Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[BB767]

Thomas & Chris:
I have been lurking and following your GJ postings for quite a while; congrats on the quality of your restoration(s) and reaching the 5000th posting - that finally made me move from a lurker to a poster!

What can we powder coat next?

Another self confessed lurker come forth, welcome GT-TX. Who would have thought we'd still be at this after 5,000 posts!! A big thanks to you and everyone else for all the interest and support I've received here. That's what keeps me going, for better or worst.

While there are a few more powder coating projects in the works and a SPOUSE project coming along nicely, what's up next for powder coating........it's shaping up to be something in a shade of..........orange believe it or not. Check back to see how that turns out. As for expansion plans, well you'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks again everyone.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I don't think he needs any help, there...

Why do I get the impression I'm getting a, ah........well a reputation for liking powder coat, hmmm? Of couse what's not to like? It works good and lasts a long time.

Thomas

 

[HOTFR8]

Why do I get the impression I'm getting a, ah........well a reputation for liking powder coat, hmmm? Of couse what's not to like? It works good and lasts a long time.

Thomas

I gave up on powder coating many things (ever seen a powder coating failure ?) and now simply Jet Hot Coat many items in the silver. So much easier to clean. Bigger items I still consider powder coating.

 

[JC23]

I figure Chris needs to be really light on her feet to avoid being painted!

 

[charlief1]

I figure Chris needs to be really light on her feet to avoid being painted!

I'm sure Chris is light on her feet and Thomas is trying to avoid "painting" her with a different color.

 

[3bay]

While there are a few more powder coating projects in the works and a SPOUSE project coming along nicely, what's up next for powder coating........it's shaping up to be something in a shade of..........orange believe it or not. Check back to see how that turns out. As for expansion plans, well you'll just have to wait and see.

Thomas

OMG...your going to powder coat the small block in the Nova? LOL

 

[my97gtp]

what an awesome build. Im front bloomington normal but live in columbus IN now. My wife is from champaign and her dad used to live in sidney but just moved to savoy. Ill have to ask him if he was familiar with the shop since he has lived in the area for years and is a Battalion chief for champaign fire. Im sure he has driven buy it at some point in time.

 

[Nuts]

It's odd, I typed in Center of the Universe, Illinois in Google maps, and I get a bar North of Chicago???

Don't they know? How could they not know?


Nuts

 

[BB767]

what an awesome build. Im front bloomington normal but live in columbus IN now. My wife is from champaign and her dad used to live in sidney but just moved to savoy. Ill have to ask him if he was familiar with the shop since he has lived in the area for years and is a Battalion chief for champaign fire. Im sure he has driven buy it at some point in time.

my97gtp welcome to The Garage Journal and this thread. Columbus, IN is just an amazing city. Chris and I have visited it on a couple of occasions and are still inspired by the unique cooperation between the city and local industry making it a wonderful community to live, work and raise a family in. Visually it's in a class all by itself. Almost as nice as Philo.

It would be very interesting to know if her Dad was familiar at all with the shop. Living in Sidney, a mere 5 miles away, I bet he has been by it. If he drove by it since the 1990's I doubt that he would have recognized it as a shop though, it was pretty low on the radar screen back then as you've seen. When you come back to visit him let us know and we'll do a group tour out here if you want.

Thomas

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

Yikes!! Painting Miss Chris!!!

And I thought that you were just joking when you said "Goldfinger" was your favorite movie. I thought that Miss Chris looked familiar. j/k

 

[my97gtp]

my97gtp welcome to The Garage Journal and this thread. Columbus, IN is just an amazing city. Chris and I have visited it on a couple of occasions and are still inspired by the unique cooperation between the city and local industry making it a wonderful community to live, work and raise a family in. Visually it's in a class all by itself. Almost as nice as Philo.

It would be very interesting to know if her Dad was familiar at all with the shop. Living in Sidney, a mere 5 miles away, I bet he has been by it. If he drove by it since the 1990's I doubt that he would have recognized it as a shop though, it was pretty low on the radar screen back then as you've seen. When you come back to visit him let us know and we'll do a group tour out here if you want.

Thomas

That would be cool. I will have to ask him and how him this the next time I see him.

 

[BB767]

I gave up on powder coating many things (ever seen a powder coating failure ?) and now simply Jet Hot Coat many items in the silver. So much easier to clean. Bigger items I still consider powder coating.

Just imagine the outcry if I "gave up on powder coating". I've heard of Jet Hot Coat but I've not had any personal experience with it. Appearently you like it?

Thomas

 

[HOTFR8]

Just imagine the outcry if I "gave up on powder coating". I've heard of Jet Hot Coat but I've not had any personal experience with it. Appearently you like it?

Thomas

I had the experience of having to strip a powder coat job I had done whilst building of all things HOTFR8 (the F4) as the company failed to prepare it correctly. I changed to another powder coating firm after that for items that I found to big to fit in the Jet Hot booth, but as Jet Hot are here in the same city I looked at many of the smaller items and I find the Jet Hot silver finish easier to clean than a powder coat finish. The problem item I had was the front push bar and as it gets so many bugs on it the Jet Hot finish is easier to clean simply with a soapy bug sponge I can also do the same with the exhaust stacks. OK, I understand your items possibly are not on a vehicle but I can say cleaning is so much easier. just something to keep on file for future reference. By the way stripping a partly failed powder coating job is a lot of work with paint stripper and wire brush on an angle grinder and something I would hope no one else has to try as I can say it is no fun.

 

[BB767]

...... By the way stripping a partly failed powder coating job is a lot of work with paint stripper and wire brush on an angle grinder and something I would home no one else has to try as I can say it is no fun.

Don and I had to strip this cover of its powder coat...

...roughly about 12 times doing over and over until we were...

...both satisfied with the results. We just put it back into the media blasting cabinet and it stripped relatively easily doing it that way. Doing it with paint stripper doesn't sound like fun at all! That's the good and bad of powder coating. If prepped and done right it's tough as nails but if you need to remove it and you can't media blast it, well................good luck.

Thomas

 

[MBfreak]

Hi.

Awesome rebild thread!!

Removing powder coating from solid steel parts that are dimensionally stable can be done fairly easy, if you have a good heat treatment shop on tap.
I have used a large annealing oven set at 325 Centigrade for large cast parts.
After 4 hours the powder coating was falling off and the cast surfaces looked new. Used a pressure washer with steam after that.


Ola

 

[SkywalkerCR]

Hi Thomas,

I have been lurking for the last ten pages or so.......and I am curious about something.

Do you know what the history was of Mr. Johnson in his younger pre-family years?

> Where was he born?
> What did his Dad do for a living?
> Did he have any siblings who are still living today?

Just curious.....it is natural for all us to want to understand more about our roots......I was wondering about his.

Thanks Clark

 

[BB767]

Hi Thomas,

I have been lurking for the last ten pages or so.......and I am curious about something.

Do you know what the history was of Mr. Johnson in his younger pre-family years?

> Where was he born?
> What did his Dad do for a living?
> Did he have any siblings who are still living today?

Just curious.....it is natural for all us to want to understand more about our roots......I was wondering about his.

Thanks Clark

Clark I haven't been ignoring you promise, just doing my flying gig. I'm back and I'll get to this tomorrow. There are several items that need to be addressed, I'll see which ones are first in the chute. One of them involves an update on the heliport!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Hi.

Awesome rebild thread!!

Removing powder coating from solid steel parts that are dimensionally stable can be done fairly easy, if you have a good heat treatment shop on tap.
I have used a large annealing oven set at 325 Centigrade for large cast parts.
After 4 hours the powder coating was falling off and the cast surfaces looked new. Used a pressure washer with steam after that.


Ola

Hi MBfreak and thanks for the information. You just never know when a large annealing oven will come in handy do you? It's nice having access to equipment like that isn't it? An oven that can generate 325 C for large cast parts is some serious heat!

Thomas

 

[37ford4dr]

Tom and Chris great work on this project, you guys are an amazing team and I have enjoyed all aspects of this thread, your attention to detail and commitment to each other is actually inspirational, and also to preserving Mr Johnsons legacy is very nice, he obviously had a positive impact on a young Tom.... keep posting i like reading this stuff!!! i believe those cylinder sleeves tools on page 195 are for the 21 stud and the 24 stud ford flat heads and would be the "next size up" the std bore was 3.0625 and 3.1875 respectively. they may also have worked with other manufactures engines.

and if that distributor machine post 4693/pg 235 has an offset keyway then it can also be used also for the ford 85 hp flathead. Ford got the distributor indexing perfect on the flat head only one way to put it in ....it could never be 180* off

...ST 90 stamped on the other. Then with a little quick approximate measurement they are 3 3/8" and 3 1/8" in diameter respectively.

I did check my V8-60 and it's cylinders are much smaller than these so I won't be using this when I do that engine build.

With that another mystery has been solved at the Restored 1930's Auto Shop thanks to you. Now lets see what other mischief I can get into around here.......

Thomas

I did some more clean up on the 1930's Allen Syncrograph, Model E-137 distributor machine.

 

[BB767]

Tom and Chris great work on this project, you guys are an amazing team and I have enjoyed all aspects of this thread, your attention to detail and commitment to each other is actually inspirational, and also to preserving Mr Johnsons legacy is very nice, he obviously had a positive impact on a young Tom.... keep posting i like reading this stuff!!! i believe those cylinder sleeves tools on page 195 are for the 21 stud and the 24 stud ford flat heads and would be the "next size up" the std bore was 3.0625 and 3.1875 respectively. they may also have worked with other manufactures engines.

and if that distributor machine post 4693/pg 235 has an offset keyway then it can also be used also for the ford 85 hp flathead. Ford got the distributor indexing perfect on the flat head only one way to put it in ....it could never be 180* off

Excellent information 37ford4dr, thank you so much! It's always good to hear from folks who are enjoying the thread. As long as you can put up with it I'll keep posting additional material. Right now I'm sooooo backed up on posting what's been going on out there. I'm acquiring material faster than I can get it sorted out and posted here. Of course being a few thousand miles from home every so often doesn't help. I'll have a look at the Allen distributor machine and see if it has an offset keyway, you got me curious.

My good friend, flat head guru and Bonneville Buddy, Lou is coming out this way soon and I've uncovered some more material that might be right down his alley. I'll have him take a look and see if he can share some additional information as well. He's been know to be pretty handy with flat heads over the years.

37ford4dr did you ever use one of those old Allen Machines before? It's new ground for me so I'm looking for information on them and perhaps a operators manual that I could copy would be helpful. If anyone out there has a lead, please let me know.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I said I'd get back to Clark tonight and I am, but not quite with the information requested. That's upcoming but I do have this...

...which is related to the Heliport...

...for Clarks helicopter when he comes for a visit. Standby for further information!

Thomas

 

[tkbowman]

Thomas, I've been out doing some long distance riding in a motorcycle rally in the west and have seen at least two of Gus' cousins. But Gus is clearly in the best shape. Sorry, I don't have any pictures.

Tim

 

[nativejim]

heck of a set up ya got there....a lot of sweat equity paid off for ya....

 

[Jakespeed63]

Simply blown away with what you have accomplished. Just had to show my wife "honey, look what I want my shop to look like"
You truly are a man of vision. Just a lurker, on this board. Spend most of my websurfing time over at The HAMB, dreaming of building a traditional Hot Rod. Now i want a garage like this first. Thanks for sharing. BTW, down here in FLA, these kind of buildings hard to come by. Termites make short work of our wood. Glad my 1969 ranch is ALL concrete block.
JT
Orlando Misfires C.C.

 

[37ford4dr]

37ford4dr did you ever use one of those old Allen Machines before? It's new ground for me so I'm looking for information on them and perhaps a operators manual that I could copy would be helpful. If anyone out there has a lead, please let me know.

Thomas

i have not used one or have even seen one before your posting. but the key way just popped out at me, bob

 

[KTMrider]

All I can say is WOW ! All the time, effort, blood sweat and money! Amazing job! I need a nap just thinking about the work that went into this project.

My family bought an old country mercantile that was in business for over 130 years. I would spend hours going through the piles of old stuff in every nook and cranny. The hair on my back stands up thinking about what you walked into with this place! I salvaged much from our old place before we finally sold it, much of it is boxed up in my shop.

Hats off!

 

[Not Born Yesterday]

I'm blown away by your restoration. You may have said what kind of floor was installed somewhere in your numerous threads but I didn't find it. Is it an oil resistant specialty tile? 12" X 12" smooth? Brand? Thanks for sharing.

 

[BB767]

Thomas, I've been out doing some long distance riding in a motorcycle rally in the west and have seen at least two of Gus' cousins. But Gus is clearly in the best shape. Sorry, I don't have any pictures.

Tim

Hi Tim, that ride sounds like it's been great fun! In the two years I searched off and on for an old Jeep shop truck I wasn't very thrilled with what I found similar to your observations. For whatever reason those trucks seem to invariably suffer terrible abuse over the years; rode hard and put away wet as it were. That's why Gus just jumped out at me. While far from perfect I saw right away he's got a tremendous upside. The more I time I spend with him the more impressed I am. We were out for a drive yesterday and an old, local farmer saw him for the first time and mistook him for the original shop truck. He thought the idea of having Gus live at the shop was a wonderful idea. I am very, very, very happy I was able to adopt Gus.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

heck of a set up ya got there....a lot of sweat equity paid off for ya....

nativejim, yes it was a lot of sweat equity but worth every bit of it. Welcome to Garage Journal and the thread, stop back here from time to time, there's more's in the chute!

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Simply blown away with what you have accomplished. Just had to show my wife "honey, look what I want my shop to look like"
You truly are a man of vision. Just a lurker, on this board. Spend most of my websurfing time over at The HAMB, dreaming of building a traditional Hot Rod. Now i want a garage like this first. Thanks for sharing. BTW, down here in FLA, these kind of buildings hard to come by. Termites make short work of our wood. Glad my 1969 ranch is ALL concrete block.
JT
Orlando Misfires C.C.

Hello JT, welcome to the lurkers paradise. Having a nice work space to create your Hot Rod in will make the experience so much more enjoyable and rewarding. I truly love being out there. I'm confident your wife will understand, she can just talk to Chris about it.

We have termites here as well so I'm pretty lucky that the original main shop escaped them. That's one reason I redid the two remaining wood outer walls so all is now concrete block.

There are some more cool, fun things going on that I'll get posted so tell your wife to get ready.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I'm blown away by your restoration. You may have said what kind of floor was installed somewhere in your numerous threads but I didn't find it. Is it an oil resistant specialty tile? 12" X 12" smooth? Brand? Thanks for sharing.

I don't have access to my thread index right now so I can't tell you where that information was posted but I gave detailed information on it. The floor is common Armstrong VCT, Vinyl Composite Tile. It is 12" X 12" and is just like the tile used in grocery stores, warehouses etc. Nothing special but it is tough stuff, oil proof, easy to clean up and easily repaired if damaged. I've got a post on some repair work I did out there just two days ago coming up. If you have more questions that's what I'm here for. Watch this space for more on the repair. Thanks for your interest.

Thomas

 

[Kevin54]

I don't have access to my thread index right now so I can't tell you where that information was posted but I gave detailed information on it. The floor is common Armstrong VCT, Vinyl Composite Tile. It is 12" X 12" and is just like the tile used in grocery stores, warehouses etc. Nothing special but it is tough stuff, oil proof, easy to clean up and easily repaired if damaged. I've got a post on some repair work I did out there just two days ago coming up. If you have more questions that's what I'm here for. Watch this space for more on the repair. Thanks for your interest.

Thomas

Would that happen to be where the treated 4x4's were setting and marked the tiles

 

[Shoottx]

Thomas

I know that ^^^ looks like the start of a lot of work. Yeah, I remember before big round bales.

 

[rjcsandiego]

Tom's next addition?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...e-6-million-garage-features-rv-211916253.html

 

[charlief1]

I got inspired by you last week Thomas. Rebuilt a 1950s Woods brushhog with new metal and a lot of sweat. 4 days of cutting and welding new metal and it hasn't run that smooth since it was new. Replaced the front to rear braces, center braces, and top with 1/4" C channel and 3/16" thick plate. Not as old as yours but it will out last your grandchildren if it's maintained this time.

 

[BB767]

Would that happen to be where the treated 4x4's were setting and marked the tiles

And here I thought you guys would have forgotten about that. I should have know better. After all, the ever so slightly askew cover plate in the lift room still seems to pop up from time to time.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I know that ^^^ looks like the start of a lot of work. Yeah, I remember before big round bales.

You definitely are familiar with that equipment Mike, as it is BRB, Before Round Bales. You'll see how this all relates to the shop shortly, honest.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

Tom's next addition?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...e-6-million-garage-features-rv-211916253.html

I.......don't know........what to say........holy cow! If it can be dreamed up someone will be able to afford and build it. It is a little over the top for my tastes though....... well OK, a lot over the top. Me, I'm just a simple pilot living in the midwest with the girl of my dreams. Oh and with Gus, don't forget Gus.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

I got inspired by you last week Thomas. Rebuilt a 1950s Woods brushhog with new metal and a lot of sweat. 4 days of cutting and welding new metal and it hasn't run that smooth since it was new. Replaced the front to rear braces, center braces, and top with 1/4" C channel and 3/16" thick plate. Not as old as yours but it will out last your grandchildren if it's maintained this time.

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Nice job charlief1. Do it right once and then enjoy your efforts. Cool beans.

Thomas

 

[charlief1]

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Nice job charlief1. Do it right once and then enjoy your efforts. Cool beans.

Thomas

I'll see if I can get some pics of it and send them to you Thomas. Didn't take any while I was working on it. Painted it IH red and it's been sitting in the Texas sun drying for a couple of days now. I did a complete redesign of the braces so it shouldn't rot out in the next 50 or so years if ti's taken care of.