Taking back my garage

[Kjbakke2]

Hi all.
So I was once a relatively avid poster on these boards and then for some reason fell away from it, well now I'm back and excited to really get back in MY space again.
I help run a drifting club in south Wisconsin for fun so this is a drifting shop mostly.
A brief bit about me, I work for a well drilling company so you can expect to see things ranging usually between overbuilt and nuke proof.

So my garage was a travesty. I had let some friends use it for a few projects and I ended up having a car taking up half of it in pieces for two years, the parts of which were taking up 1/2 of my storage. About a week ago (oct 15) I moved out of my teams workshop for various reasons back to my place which left a chest high pile of parts and tools in my little 24x24 garage (maximum allowed by the city) I've put about 5 days into it and after reading a lot of the builds on here I figured I would post some progress pics.

 

[xtremek]

Welcome back. Let's see the pics. It probably isn't any worse than most ours have been at one time or another.

 

[Kjbakke2]

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[/URL] http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/k...D5DA1B-78F5-4CF1-9F58-9AC2FDEB3BD1_1.jpg[/IMG

 

[Kjbakke2]

So like I said, it's a work in progress. I was going to put explanations of what you're looking at but I'm on my phone at work had to make it quick. Will explain later, however this is after five days of working on it

 

[dwysywd]

Don't bother explaining. I have learned that's pointless. So, start by having a staging area. Maybe a tent with sides and take everything out first. Don't try and sort and toss I till it's all out. Then throw out stuff first. Resist the impulse to save because some day in 2047 you might use it. Then sort the remaining into storage, their **** and projects. Finally, move back in. If you do it right, should take you 2 whole days. Budget that amount of time. Good luck and show us the final product.

My garage is same exact size. I can appreciate your pain. Mine looks like a bomb went off. I've done this before. It works


Sent from my bag phone...

 

[Kjbakke2]

To the two gents that made a comment, I appreciate and internalized the advice. I made more progress tonight, almost near having all the benches cleared off. The beast shelf is 99% done. I know, I ****, I forgot to take pictures, might still happen tonight. But I have to take care of the dog and cat first.

 

[Kjbakke2]

alright, I spent nearly all day out in the garage chipping away at the setup. I think its really starting to come together but that might just be me seeing the amount of time I spent haha.

Here is the overview from the business end of the drift car



I have so many wheels lying around that are still good and will be used during the season, but I needed to get them out of my way without just having them lying out in the snow. so I grabbed a few 2x4s leftover from shelfzilla and heres what i came up with



spent some time reorganizing the tool boxes. When I moved to the shop I only took My red top and bottom but now that everything is in one place its nice to have stuff a little less cramped.


I've made my electronics bench serve as my sorting bench for now. I have somewhere near 7 hours in just sorting fasteners, crimps, drill bits, impact inserts, etc etc.

Heres how the shelf sits right now, I'm gonna add a few more shelves was just debating where exactly to put them

and finally heres my old walker turner, thing still drills like a champ. I thought i took more pictures but that should be enough for an update.

anything else you guys wanna see or any questions or input?

 

[James-W]

I thought I had a lot of "stuff" in my garage, but you have quite a bit more "stuff" than I do.

 

[SweetD]

You are getting there, I can tell - nice!

Dave

 

[Kjbakke2]

Lol thanks for being gentle.
Believe it or not everything in there has a plan. The white shelves in the back are intended to be all the stuff that goes with the current project car....right now that's the drift car. I also have my 99 jeep Cherokee, I have an 04 mustang, and I'm picking up a BMW e30 soon so bring on the parts for that thing too haha.

Once the drift car is done the next major build is gonna be a lotus 7 replica with a ford 302 in it, I already have the engine and trans, some of the other bits. Hence my storage crisis

 

[Kjbakke2]

Thanks Dave!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Keep up the good work! What needs to be done on the drift car and how many hp does it make?

 

[Kjbakke2]

Sean, there is still quite a bit to do with the drift car, when I started out it was going to be a pretty chill build, nothing too crazy, but now it has developed into full blown custom. It's an 89 mustang with a turbocharged Nissan ka24de motor in it. I made all of the suspension for it excluding the coilovers. Full tube from end from the strut towers forward, I'm going to tie it into the firewall. It will be running e85 with mega squirt engine management. I did all the roll cage and tube work myself. The car as it sits weighs about 1700lbs and first iteration of the engine should net me around 300hp

 

[Kjbakke2]

Another update, spent all day out there again, made some more progress.

Here's the main area as it sits.



Here's the electronics bench


As a firefighter I needed to take care of my newly acquired positive pressure ventilation fan so I made a roll out cradle for it that I can repurpose it as a heavy duty dolly.

Got some new organizing bins, it another 8 to fill so I have to come up with the best categories to fill them with.


This is what's left of the forsaken corner


I want to figure out what to use this compartment for, any thoughts?

 

[thetastelingers]

Looks like things are coming together. I like the electrical bench. I am about to start on my own electrical bench. Can't wait to get that sorted.
That forsaken corner is scary. My ADD self would be finding ways to avoid it. HAHA!

I am no help for what to put in the black hole under the tool box.

LMAO@ "Probably metric" container! I have one of those too, but it isn't labeled as well as yours.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Taste, my add self has been taking care of it this way. Every time I walk by it I grab one thing and put it where it belongs. Slowly chipping away at it but it makes it more painless.

Thanks for the comment on my e-bench. It's something I actually hold pretty dear to me. My grandfather was a chiropractor for many years, my dad has taken over the practice for the last thirty five years. This is the desk he had there. I never got to meet him, he died in a car wreck shortly before I was born. Keeping it clean and used is my way of keeping him alive. Not to mention the thing weighs about 400lbs so yeah, she's sturdy.

And I'm glad you appreciate my bucket, it's just came to me one day haha. It's actually been a super useful thing during this decluttering phase

 

[nmcqueen469]

You're making great progress, keep up the good work!

 

[AlanE]

Already looks better than my garage. I had to lol at the "Paint & ****" box...

 

[Kjbakke2]

Haha thanks Alan, I'm a fan of creative and informative labeling

 

[fireeqpsrv]

I want to figure out what to use this compartment for, any thoughts?

Could the jack stands fit in it? That is where I store mine to keep them out of the way

 

[karpesh29]

Could the jack stands fit in it? That is where I store mine to keep them out of the way

This is what I was gonna say. Maybe on their sides, and inverted from one another? Or cased tools like a drill or saw or something?

 

[Kjbakke2]

I bet the small jack stands would fit in but my small ones have their spot under the bench, the big ones won't fit neatly but maybe on their sides kinda smashed in there. There's gotta be a better solution. Maybe my protein jugs of stuff? Like the infamous (is it too early to call it that?) probably metric jug. Maybe my jack stands need their own shelf on the steel units or shelfzilla (the woody) as for cases tools I have wayy too much of that stuff, those go in the green cabinet. I do have a lot of empty tool backs and bucket buddies etc etc. maybe those belong there ?!?

 

[Kjbakke2]

hey guys, sorry its been a little while since the last update. Between fixing all the things my boss breaks




still working on what to do with these cabinets, might use one of them as fastener storage, make one a cabinet for my specialty tools, stuff like that, they don't work for parts storage, almost all of my stuff is too big. Any thoughts guys?




Trying to keep a drilling rig in action in sub-zero windchills


spending time warming up from those windchills








I haven't had all the time I need for the garage.
however I spent most of yesterday out there and have been crossing some things off the list.

like an insulated dog house so my guy can stay outside when I'm at work






Work continues on the shelf, I don't like that there are just some things that don't play nicely on shelves, so I'm gonna be making some fronts that slide out of the way. the top right is gonna get peg board on the back and is gonna be the spot for all of my woodworking stuff like router, miter saw, etc.



got a bunch of foil faced for free from my boss, its gonna be a temporary ceiling until I can sheetrock it and blow in insulation, but that's gonna have to wait due to money.

 

[Kjbakke2]

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with these cabinets. I'm thinking of making one for fastener storage, another for my specialty tools, another for all my electronics stuff, to keep it off the bench and out of the dust.


my boss gave me a bunch of vintage beer cans, I gotta make something cool out of them or a little display rack.

 

[Kjbakke2]

So time for another update,

I have been pretty under the gun at work lately, we have a well that need to be finished like NOW, so I haven't been able to do my usual putter around the garage for hours and hours but i have been making some progress.


I hated the fact that some stuff just cant look good on the shelves due to how they are shaped so I wanted to hide them while still having the parts accessible, so time to make a cabinet out of the shelf.





[URL=http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/kjellbakke/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-11/IMG_20141130_170850232.jpg.html]


I am starting to get the metal shelves sorted. still a little work to do.

I am trying to shoehorn about 30 pounds of sh$% into a five pound bag here doing automotive, wood, metal fab, electronics etc in a two car single bay so i had to find a place to store my wood. i made a little wall mount for materials out of some spare 2x4


and my new Dunlop banner to hide some more stuff.


Maybe soon I can start working on the cars......

 

[Kjbakke2]

Hey guys, so I have caught a terrible bug.......woodworking. Most people start out with wood then move to metal later, my life up to this point has been metal, and now that I've been doing that since I was about ten, its time to make the move.

This being said, I will never stop working with metal (I'm actually ordering a tig welder for my garage in the next week or two) but its gonna require some new tooling.

I was prowling craigslist and have found a craftsman 10in table saw and a delta lathe in good shape for a steal. I'll let you know the final price and post some pics tomorrow.

I do need a fresh set of eyes, does anybody see any obvious ways I could better utilize my space so I can have a shot at getting this stuff setup in here?

Also, been busy at the electronics bench lately, any guesses?

 

[Shill68]

Mega squirt. Heard good things about them, keeping them in mind for some of my LSx swap ideas.

 

[Kjbakke2]

Mega squirt. Heard good things about them, keeping them in mind for some of my LSx swap ideas.

Ding ding ding......god I love this place haha. Ill let you know how it works when I get ready to fire it up.

 

[Kjbakke2]

update time, and yes this one actually looks like some progress has been made. I apologize if this gets a little wordy, I had a little rye before typing this

So I have been doing my best to weed things out and take a realistic approach to what I'm gonna use and to try and trash what I wont be using. Regardless, I feel like I am getting close to being able to focus more on the cars and as of late, wood projects and less on trying to wrestle the garage into order.

I have been kicking around a few ideas of how to keep my scrap (steel tube and plate, small wood scraps and a place to finally put all of my rags and I finally figured out that it can serve multiple purposes. its going to be like a chest/drawer configuration that sits underneath my akro bin rack and my press.

It would have been done today except I ran out of materials and decided to get going on other stuff. so heres the build of the exoskeleton.



pulled some 2x off of the rack and got it cut down, side note these are the daredevil spade bits that were on sale at Home Depot for $16 and holy hell these things rock, talk about effortless spade bits.



this is a super simple marking/drilling jig I made, it saves so much time if youre trying to mark consistent holes for 2x4 dimension



marked.....next



drilled.......next



fastened the end frames together, I am a bit of a SPAX *****, I love their stuff, worth the money imho



my super high tech counterweight for cutting sheets with a circular saw



framed them up and attached the end sheets, I gave my new hdx nailers a try, they worked flawlessly, should be great for what I'm using them for, I glued them as well.



back and top on, these had more of a structural nature to them so I glued and screwed these......okay i shot a bunch of nails as well......nail guns are fun......sue me



I wanted to get it off the ground a little and to add a little more rigidity to it as well as make it possible to pick it up with a forklift, just in case this thing lasts until I can have a forklift.



so here it is in place, like I said, i ran out of materials but the drawer will be done soon.

now I'm gonna give you guys a sweep of how I left the garage tonight. any input?



Installed some more lighting under the cabinets so i can see better on my electronics bench



I finally made a display rack for my vintage beer cans.....and then I found more hahaha






took some time and weeded through my toolbox, made a car kit with the junkier stuff, added my new set of wright wrenches......this is my metric drawer hahaha



also labeled all the drawers so that if I have friends or my girl helping me its easier to direct them to what I need.





Cleaned up the welding bench, I will be making one out of steel soon, but one step at a time



and the widest shot I could get

 

[Randy Forbes]

BIG difference from the first pictures on page 1 to the last pics on page 2!

I need, not so much the motivation__but some of that__AND the time to de-clutter and organize my "dirty" (detached) garage; there's still stuff laying on the floor in the exact place it landed when I was unloading the last (of 3 - 16' x 8' x 8') shipping container! For the sake of full disclosure and clarification, my "clean" (attached) garage is merely dirty__dusty, mostly__and not all that unorganized...

My biggest problem, and one which I WILL NOT complain about, is that people keep sending me cars ('98 - '02 BMW ///M Coupes & Rdstrs) to work on. So not only do I need some motivation, but it has to be timed with when there's the rare gap between customer cars coming in__oh, and when my own (6) cars don't need work...

But I digress; YOUR GARAGE is coming along great!

[/post *****; trying to increase post count, so I can use the classifieds!]

 

[Kjbakke2]

Lol well thanks for stopping in anyways, good luck with your dirty garage

 

[Aquaticbob]

Really like the bin of spare bolts. More people need to do that. See waaaaay too many "I didn't have any bolts, so I just zip tied it". I hate zip ties, they are only so useful

 

[Kjbakke2]

Really like the bin of spare bolts. More people need to do that. See waaaaay too many "I didn't have any bolts, so I just zip tied it". I hate zip ties, they are only so useful

Thanks man, yeah I like to be overkill, I have to stock my metric stuff up, now that I'm running a japanese motor but most of what I fab goes with sae stuff. Whenever I scrap stuff I always pull the bolts that are in good shape.....you never know when you need it, saved my *** a hundred times with the "probably metric" bin

I also have about 2500 zip ties on hand. I bolt almost everything but in the drifting world we zip tie the panels that are gonna make contact (bumpers etc) so that instead of being smashed to hell they just pop off.

 

[Aquaticbob]

I also have about 2500 zip ties on hand. I bolt almost everything but in the drifting world we zip tie the panels that are gonna make contact (bumpers etc) so that instead of being smashed to hell they just pop off.

That's understandable for drifting. It just gets annoying when mechanical parts are zip tied. I have had to teach quite a few people that bolts are a little bit stronger than zip ties and a lot more permanent

 

[Kjbakke2]

That's understandable for drifting. It just gets annoying when mechanical parts are zip tied. I have had to teach quite a few people that bolts are a little bit stronger than zip ties and a lot more permanent

Oh god, I'm totally with you haha haha I have failed so many people at our tech ins because I'm terrified of....oh....say maybe an alternator taking a tumble on the track. Best one I've seen so far, the air pump on a fc rx7 with a 13b rotary engine.....the main bracket was four zip ties....

 

[Aquaticbob]

Oh god, I'm totally with you haha haha I have failed so many people at our tech ins because I'm terrified of....oh....say maybe an alternator taking a tumble on the track. Best one I've seen so far, the air pump on a fc rx7 with a 13b rotary engine.....the main bracket was four zip ties....

Yeah, that's gonna lead to some issues. I don't zip tie critical things, and won't let people out of my shop if they use the zip tie fix

 

[404]

Great progress. Did the wire braces at the ends of the over head tire rack get installed into those eye bolts?

 

[Kjbakke2]

Great progress. Did the wire braces at the ends of the over head tire rack get installed into those eye bolts?

Thanks man, and yeah they did, its actually a double wrap of 550 cord. Love that stuff.

 

[GregsRetroGarage]

I like how everything is labeled!! Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Kjbakke2]

I like how everything is labeled!! Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks Greg! It took a while but it is completely worth it, especially when my dymo was only 20 bucks