Single and Ready to Mingle

[jej3]

Yep! That's my title The thread has two meanings.

First the most obvious, my garage attached to my townhouse is a "Single" car garage.

Secondly, it's my first real estate owned AFTER my divorce

My Garage Space was a fairly basic environment that was "Finished" (Walls and Floor painted by the "Flipper" I bought it from) and it was lacking compared to all the great spaces I see here.

Here are a few pics to get the ball rolling of just a fairly basic space to start with

I had already wired up multiple new lights before these pictures but I was still unhappy with the "Reflective" quality of the sand colored, flat paint.

Note the Porsche 928 is wanting BACK in the garage. The Cayenne won't fit or will it

Next, I'll give a view of how it looks today.

 

[jej3]

That was BEFORE, this is AFTER

So fast forward about 1 month and this is what I ended up with.

Racedeck Floors, Craftsman Cabinets, a Micro-Fridge for beverages and the application of a ridiculous amount of High Gloss, white paint.

I am a bit minimalist but am starting to get the vibe to add some "Art" to the space.

Here's the workbench area and more overhead storage. Space is T-I-G-H-T in here so I had to go up with the storage.

I like how the workbench area turned out. Scored the Craftsman "end" of the workbench for $40 on CL and already had the mini-Stainless fridge. Used some cheapo-Lowe's "grey" floor paint to paint the upper flooring by the workbench and the unfinished concrete areas below the drywall.

I'm most proud of the fact that I've made the Water Heater all but disappear

 

[ddawg16]

Welcome to GJ....congrats on the house (and divorce....must be something in the water).

At least you have a garage.....

It helps to put your location in your profile....

 

[jej3]

Thanks! Location and signature added. Been lurking for some time, been divorced a bit longer

 

[EMC2]

A big welcome, from one Porsche fan to another.

 

[DelayedZ]

Great use of your space, looks awesome!

 

[Derrickwade]

Nice job, looks great!

 

[Sunbimmer]

Wow man awesome job on that garage, I love it
And welcome to GJ !

 

[jej3]

It's Functional, too!

Thanks for the comments. Many of your spaces were the inspiration for what I have.

Just a few pics that are proof positive that work actually happens in this space.

My 13 Year Old in the process of polishing out (for the first time) his Guard's Red 1987 924S project car.

and my 1990 928's Fouled Sparkplug in focus with the Flooring as a contrast (Beast and the Beauty...lol)

More later

 

[dubber]

Looks solid. I always appreciate seeing another Single and the creativity it can bring out. Well done! Seems like this project is done or do you still have things you want to do?

 

[55cadillacking]

Well, I think it is now official. The GJ has been overrun with proud single-car garage owners. I am digging the space you have there. I find myself following all the great singles since it does require creativity and vision to get the most out of the space. Your passion for Porsche is obvious too. I wish I had a Guards Red 924S when I was 13. I had a room covered in Porsche ads, but that's as close as it came.

I have the same question for you as Dubber; what's next?

 

[marty_p]

Welcome to TGJ and congrats on your awesome space!

 

[Mr. Foully]

Clever title and even cleverer use of space.

Looks great!

 

[Motor-Mechanic]

jej3 congrats on your new garage, looks great.

I'm in a similar position, currently in the process of buying our first house since my divorce. It has a single car detached garage that looks similar in size to yours. Can't wait to move in.

 

[CNGsaves]

Nice transformation of your one-car garage to become worthy space for the Porsche.

Glad to see you "got to keep" the Porsche out of the divorce. Friend of mine had 944 Turbo and his ex-wife convinced him that car had to go so they could get jetski. Then 2 yrs later, she divorced him . . . . go figure!

Local "Wheels For You" . . ie Cars For Sale . . magazine here locally has 1984 Porsche 928 with only 32K miles for $13,000 which sounds pretty good. How rare is that model?

 

[jej3]

What's Next? EVERYTHING

Thanks everyone

Last Divorce comment...it all works out well in the end!

Today, I finished with the build of the loft in my rental workshop. I'll send some pics soon. I've managed to rent a 12x30 space for storage (cars and junk) and a desire for wrenching somewhere other than jacked up in the air in the driveway of my townhouse. The place is reasonable, comes with free electric and wi-fi... I feel another thread coming on

For those of you kind enough to ask, what that MEANS for my "Single-ness" is I am going to want to refine my one car 'showroom'... and optimize the cleanliness of the storage.

Here's an example of one of the things I have done with the cabinets you see. I put some pretty serious hinges on the wall and hid the jackstands behind the cabinet because there was added space there!

Holy Hinges... took some thought and LUCK to get this correct.

Behind the Craftsman cabinet mounted on the Gladiator wall rail is a collection of Jack-Stands (reference the "work actually happens here post" )

Here's a shot of the same space taken a bit farther back. It's not a mechanical marvel but I like the "hinged" cabinet because it (1) let me mount the cabinet there and (2) let me hide stuff behind it!

What's next? I want to close in some gaping holes with creative storage and possibly attack the base mold and door trim with the same Grey paint used on the floor. There MAY be two tone walls in the future and I'd kill for something that mimics the PORSCHE dealers red illuminated letters.

Oh and there's TV out there and, and, and....

Really getting back into this space now that I can move the Car Storage function to another space!

Keep the comments coming

 

[jej3]

@CNGSaves - I don't know the actual condition of the 1982 928 you reference but I don't believe it is very collectible. The sad fact is the watercooled Porsche scene cannot hold a candle to the aircooled cars.

That doesn't mean that 928s (or 924s for that matter) are ECONOMICAL, if you cannot turn a wrench. As an example, the 1990 928 S4 that I own was purchased off of EBAY in the low $7000s. It has a fairly perfect interior, a good but imperfect exterior and had ONLY 50K miles on a $21K engine rebuild. It also had EVERY receipt of service history since new.

With all of that, I've still spent $1000s in parts on deferred maintenance items. A 32K mile car from 1982 is going to have a MASSIVE amount of required maintenance because rubber gets old and owners that don't drive cars, don't have a clue what is going wrong with the car.

I would say that car is probably in need of $5-7K in parts to become a $10-13K car.

With all of that said, Porsche 928s are timeless (like me )

 

[Thruxton]

Getting a 928, lots of fun. Getting into your garage, priceless!

View media item 17812
Nice work- that hinged cabinet is outstanding!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Dude you have the 10 lbs of **** stuffed in a 5 pound sack ! I'm impressed with all the cabinets, work bench space and tool box stuff in what a 9' wide garage ?

Bravo for the hinged cabinet, I can see that idea catching on here.

 

[dubber]

Nice! I was curious of your access ability to that water tank closet. Very well thought out my friend.

 

[55cadillacking]

The 928/s/s4 has been my dream car since I was 10. The cost of maintaining one will keep me from ever owning one, but I just love 'em. I'm glad there are guys out there willing to treat them right.

 

[ckadams00]

OK .. . can't believe no one has asked yet. How did you manage to keep a 928 and a Cayenne post divorce? Please direct me to your lawyer.

. . .Unless she took the Bentley?

 

[jej3]

LOL... The Cayenne was part of equitable distribution and the 928 came after the Divorce.

I've thought my lawyer(s) were not the best as I didn't get protected from her putting a house with both our names on it into foreclosure before shortsale - put me in the Credit penalty box for a few years. However, things are always looking up


Speaking of looking up.... added a new loft to the storage unit I am renting.

I can fit both the 924s and the 928S4 in here. Bought an electric hoist @ Harbor Freight and that made shuttling 3 sets of wheels, camping gear, porsche parts and fishing gear a BREEZE.

It's a good space and I look forward to doing more wrenching indoors. I especially love the LIBERAL usage policies on the space and the free electric, wi-fi and 24 hour access to Restrooms.

 

[jej3]

@NUTTSGT - Thanks for the compliment. The overall dimensions of the garage are 9ft by 19ft. The actual dimensions for "parking" a car are 9ft by 16ft

@55CadillacKing - 928 ownership isn't ridiculously expensive. You just have to be prepared to come out of pocket for some parts OR find a very well cared for example.

@Thruxton - GREAT space

@Dubber - you've got a great single, too!

 

[YNOT2K]

Getting a 928, lots of fun. Getting into your garage, priceless!

View media item 17812
Nice work- that hinged cabinet is outstanding!

is this a distorted view? the garage doors look like they are too big and would not close to the center of the door.

nice job on a small space.

 

[Thruxton]

is this a distorted view? the garage doors look like they are too big and would not close to the center of the door.

nice job on a small space.

Barrel distortion from the WA lense. Thanks for the compliments guys, and I'll join you in a !!

 

[EMC2]

Re: What's Next? EVERYTHING

What's next? I want to close in some gaping holes with creative storage and possibly attack the base mold and door trim with the same Grey paint used on the floor. There MAY be two tone walls in the future and I'd kill for something that mimics the PORSCHE dealers red illuminated letters.

Keep the comments coming

Your space is looking really good.
There are some great options out there. This is what I did...not quite the Porsche dealer look, but I've seen a good variety of signage options available.

 

[jej3]

@EMC2 - Your space is fantastic!

 

[steam_mill]

I'm a single garage guy too.....although married!

Can you take some more pics of garage, overall?

It looks really good!

 

[jej3]

A nice sight at the end of the day....

and a reflection on my cabinets (courtesy of my windshield)...

But when it's all said and done. "Life's a Bench"...

 

[dubber]

Looks like it belongs in there

 

[mgoug]

Looking great! I love that car.

 

[freedomgli]

Garage is looking good! I like the red Craftsman theme you have going on. A co-worker of mine has a sweet 928 S4. Keep up the good work!