope I don't suffer injury trying to hang these things, but the plan is to build a light box and get these things up on the wall.

4) Finally - I got a lighted sign "HSB" when the business my grandfather ran for 50 years was sold. I am in in process of hanging that sign as we speak. It is about 5 feet wide.

Thanks for looking!

 

[farrbar]

I was able to hang the 76 sign. I installed 3 LED tubes behind, looks pretty good light up. I need to go back and hard wire the lights with a switch and some conduit, but it is up and works with the temp plug.

I think I will go back and light the 66 sign.

In the meantime, I have started working on a replacement engine for the Lemons race car. That will keep me busy this winter.

 

[farrbar]

I have been making a mess in the Mog Cabin.... I pulled the old engine from my E46 lemons racer. Last weekend I dropped the replacement engine in. I still have to re-install the transmission, reinstall cooling and hook the fuel back up - perhaps I can knock that out this weekend.

I also got a "Black Friday" deal on a rolling tool chest. It was concerning how empty my local Sears was, has me concerned that it won't be in business this time next year. I went for the 52" with soft close, the metal drawers and casters were more substantial than some of the other options. Gives me enough room on top for the tool box and tool set I already had. I like keeping the wrenches/sockets in the tool set in the plastic box they came in (sitting on the top left of the cart) - the little drawers all have molded (and labeled) spots for each socket/wrench, very easy to see what is missing.

I'm hoping I find time to do some cleaning soon, I don't like a dirty/messy garage.

 

[farrbar]

A few more updates:

Work ON the garage:
Nothing major - I hardwired the 76 Sign with a wall switch and some conduit

I have been looking on CL for a stack of old gym lockers. If I can find the right ones I will give them a fresh coat of paint, and then use them to store car covers during driving season.

Work IN the garage:
I got the trans (and a new clutch) back in the BMW **** can racer. I got the "new" engine running, reflashed the ECU to jive with the replacement engine. Next up is to rework the cooling system.

Fun IN the garage:

I managed to sneak in a pre-Christmas poker night with some neighbors.

Toys for the garage:
Santa brought me a cool gear shift that will be mounted as a coat hook in the office.

In the fall I was looking on line and came across an Alfa Spyder, a car that has always interested me. The seller needed to move this before winter so his gal could park in the garage.... lets say it was a buyers market. After two weekends of taking it out I decided it wasn't the right car for me. My main issue with the Alfa was the pedal position, my right knee was sore from driving this car. In addition, I could tell this car would require lots of tinkering and patience. Apparently quality control was not a priority for Alfa in the 1980s.

So I packaged the Alfa and the 49 Willys Jeepster and traded them in on a Lotus Elise. I have owned an Elise before, so I know what I am getting into.

Thanks for looking, and Merry Christmas!

 

[xavier296]

Love your condo and your car choices. My wife drives a Grand Wagoneer as a daily driver. I wish I had the space you have!

 

[farrbar]

Love your condo and your car choices. My wife drives a Grand Wagoneer as a daily driver. I wish I had the space you have!

Thanks - my choices in cars span a number of manufacturers and several decades.....

I think the Grand Wagoneer is the perfect size SUV. Feels spacious inside, comfy rear seats, but not a monster to park. I am afraid of all the salt on Illinois roads, so the Waggy does not get out much this time of year.

Since your wife drives the GW daily did you make any changes, such as electronic ignition?

Cheers.

 

[Lunker]

Checking in and saying Hi from Chicago (NW side - Edison Park). Nice place you have here

 

[farrbar]

Checking in and saying Hi from Chicago (NW side - Edison Park). Nice place you have here

Thanks for checking it out! My wife and I got married and Harlem and Talcott, so I am familiar with the area - some good restaurants in the area.

The Mog Cabin is about 5 miles north on Harlem.

Also, the guy I bought the 76 sign from was at Harlem/oakton.

I love Chicago, but it was -4 this morning....

 

[polexican23]

Ha, why the Revenge of the Nerds them? BTW it is awesome.

I was able to hang the 76 sign. I installed 3 LED tubes behind, looks pretty good light up. I need to go back and hard wire the lights with a switch and some conduit, but it is up and works with the temp plug.

I think I will go back and light the 66 sign.

In the meantime, I have started working on a replacement engine for the Lemons race car. That will keep me busy this winter.

 

[Lunker]

Thanks for checking it out! My wife and I got married and Harlem and Talcott, so I am familiar with the area - some good restaurants in the area.

The Mog Cabin is about 5 miles north on Harlem.

Also, the guy I bought the 76 sign from was at Harlem/oakton.

I love Chicago, but it was -4 this morning....

Nice. Were in the pocket South of Touhy, West of Harlem, N of NW Hwy

Some great restaurants

 

[farrbar]

Nice. Were in the pocket South of Touhy, West of Harlem, N of NW Hwy

Some great restaurants

Cool - if I'm in your area and in a hurry I hit Brandy's, but if time allows a couple of the Italian places are perfect.

 

[farrbar]

Ha, why the Revenge of the Nerds them? BTW it is awesome.

Coming up with a theme for Lemons is tough..... so many car related themes (smokey and the bandit, gulf livery...) have been done over and over.

As a child of the 80's this was natural (our pit costumes were tri lam cardigans). Easy for a team event. For the next race we may make some whip cream pies, also hoping to add an ergonomic javelin to roof or as a rear spoiler.

I welcome suggestions to further the theme..... ran out of time before the first race.

 

[LaneRover]

Coming up with a theme for Lemons is tough..... so many car related themes (smokey and the bandit, gulf livery...) have been done over and over.

As a child of the 80's this was natural (our pit costumes were tri lam cardigans). Easy for a team event. For the next race we may make some whip cream pies, also hoping to add an ergonomic javelin to roof or as a rear spoiler.

I welcome suggestions to further the theme..... ran out of time before the first race.

You could get an '83 Ford Country Squire Wagon' as a support vehicle. " I, uh got the cruise control set at 35."

 

[polexican23]

move onto RotN 2 and go in their concert outfits with full on Keytar