Above 1200 Sq/FT Swanny's Garage Expansion Project

[Swanny1953]

While I had the dash apart, I noticed empty receptacles for under dash courtesy lights. However, given the construction of the custom interior, there was no place for them to mount and be effective. An internet search yielded some courtesy lights for classic Mustangs that mount in the fairing behind the rear seat. Using a little CAD, I was able to determine the proper placement of these lights in the kick panels where it wouldn’t interfere with the speakers or the behind-panel bulkhead framing. I wired in a switch as this car will spend some time at car shows with the doors open and didn’t want to drain the battery each time it’s shown. I’m happy with the way the courtesy lights turned out.




In the course of working on the brake issue, I also discovered a fuel leak at one of the bulkhead AN fittings. Despite multiple efforts trying to rehabilitate the fittings, I ended up just getting new bulkhead fittings and having new high pressure hoses with AN fittings made to replace the leaking units. Problem solved.

Prior to attacking the braking issue, there were a couple of other items I had to address. In order to pass inspection in TX, the horn has to work. While the car had horns, and they did work, the design of the steering wheel and mounting of the horn button resulted in it being grounded all the time. Horns typically work by completing the ground in the circuit when the horn button is depressed. I had to come up with a solution to mimic that condition. I’ll admit there was a little “red neck engineering” involved, but I was able to devise a solution that completed the ground only when the horn button was depressed.

The car was also built with a killer stereo system, but not much of it was working when I received the car. From the build pics, I was able to determine the head unit was mounted under the driver’s side rear window, so off I was again tearing the interior apart to access it. I was able to install a Bluetooth adaptor so I can play music from my iPhone through the system. I also found several speaker leads were disconnected, and the fuses in the amps for the subwoofers were shot. Now that all the speaker leads are working properly and the fuses have been replaced, the stereo works great!

There were 2 remaining issues that I have to address (well, at least that I know of). On the first drive to a group dinner after getting the brakes fixed, my buddy following me informed me that I had no brake lights. I suspected I either had a blown fuse (requiring pulling out the lower dash valance again) or a pinched wire in the truck, requiring me to tear the trunk apart yet again (I’ve had it apart and back together multiple times working on the gas line issue) or both. After tearing the trunk apart, there were no apparent pinched wires, but no voltage to the taillights when the brake pedal was pushed. Also, the fuse was intact. I removed and adjusted the brake light switch and everything is back to working as intended.

The last issue is a gas smell in the passenger compartment that I have to track down. I thought I had a fix for that as the fuel filler area wasn’t isolated from the passenger compartment and the fuel filler has a flap valve like on newer cars. After caulking around the filler neck, the smell persists, so I have to tear the trunk apart again to try and trace this down.

Lastly, while working on the rear lighting issue, I did a search to see if there were any “blue dot” replacement lenses for the lights on this car. To my delight, there were, and now they are installed. I really like the effect of these lights.

 

[Swanny1953]

This next vehicle is one I really wish I didn’t own, not because it’s not a great vehicle or not something I’d want in my collection. The only reason I own this car is that my FIL suddenly passed away in April 2022 just a week before they were to move to the DFW area from Nashville to be closer to us and their grand and great grandkids. I’d much rather have him here in TX enjoying life and imparting his considerable knowledge and experience to me and his grandkids than having his car in my stable!

The car is a 1965 Pontiac GTO. It’s a restored original factory air, 4-speed tri-power car in Nightwatch Blue Metallic over black, with Pontiac Historical Society documentation of its originality.



When I got the car, there were a couple of problems. The power steering pump howled, and wouldn’t retain fluid. That actually ended up being a faulty power steering box, which I replaced and which now operates properly. Both the alternator and regulator were bad and replaced. The A/C system had to be repaired to retain refrigerant and the fuel system gone through to eliminate a surging problem. The A/C system remains a concern (doesn’t blow much air) and the dash illumination is nonexistent. It looks like I may have to remove the dash to get to the bulbs due to the under dash bulkiness of the factory A/C system.

 

[67CarGuy]

Gary, that's an impressive vehicle collection, and a very neat garage / garage expansion. Congrats on your accomplishments - it sounds like you've earned them!

 

[Swanny1953]

Gary, that's an impressive vehicle collection, and a very neat garage / garage expansion. Congrats on your accomplishments - it sounds like you've earned them!

CarGuy - thanks for the kind words. I have been blessed in my career as well as having a very supportive SWMBO and family!

 

[ODIS]

What a beautiful location and a great collection of cars! All so very nicely done and cared for. Very happy for you and family! Looks like you are set up for a wonderful New Year!

Wishing you all the best!

Odis

 

[Swanny1953]

What a beautiful location and a great collection of cars! All so very nicely done and cared for. Very happy for you and family! Looks like you are set up for a wonderful New Year!

Wishing you all the best!

Odis

Odis, thanks for the kind words. Looking forward to that wonderful New Year after fighting herniated disc problems for all of December. Has to get better . . . . .

 

[Swanny1953]

There is a story that goes with the last car in my collection.

I turned 70 in March. My family insisted that we have a big party to celebrate that milestone (to me, just another day) and it was communicated to the invitees as a “surprise”. It’s little hard to have a surprise party for 90 people in my working garage without me having a chance to clean things up and stage cars to have enough room for the bar, food line, eating tables, etc.!! The party was scheduled for a couple of days after my actual birthday. This is what I was greeted with on my birthday, courtesy of my daughters –
All my neighbors were howling at this. To add insult to injury, the little shits also threw out 70 golf balls that I had to pick up once the lawn decorations were taken down!!

The day of the party arrives and I’m told to “go away” for a few hours. OK – my BIL and cousin and I head off for lunch and then goof around Cabela’s for a few hours. Folks show up (there were a couple of surprise attendees – in particular our best man and his wife from Oregon), everyone is enjoying the food and beverages and visiting with one another.

At some point, my wife invites everyone to gather around the simulator to view a video my sister put together. The video was basically a documentation of my life from birth to 70, and Alice did a phenomenal job!! At the end of the video, my two daughters take over the screen (in the video) and direct everyone to go outside for a surprise. So, everyone goes outside and congregates in the driveway between the “big garage” and the house. Suddenly, I hear a horn honk, and my two grown daughters pull into the driveway with a 2023 Torch Red Corvette hardtop convertible!

Yes, they bought me a new car for my birthday!!! To say I was blown away doesn’t do justice to the situation. I’m not often both dumbstruck and dumbfounded, but I was at a complete loss for words when they drove up!

I’ve since put on about 4,500 miles on the new Corvette. I’m very impressed with what Chevy has done with this car – best automatic transmission American car I have ever driven (no, I haven’t experienced the PDK in the Porsche) and handling and road manners are exceptionally good. The only thing I didn’t like about the car were the factory wheels that came with the Stingray R package – they’re just too busy for my taste. I did some research and found I really liked the Aerolarri Le Mans wheels – so, a set showed up several weeks later and are now on the car. I think they look much better than stock!


Next chore is to amass 7,500 miles before the second anniversary of its in-service date next July. Since the girls bought the car 6 months in advance of my birthday, it only had 20 miles on it when they gave it to me. Chevy mandates a transmission service at 7,500 miles and will pay for the service within 2 years of the original in service date. So, DAMN, I have some driving to do!!

 

[Swanny1953]

This next one isn’t really “mine”, or at least not technically yet. Lori’s Mom wants to give this car to us as a thank you for all the work we did around the move to Dallas and Jack’s death and dealing with the estate and probate. For now, Mom wants the car to be at our lake house in E. TX, so there it resides.

She and Jack wanted something from the year they were born, 1939. They found a really nicely restored 1939 Buick business coupe.

Once I got it to the lake house, it was clear the finish hadn’t been attended to in some time. So, I first attacked it with a Griot’s Garage synthetic clay bar mitt to remove all the contamination in the paint. They, I used Griot’s polishing cream to clean up the paint. The before/after on this front fender is pretty dramatic! I followed the correction with application of Griot’s 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax.

For a reunion weekend at the lake, Mom wanted the car parked out front for everyone to see. After they all got there, I went out to drive the car around the neighborhood a bit to get everything exercised. Once I got a few blocks from the house, the car stalled out. I turned around to come back, and it stalled out again. It would start and idle, but didn’t want to run above idle. I finally nursed it back to the garage, and discovered the fuel filter was clogged with sediment.

I replaced the filter and drove maybe 3 miles to take the Buick over to a friend’s house in the neighborhood for them to see. When I got back, the filter was just as clogged as it was before. So, I guess the gas tank wasn’t part of the restoration. I dropped the tank and took it to Bill’s Radiator & Muffler to be repaired. They had me take home the fuel pickup/sender and tank cap. The sender –

Obviously, the inside of the tank did not receive any love during the restoration. The rest of the car, including the undercarriage, looked great!! But, not the tank. It was quite an ordeal for Bill’s to get the tank back in working order, cleaning several times, including acid washing it and ultimately applying a sealer to the inside of the tank. Thankfully, a replacement pickup/sender was easy to find on the internet.

While the tank was out of the car, I took to cleaning the fuel lines. I used Eastwood’s Aerosol Injected Cleaner. The car had an electric fuel pump (the stock manual pump had been removed and a block off plate installed on the engine), so I removed and replaced it out of an abundance of caution. I cleaned the fuel lines in both directions – from the gas tank to the fuel pump area and from the carburetor to the same, and then backwards for the same sections of fuel line. The Eastwood cleaner got a lot of junk out of the gas line, and all appears to be running clean now that the repaired tank has been reinstalled.

I replaced the electric pump. Now, when the ignition is turned on, the pump pushes gas out of the carburetor. So, I have the carburetor apart on my workbench at home for a rebuild. I’ve never done a carburetor rebuild/overhaul before, so I’m taking my time and trying to be thoughtful/thorough. I do have a 1939 Buick service manual to follow, so I’m not completely in the dark.

 

[Swanny1953]

Well, we’ve now come back full circle to the thread’s title – Swanny’s Garage Expansion Project. With the gift of the new Corvette from my kids, I’m now out of space in the garage. I have to have one of the vehicles on the maintenance lift all the time. Not a real problem, because there is generally always something that needs work and the lift often helps out. However, we have to store Lori’s ’69 Corvette at a nearby storage area. And, God forbid, should I find another vehicle toy that “I just have to have!!”, I have no place to store or work on it. My retirement plan was not only to have some cars to drive, but to also have a place where I could work on larger projects. That’s why I put the curtain wall in the last expansion. My thought was I’d be able to use that area for “dirty” projects (woodworking, welding, metal fab, etc.) without having to worry about the other cars in the area.

So, we have decided to embark upon another expansion project. My initial thought was to have the new structure garage doors in the same plane as the existing structure, but the existing structure has a 14:12 pitch above the garage doors, and I needed a 8:12 pitch to cover the intended width of the new structure. We engaged the same architect who did the original expansion. She has a thing for symmetry (the last addition looks like it was built at the same time as the original garage) and wasn’t bound by my less than creative thinking. We’re really happy with the plan she came up with – it meets my needs for space, as well as her desire for symmetry. All the windows will be repurposed from the existing structure. The only difference in finishes will be a standing seam metal roof on the 3:12 pitched section. The new construction will be on the back side of the existing garage, away from the street.
I am lucky in that the GC who did the last expansion is excited for a new project. We have had an initial meeting, and we’re waiting on the architect to turn the renderings into blueprints Roy can use going forward (hopefully, early next week). Roy has reached out to the firm that did the engineering for the “post tension” slab on all the existing structures – again, we can’t move forward until we have the blueprints to share with the engineer. He has met with the city, and doesn’t anticipate any issues as we’re adding to an existing structure. One of my neighbors went several rounds with the city trying to get a construction permit for a stand-alone additional garage, but this is different as were "only" doing an addition. We’ll see. . . . . . .

My intent is to do a better job of documenting construction this time around. Again, we’ll see!!

 

[Blackbyrd]

Thats one hell of a birthday gift! congrats!!!! I agree with your wheel selection also.

I think thats the first time I have seen them where the vents and trim are color matched to the body?

In for the build!!

 

[Bob Heine]

Gary, my family was shocked I made it to 40 and stopped doing signs after that. I'm going to show them -- if I make it to September and 80.

 

[Swanny1953]

Gary, my family was shocked I made it to 40 and stopped doing signs after that. I'm going to show them -- if I make it to September and 80.

Bob, I'll be tuned in to see what you come up with!!

 

[Swanny1953]

I took the '40 Chev for its annual safety inspection last week and since the weather was nice (this was before the Polar Blast put us into sub-freezing temps from Sunday through Wednesday), I decided to give it a bit of exercise. The gas smell I had been chasing was minimal during the drive. On the way home, I filled the gas tank. From the station home, the gas smell was pretty significant. I had already torn the upholstery panels from the trunk in preparation for tracking down this issue. When I got home, there was raw gas pooled on the top of the gas tank indentation for the trunk struts and also in one of the indentations in the trunk floor

I shook the car from side to side to see if I could recreate the leak situation. That brief shaking revealed a leak around the fuel sender. There's not a lot of real estate in this area, so I had to remove the gas lines for better access.

Once I got the screws off the sender, I found there wasn't enough room to remove it from the tank. The existing gasket was deformed, hard and torn -

Obviously, the source of the leak. I was able to get a replacement gasket at NAPA and was able to stretch it over the sender body and reinstall the sender.
Now, I have to reattach the gas lines, reconnect the electrical to the sender unit and treat the floor to remove any residual gas. I found a recipe on the internet for equal parts baking soda, white wine vinegar and hot water to remove gasoline smell - we'll give it a try!

 

[brnctt]

Gary, awesome looking space and excited to see how the new expansion goes. Good idea subdividing with a wall for the fab work.

 

[Swanny1953]

Gary, awesome looking space and excited to see how the new expansion goes. Good idea subdividing with a wall for the fab work.

Thanks for the comment. Plans are with engineer now to finish up engineering work on slab (post tension beam) and framing. Hope to have them back soon, then submit to city for permit. Hopeful to break ground in the next couple of weeks.

 

[jsherid1]

I guarantee that you won't have an issue with the HOA for your expansion!

 

[Swanny1953]

I guarantee that you won't have an issue with the HOA for your expansion!

DUH - the ACC members are all friends and have already signed off!!
STILL waiting on the engineer - unbelievable! We hope to have in the next few days, but. . . . . . . . .

 

[jsherid1]

All the ACC members are also car guys.

 

[jsherid1]

If you need an engineer we used Mike Cooper when we built our house and he is excellent. Good seeing you and Dennis for lunch

 

[Swanny1953]

Well, after waiting much too long on the structural engineers to develop the framing plan, my GC decided to see if the city would issue a permit without them. Turns out all they wanted was the engineered foundation plan. Some now have a permit in hand and are ready to get started. Waiting on dumpster delivery for brick demo on the east side to get started.
Have to remove the dog run fence and relocate the gas line to the fire pit. Got my sawsall out and got the fence panels all disconnected.

Also, porta potty was delivered. When they dropped it off I had my box trailer in the driveway so they just put it behind it. Very inconvenient for garage access. Neighbor has a pallet jack he let me use to properly place it.

Hopefully it doesn’t take a ride like the last one did 6 years ago in a Texas turd floater!

Took down a couple of monitoring cameras mounted on the east side.
Let’s get going!!

 

[phivelug]

Wheel choice on the C8 looks great!

 

[Blackbyrd]

Hope for no floaters in your future hahahaha

Congrats on getting started

 

[Swanny1953]

They got started on Thursday. Started with digging up the gas line to the fire pit as it has to be rerouted. They were waiting on a dumpster before beginning demo in the brick wall.

The dumpster must have shown up after we left yesterday (we’re on a Tail of the Dragon run with the Corvette Museum) as this is what I’m seeing today.

 

[brit vet]

So glad your thread was updated as I had never seen it prior. Great buildings and an awesome car collection especially the Corvettes

Hope to make the Museum one day with our UK Corvette club who go every year in fact some are there right now.

 

[Swanny1953]

I guess we got a s$&! ton of rain over the weekend while we were gone - a buddy called and told me he saw 4+ inches on Sunday. Water at the lake place was nearly 3’ over normal and way above the seawall. Shouldn’t be any permanent damage from that minor flooding, other than needing to pick up some flotsam.
It kept the guys from being able to do anything for a couple of days. Looks like they were able to get back to it yesterday and got the new trench for gas & electric to the fire pit dug.

 

[69charged]

Unreal thread!! I particularly like how you're having to add on to an add on!
Glad I went through the whole thread. Beautiful choices in all the cars you have.
Thanks for sharing.
Clarence

 

[Swanny1953]

Unreal thread!! I particularly like how you're having to add on to an add on!
Glad I went through the whole thread. Beautiful choices in all the cars you have.
Thanks for sharing.
Clarence

Clarence, thanks for the kind words. I'm incredibly blessed!!

 

[Swanny1953]

I mentioned in a previous post that we were on a Tail of the Dragon run with the National Corvette Museum. The NCM does several “Museum in Motion” runs each year, and I have always wanted to do the one where they combine a visit to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC with a Tail of the Dragon run on the way there. We did the MIM National Parks Tour in 2019 (pics in earlier posts here). I kept on the lookout for an announcement that registration for the Dragon Run was open and got us signed up. I also convinced our friends down the street (also avid Corvette owners) to join us on this little adventure since they had never visited Biltmore nor run the Tail of the Dragon.

We had a drivers meeting scheduled for Saturday at 4:15 PM at the NCM before leaving Sunday morning bright and early for Asheville. Since Bowling Green is a good 10 hour drive from our home in the Dallas area, we decided to break the trip up and stay Friday night in Memphis at the Peabody Hotel, which I chose for a specific reason. For those who don’t know, the Peabody has a daily ritual, which is nearly 90 years old, where the Peabody Ducks leave their Duck Penthouse each morning at 11 AM, ride the elevator to the lobby, then march on a red carpet to the ornate marble fountain & pond that is the centerpiece of the lobby. Here’s a brief video of the morning march -

Each night at 5 PM, the “Duckmaster” tells the story of how this all came about (I won’t spoil it for those who have yet to attend, but Jack Daniels was involved) while dressed up as a PT Barnum & Bailey Circus Master. Once the story is told, he invites the youngest members of the audience to assist in rolling out the red carpet, then the kids get a front row seat to watch the ducks exit the pond and march back to the elevator where they are then whisked away to their Duck Penthouse until the next morning when they do it all over again. You have to get to the bar early in order to get a seat (we got there a little after 3 and immediately went to the bar area), because if your **** is not in a seat, they kick you out of the bar area and you have to watch from the perimeter.

After watching the show, we wandered down to Beale Street and saw the bar where Elvis and BB King meet in the Elvis movie.

The following morning, we left early to get to Bowling Green in time for lunch at the Stingray Café inside the NCM. We met a friend we had first met on the National Parks tour 5 years ago, then had a quick tour of the museum prior to our drivers meeting. Then we went into the Corvette Auditorium for our drivers meeting.

Several years ago, the NCM had a fundraising drive where they sold off naming rights to the auditorium seats. I bought 4, 2 each for Lori and me and 2 for her folks, who were Corvette enthusiasts long before I met them 40 years ago. I had not told them about this, hoping to take them to the NCM and show them in person. Unfortunately, Jack died 2 years ago before I could make that happen, and I had never mentioned it to Lori’s mom. Our friends and we sat in those 4 chairs for the drivers meeting, and Lori took pictures and sent them to her mom, who was very touched and appreciative.

 

[Swanny1953]

The next morning, we and the remainder of the 32 Corvettes on this trip, departed the NCM bright and early. Here’s a picture of the caravan taking over a large part of the rest stop between Nashville and Knoxville on I40 –

After lunch in Knoxville, it was on to the Tail of the Dragon. We all staged across from the US129 Harley Davidson dealership. The group leader said “go whenever you want” so I figured someone had to be first, why not me!!

That was a much fun as I’ve had driving a car on a public road. It’s a very technical drive, obviously, with 318 curves in 11 miles.

We saw 2 wrecks during our run, one where a bagger had been laid down, and another where a Nissan Z had lost his rear end in a corner and crashed into the side of the mountain on the other side of the road. All went well for us and we got to the end of the Dragon in Deals Gap and went into the souvenir shop to get some memories from crossing off another bucket list item!!

The ZR1 was a great car for this trip!!

 

[Blackbyrd]

I live off that stretch of i40 between Knoxville and Nashville at the halfway point. Never made it to the tail, but it's a bucket list item for me. Crossed SEMA off.my list in 2019 so maybe I'll make it haha.

Looks like a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Swanny1953]

I live off that stretch of i40 between Knoxville and Nashville at the halfway point. Never made it to the tail, but it's a bucket list item for me. Crossed SEMA off.my list in 2019 so maybe I'll make it haha.

Looks like a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing!

Can't believe you've never done the tail given how close you are!!
SEMA is on my list as well. Now have a car builder friend who will get me in sometime in the next couple of years, I hope!!

 

[Blackbyrd]

I know it's a bit embarrassing haha
, mostly I don't have anyone else interested so it's hard to commit to a solo trip. I'll squeeze it in someday. I think the ZL1 would be a blast on those curves.

 

[Swanny1953]

Don’t think I posted here, but I got rear ended in the 2023 Corvette by a F250 on 3/28. Driver claimed he didn’t remember removing his food from the brake, but nevertheless took responsibility at the scene. Pictures don’t show much damage because 1. Corvette is a plastic car and doesn’t dent; 2 whole car is covered in PPF so the paint won’t show any scratches. Damage was there, however, as the “trunk open” light came on right after impact and I have been unable to either completely close or open the trunk since. This also make the convertible top inoperable as the trunk has to be closed for it to work.
After sending photos of damage to State Farm (his insurer) they respond that their insured is not legally liable for the damage to my car. What BS!! I was told I had not recourse inside State Farm to escalate this issue. Again, what BS.
I reached out to my insurer and they immediately got working with me on a repair shop and will subrogate against State Farm when repairs are complete. The shop called yesterday for me to come look at the damage. There are two composite panels that are bonded together behind the rear bumper cap. The upper surround goes all the way to the roof of the car should it have to be replaced. The lower panel, the one pushed in during the collision, is nearly as bad. Replacing the panels would basically involve tearing apart the entire back half of the car. The two photos following show the right side of the panel connection where you can see the edges of the two panels pretty much line up. The second photo shows the left side where there’s considerable difference. It doesn’t appear either panel is cracked or otherwise damaged, so they’re going to try to remove the existing panel bond, realign the panels and rebond them. Hopefully that will work.
The repair shop asked if the bumper had ever been off the car, as bolts and nuts were missing on certain items. Other than having the car wrapped, it hasn’t been out of our possession since the girls bought it for me with 20 miles on it. Color me confused……

 

[LXCam]

That’s some bs on the insurance, are you in a no fault state?

If I were you I’d be having a conversation with the company that completed the wrap, sounds like Friday afternoon handoff.

Good luck on the fix, that doesn’t sound pleasant at all.

 

[Blackbyrd]

That stinks!!!!

 

[SilverJimmy]

I have heard that you can actually make them pay you for how much your car will now be worth, post accident. Since everything is now on the record with things like CarFax, and the value of your Corvette is now lower because of the damage incurred by THEIR insured and it is listed on a CarFax report, to make you “whole” they have to not only repair your vehicle to the same condition pre-accident, you need compensation for the now reduced value. Sorry that you got tagged and now are fighting the system, that *****!

 

[Swanny1953]

May 18 was National Drive Your Woodie Day. I decided it would be a great time to introduce all the grandkids to the Woodie. So, we got all 4 of them to my daughter’s house and took a quick spin through the neighborhood. The kids were excited and happy, so I was too!!

 

[Swanny1953]

Progress has been agonizingly slow on the garage addition project, mostly due to weather. The did get the new French drain in and connected.

They got all the digging for the piers done, got them tarped and the rebar mostly set, the driveway area flattened out.


That was 2 weeks ago!

 

[Swanny1953]

Since then, we’ve been inundated with heavy rain. Just when we’d get the forms pumped out, the rain would start again. This was last Sunday, when we got 2+ inches in a little more then 30 minutes.

We’re in a quasi rural area, so storm water is all handled by surface drains. This is what it looked like at the height of the rain Sunday.

For reference, this is closer to normal.

There are 3 30” culverts going under the driveway, so you can see it was a **** ton of water!!

 

[Swanny1953]

The concrete crew is here today digging out the mud in the forms. It’s complicated with the rebar already installed on 10” centers. They’re using hand trowels, contraptions made from 4” PVC pipe corners, etc. to get the forms in shape for inspection.

There’s no rain in the foreseeable forecast, so maybe, just maybe, we’ll get some concrete poured soon. The plan is to pour the foundation one day, and come back the next for the flatwork. Hopefully, we’ll get to framing next week.