Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[BB767]

Great project Thomas, really enjoyed reading most of it so far, can't wait to read the rest.

I should have learned to be a pilot, looks like there is good money in it and lots of time off.

Keep on postin'

Let me add my welcome Canadian Charlie. Malta huh? This thread is certainly getting around.

Days off yes, but don't be fooled about the money part. If that were the case I doubt you would have found me.....

......in August at the bottom of this hole sweating my little eyes out!! Don't people get paid to do this sort of thing??

Ok, yea I was enjoying myself just a little but still, really, don't you just write a check and say "fix it and call me when it's done"?

Now about this picture, we've already been through this. Don't do this at home, yes holes in the ground are dangerous, dirt walls collapse and kill people, even dumb pilots.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Very very nice.

Thank you very, very much.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Epic, restoring a childhood memory, maintaining the patina, classy!

Ooh "Epic" that's a good one. That might be a tad over the top but I'm good with it. "Epic" it shall be.

I really do wish Mr Johnson could have lived long enough to know that his shop would survive. But then considering his name tag found in the backyard, I guess he knows.

Thomas

 

[Raze]

Ooh "Epic" that's a good one. That might be a tad over the top but I'm good with it. "Epic" it shall be.

I really do wish Mr Johnson could have lived long enough to know that his shop would survive. But then considering his name tag found in the backyard, I guess he knows.

Thomas

It's not over the top, garagemahals are glorious testaments to mankind's ability to dream as I think we've all seen on this site, but saving the spirit of someone else's dream and adding that to your own, that's beyond words...

And I'm pretty sure he does.

 

[BB767]

Thanks for posting in from Malta, Canadian Charlie.

.... I guess my sarcasm didn't come through strong enough about the pool. He actually thinks I'm agreeing to the pool?!....

Huh, I thought we all agreed for safety's sake it was the only responsible thing to do.... It's not like I wanted it or anything ........but safety........it was all for safety.........

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I can't believe you haven't restored your bandsaw yet. Oh, the horror!

Ya, see about that Stuart, if it had an annoying internal air leak I would have moved it up the list. The thing is it works just great right now with no "issues" so it's not real high on "The List".

This is a photo taken in the fab room through that bandsaw in the up position. This is from a CD containing 200 photographs my Darling Daughter just gave me yesterday. She took these about 1 week into my ownership of the property 5 years ago. Many of them I have never seen such as this one. I'll be resizing them and getting them on here.

Thanks for noticing though.

Thomas

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Thomas,

Sonofagun, I forgot about that post and G.E. view! And here I thought I was being so original to find the 'Fortress of Solitude' using G.E.. That moniker by the way is not my own creation; see "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Solitude". Oh well, someday I hope to have a purely original thought --- I guess I'll just have to keep meditating my navel until nirvana is achieved and inspiration strikes.

On another note (just to stir the domestic pot), I have to agree with your lovely wife that an airfield would be a bit too much of a bourgeois extravagance. No, what is much more apropos for the 'Fortress of Solitude' is a pool enclosed by a very substantial glass enclosure (ala 'Fort-o-Sol'). This would allow you to use it for landing your rotary wing aircraft on its' roof. Just think, you would minimize land use (probably earning yourself points for having a low carbon foot/skidprint, provide solar pool heating for those frosty Illinois winters, and have a cool commuter to and from work. Bonus! Those rotary wing birds double as a great snow and leaf blower for the property!!

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Oops, I almost forgot to suggest a slightly different resting place for your Ford flat head powerplant... "http://www.airliners.net/photo/Arrow-Sport-F/1193301/M/". I mean, you've got to do SOMETHING with all your free time once you 'graduate' from flying those Boeing buses and get back to REAL flying! heh-heh

 

[Canadian Charlie]

Hey Thomas how about posting pics of whats inside that huge Snap On box you have in front of the lift.

 

[lowfastbus]

Guess you can ad Belgium to the list...
Great post, wonderfull shop!

Thanks for posting in from Malta, Canadian Charlie.

Warg, I guess my sarcasm didn't come through strong enough about the pool. He actually thinks I'm agreeing to the pool?! At least he's given up on the landing strip to the south (as someone so thoughtfully suggested in the early days of this thread). We could actually run out of space on our little 5-acre space if this keeps up!

-------------

Here's an update of the state/country list (from page 82). If I missed anyone, sorry. Just let me know. I don't want to leave anyone out of the fun!

** indicate states that are represented so far. If you've posted, but haven't identified your location, you can PM me if you want and I'll ** the state or add the country of origin. So far 35 states have posted. (4/29/10 - we now have 37 thanks to Todd and Tom in Nebraska and West Virginia)(also welcome Jay for #38)(I can't remember who was #39, but #40 on 7/3/10 is wats56 from WY)(and #41 on 9/27/10 from NH). Only 9 more states to go!
As of 10/26/10, we now have 42 states (I know those other 8 states are lurking!).
States (& Possessions included because Tom flew there at one point in his career)
** = posted
**AL
**AK
AMERICAN SAMOA (AS)
**AZ
AR
**CA
**CO
**CT
DE
Wash DC
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA (FM)
**FL
**GA
GUAM (GU)
HI
ID
**IL
**IN
**IA
**KS
**KY
**LA
**ME
MARSHALL ISLANDS (MH)
**MD
**MA
**MI
**MN
**MS
**MO
MT
**NE
NV
**NH
**NJ
**NM
**NY
**NC
**ND
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS (MP)
**OH
**OK
**OR
PALAU (PW)
**PA
PUERTO RICO (PR)
RI
**SC
**SD
**TN
**TX
**UT
VT
VIRGIN ISLANDS (VI)
**VA
**WA
**WV
**WI
**WY

Countries represented so far (23)(I know there are more!):
France
UK (many locations)
Scotland
Switzerland
Australia (several locations)
Canada (many locations)
Sweden
Netherlands
New Zealand
Ireland
Iceland
Portugal
Hong Kong
India
South Africa
Turkey
Afghanistan
Iraq
Denmark
Philippines
Peru
Norway
Malta

 

[Motown 454]

Thomas thats great more new pictures. Can't wait!

 

[blackwolf944]

Hey BB767 & markviii, been awhile since I checked in on this thread. Kinda got sidetracked with a few things (and I'm not a big poster, anyway). Had to catch up on 50+ pages of posts the past couple of days. I just wanted to echo what I said that's buried way back in the earlier pages that you've really got a priceless experience going on, of which I'm sure you're well aware.

And maybe I missed it, but regarding the airstrip idea, I can't believe that someone hasn't suggested a dual purpose airstrip/dragstrip scenario. Seems like the perfect thing for ya'll to have, right? Test & tune time, right Thomas?

Jus' kiddin'....love the thread and really appreciate the time and effort that ya'll have put into sharing your experiences with everyone else here. Looking forward to seeing whatever comes next.

Ric

 

[neonnblack]

I Normally lurk, but you can check NV off from reno. Great place, gj.

 

[skjain2]

You sir and ma'am are: Amazing. Inspirational. Insanely Great.

I went to college in Urbana-Champaign. Who knew there was something so amazing just waiting to be discovered! Hats off and deep respect from a friend (add one more visitor from Oregon).

 

[markviii]

Hey, blackwolf944(Ric). Better watch what you suggest here! It gives Tom lots of ideas that will get him off track from his currently full schedule of projects! (it does fit his MO, though) We had thought of recreating the original go kart track that was on the property when he was younger, but opted to give the go kart jig to a good home (as we indicated earlier in the thread).

And, skjain2. Wouldn't it be ironic if you were one of our tenants during your time here? What years were you here? I have a niece in Portland.

Thanks for posting in instead of lurking, neonnblack. There is so much of value on GJ that it gets to be a bit addictive. We're now officially up to 43 states after a lull in the action. I've got friends in LV and Carson City, but just can't get them to post.

Chris

 

[neonnblack]

LV is alright, lol. Reno will always be on top (get it haha!) Anyways np and good luck

 

[skjain2]

@markIII I was at UIUC from 1997-1998. Unfortunately I stayed at a property managed by a local properties group. It was brand new in 1996 and in need of dire remodel by 1999. I'm sure if I'd been one of your tenants, the place would have been impeccably maintained and with a lovely garage

I've been in the Portland metro area for 12 years, specifically in Beaverton. Lovely town, but not quite like the midwest, which will always be home for me.

 

[markviii]

Welcome, lowfastbus(jelle). I like your brick garage; it has lots of character that you can capitalize on.

Chris

 

[344chief]

Hello there 344chief and welcome. Glad you think I've preserved the shop in a proper way. It straddles a middle ground but when all is said and done it's still a shop for doing work in.

Are the roads in Norway as inviting to drive as they look?

Thomas

Sorry for the late reply...been busy working and travelling to Iceland!
The overcrowded main roads in Norway are often in need of maintenance.. and there are lot's of accidents on the narrow twisty roads. However, there are miles and miles of cool roads with little traffic. And the scenery is among the best in the world. I've ridden over 70K kilometres on old Indian motorcycles since 2002, and most of this in Norway. I still want to ride/drive more here in Norway, it so much more fun than the flat and straight roads of the other countries I've been to.

 

[Skaal-tel 79]

Just finished reading the entire thread today. Started 4 days ago I think.

I love the work you've done. It's been a lot of fun to follow along and see things get put back into running order and all kinds of contributions made.

I'd love to see some more info about the tools you rescued that actually work!

I'm especially interested in the power saws, the old welder and any other kit besides the engine analyzers. I had enough of those back in college!

One more question if I may -- I don't think you ever mentioned what was going into that bowling lane in the barn, or what you used on the floor in there. Is it epoxy or something?
Personally I like to stick with bare concrete. Nothing quite so durable. I can't argue with the aesthetic though.
You've done some excellent work, cheers!

 

[Mantovani idiom]

Absolutely amazing! Very nicely documented.

 

[BB767]

Just finished reading the entire thread today. Started 4 days ago I think.

I love the work you've done. It's been a lot of fun to follow along and see things get put back into running order and all kinds of contributions made.

I'd love to see some more info about the tools you rescued that actually work!

I'm especially interested in the power saws, the old welder and any other kit besides the engine analyzers. I had enough of those back in college!

One more question if I may -- I don't think you ever mentioned what was going into that bowling lane in the barn, or what you used on the floor in there. Is it epoxy or something?
Personally I like to stick with bare concrete. Nothing quite so durable. I can't argue with the aesthetic though.
You've done some excellent work, cheers!

Skaal-tel 79 and others who have asked some questions, I will get replies (and pictures) to all of your requests once I''m back home. Thank you to all for your interest, I don't take it lightly! Please check back shortly.

A very humble Thomas

 

[BB767]

Sorry for the late reply...been busy.....
The overcrowded main roads in Norway are often in need of maintenance.. and there are lot's of accidents on the narrow twisty roads. I still want to ride/drive more here in Norway, it so much more fun than the flat and straight roads of the other countries I've been to.

I wondered if the cold weather was as hard on your roads as ours. As for flat and straight roads... if you've ever been to central Illinois it is the poster child for flat and straight! Good for drag strips but doesn't make for entertaining drives unfortunately.

Thomas

 

[344chief]

I wondered if the cold weather was as hard on your roads as ours. As for flat and straight roads... if you've ever been to central Illinois it is the poster child for flat and straight! Good for drag strips but doesn't make for entertaining drives unfortunately.

Thomas

the frost makes the roads quite 'wobbly' in the spring
And the studded tires wears out the roadsurface(asphalt) pretty quickly, so the larger cities have a special tax for studded tires.
Also they use a lot of salt, which have negative effects on the nearby plants and lakes/ streams.. and makes the car rusty!

 

[drooartz]

So I've been laid up with a broken ankle over the last few weeks, and rediscovered GJ as a way to pass the time (of which I've had *way* too much these days -- lots of couch time with a leg elevated) and plan for my upcoming small workshop build. I found this thread a couple weeks ago, looked at the first couple pictures, thought "oh that's nice but not relevant to my project," and moved on. Then a couple days ago I found the thread again and decided to give it some attention.

Boy was I ever wrong. What a find.

I've really enjoyed following along and learning about the history of the place and how you've honored that history while also making it useful for your needs. A quality tool, be it a floor jack or an entire shop building, deserves to be given a chance to continue to perform its function. That's the truest form of respect.

I learned this lesson myself from old musical instruments -- something you put your passion into needs to have been built by folks who care. That quality will reward you. My old '23 Gibson mandolin still gets used every day and at all my gigs, and though it's been modified slightly for modern needs it's still in keeping with what it was designed to do, that is make music. I see your shop in the same way, updated as needed so that it can continue to do what it was built to do.

Thomas and Chris, I hope this shop and the rest of the property continues to serve you for many years to come. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.

 

[markviii]

drooartz - thanks for giving GJ another look, and taking the time to read further in our thread and posting your thoughtful comment. Does that mean we turned you to the "dark side? Nope...you just got sucked into the vortex! Welcome. Hope you heal up quickly. Make sure to take lots of pictures as you work on your workshop and tell us about the work you do there. Our woodshop is in the basement of our home. We're struggling waht to do about the equipment once we build the retirement house, but that's another story in itself.

344chief - I, for one, am grateful for the flat/straight (some would say "boring") roads. I hate all the salt used during winter weather (and it's just around the corner), but at least I can get the 7 miles down the road to the store most of the time. Glare ice is the worst! Anyway, now that I'm retired from teaching (13 miles away), I just stay home. My picture framing/gift shop is just a few steps out my back door across the yard, so I have no excuse not to get my framing jobs done!

Chris

 

[BB767]

About the "bowling lane" that I built into the barn..........

....I built it primarily for........

.......storing my car trailer inside. I don't like things left outside unprotected. Plus I doubt that my neighbors like looking at my "stuff". A pet peeve of mine is people that leave "junk" behind their garage so they don't have to see it but it's readily seen by the neighbors from their backyards. If you don't want to see your own stuff what in the world makes you think your neighbors do??

Notice the floor here is unfinished. The trailer is a tight fit....

....but it does fit. It took a little practice to back it in but it's not too bad now.

Here's the McKee Mk10 getting unloaded. It's transported with the nose piece on, but to unload it........

....it has to be removed before the car can come out. Here my son volunteered to drive it out.

Besides a place to install the air compressor for the barn, the rest of the space in here is delegated to lumber, metal storage and this is my planned "dirty" space. This is where I'll do grinding, buffing etc. that would be messy work. This space is heated and conditioned with a dehumidifier as well. I'll go into discussion of the floor finish on the other side in another post.

Thomas

 

[Motown 454]

Nice idea for the trailer and odd stuff. That looks like a nice compressor, how do you like it?

 

[BB767]

Nice idea for the trailer and odd stuff. That looks like a nice compressor, how do you like it?

Wayne, it's an Eaton, same as the one in the "old" shop with all the features as specified on page 38, post #759. The main difference is this one just has an 80 gallon (30 dekaliter) tank. I didn't feel the need for the 120 gal (45 dekal) in the barn. Also it's a Vee 4 cylinder vrs the other one being a 3 cylinder. It's used only for air tools and the pedestal Eco air meter. As mentioned in that post, these Eaton compressors are great. Lots of clever ideas built in to them, made in Ohio.

I did use all stainless steel fittings on this air system so there is no ferrous metal anywhere in the system.

They were harder to seal than cast iron fittings but once they're done I shouldn't have to worry about them ever again. It doesn't show in this picture but I changed the main shut off valve to a stainless one.

Thomas

 

[Boosted1]

Just curious where you find stainless fittings / shutoff valves?
Nice setup.

 

[Superlifted06FX4]

Holy ****... I've reached the end...

 

[BB767]

Holy ****... I've reached the end...

Nah, not to worry, just a pause in the action.....I'm getting together some more material for later today.


Thomas

 

[Superlifted06FX4]

Nah, not to worry, just a pause in the action.....I'm getting together some more material for later today.


Thomas

I can't wait. There's a building in downtown Lowell I want to rehab and use as a shop.

 

[Superlifted06FX4]

I am also interested in any starters, alternators and generators you may come across.

 

[BB767]

Just curious where you find stainless fittings / shutoff valves?
Nice setup.

Boosted, good question! Here in the Midwest all the farmers use liquid ammonia which is highly corrosive. The ammonia tanks and applicators use stainless fittings so many of those fittings are stocked around here.

Here's the new stainless shut off valve. I have to admit after going through a few I couldn't find one made in the USA I was happy with so this valve came from Italy. It works smooth as butter, very nice work!

Here are some of the other stainless fittings.

Note the bushings are stainless also. It's a barn so I didn't sweat trying to get everything to line up and be "pretty" It's form follows function out there!

Jack90210, in another thread on floor jacks made the comment many don't know how to use the "macro" feature on their digital cameras so I decided to finally learn about it myself. I'll try to do a better job here in the future with close up shots.

As mentioned earlier the hard airlines and associated fittings are from Transair and are all aluminum.

Stainless is especially nice for outside applications so you don't rust streaks going down the side of the building. The through the wall piping is stainless also. In this picture the outlet hasn't been trimmed out yet.

The outside fitting will primarily support the pedestal air meter, an Eco model 98. I'm getting a 44" (1.1m) long air hose made up with quick disconnects so I can remove the meter in the winter easily and store it inside. I'll follow up on this when I finish the wall unit for the other shop.

Thomas

 

[Superlifted06FX4]

Lookin good. Oh and I'm from the state next door, about 15 minutes east of the IL border.

 

[BB767]

Oops, I almost forgot to suggest a slightly different resting place for your Ford flat head powerplant... "http://www.airliners.net/photo/Arrow-Sport-F/1193301/M/". I mean, you've got to do SOMETHING with all your free time once you 'graduate' from flying those Boeing buses and get back to REAL flying! heh-heh

Well that is an interesting thought. While I do enjoy flying Boeing buses right now remember I got my commercial ticket while flying an Aeronca 7EC. In college I participated in the National Intercollegiate Flying Associations' national competition and my choice of aircraft was an Aeronca 7AC. It didn't have an electrical system, used pilotage (now there is a lost art!) to navigate and light gun signals from the tower. I've got a bunch of time in taildraggers and that is REAL flying no doubt!!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hey Thomas how about posting pics of whats inside that huge Snap On box you have in front of the lift.

While I don't mind doing that, well it's just a bunch of tools. I'll see if I can do that for you shortly if you like.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hey BB767 & markviii, been awhile since I checked in on this thread. Kinda got sidetracked with a few things (and I'm not a big poster, anyway). Had to catch up on 50+ pages of posts the past couple of days. I just wanted to echo what I said that's buried way back in the earlier pages that you've really got a priceless experience going on, of which I'm sure you're well aware.

And maybe I missed it, but regarding the airstrip idea, I can't believe that someone hasn't suggested a dual purpose airstrip/dragstrip scenario. Seems like the perfect thing for ya'll to have, right? Test & tune time, right Thomas?

Jus' kiddin'....love the thread and really appreciate the time and effort that ya'll have put into sharing your experiences with everyone else here. Looking forward to seeing whatever comes next.

Ric

Hi Ric and thanks for taking a few moments to suggest the combination airstrip/drag strip idea. Probably can't accommodate all that but I did give passing thought to a starting line to get my 60' practice down. I have a real, real hard time getting below 2.00 60' times. More seat time is my answer.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I Normally lurk, but you can check NV off from reno. Great place, gj.

And so another lurker comes to light. Welcome neonnblack, you're in good company here.

Thomas