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Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The 12-Gauge Garage

Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
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Dale-Stevens

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Joined
Jan 12, 2024
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1
16 years in, here's the garage again. Both the shop and the car got a clean-up and a reset, and I'll include a selfie-with-a-car to show the march of time's never-ending impact on the owner.

Sometimes people ask what I would do differently, with the perspective of hindsight. Honestly, not much. There are a few things (old towels, my painting tarps) that I wished I had a better storage spot for. But that's very minor. I still like the layout, the amount of workspace, the lift. Every time I go out there and the lights turn themselves on, there's a feeling of well-being that follows.

It's rarely this clean, but it's always pretty easy to get back to this point, which I like.

2023 Garage Up.jpg2023 Garage Down.jpg2023 Garage Two Dogs.jpg02 Rear Angle.jpg03 .jpg
I have to say the color and materials and the Icing on the cake is the what appears to be a 1940's Western Electric 354 model Rotary Phone on the the side of the Cab. I get Mega Mid to Post war 1940s Workshop / Maintenance Garage Vibe !!! your garage serious;y competes against your 911 for the best in show !!! absolutely awesome !!!!!!
 

sksaha

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Joined
Jul 5, 2024
Messages
2
Location
San Jose
Poor Man's Hazet Assistent (call it an Ikea-zet Assistånt?)

First off, I understand that there's really no comparison between an Ikea cart and a Hazet Assistent tool cart. The Hazet folds down into a small, secure box. It's got more dividers. It's going to last a lifetime. And there's no substitute for the real thing:

3683514.jpg


But then, those little guys aren't cheap, either:

asist166.jpg

Now, Ikea recently came out with a rolling kitchen cart they call the Raskog that is clearly inspired by the look (although not the function) of the classic Assistent. And the kick of it is, it's $49.

y6ydu9y3.jpg

There have been a couple of threads on it on this board.

I picked one up the other day, mostly because I needed to take my one-year-old out for a drive to get her to nap. It ended up being a $50 nap, since I got myself a Raskog -- which is honestly something I've never felt a real need for. I'm a guy who's happy to set his tools down on the floor when he's working.

But I was struck by how sturdy the thing is. It's no Hazet, but it's not as flimsy as you'd expect a cart to hold kitchen stuff, either. Each shelf clocks in at four pounds.

fourlbs.jpg

That got me thinking. Why not add some dividers in there? And while I'm at it, why not try out a layer of Plasti Dip paint to provide a little cushion (and quiet) for tools?

So I wasted some perfectly good time today. I not only re-painted the entire thing in a slightly-different-shade of gray (it's gotta match), I also learned to use Plasti Dip (well, kind of -- that stuff is tricky).

Here's a shelf with some welded in dividers, new paint, and rubberized protection.

shelfikeazet.jpg

And here's the whole cart:

ikeazetalt2.jpg

And even though the paint and the Plasti Dip were still drying, here's a test shot with a few tools thrown in:

ikeazetassistent.jpg

And here's the thing where it will get used.

ikeazetandcar.jpg

The cost was $49 for the cart, $5 for a can of Rustoleum Anodized Bronze, and $6 for a can of Plasti Dip spray. And of course, a piece of my afternoon.

I'm still not sure where I'm going to store it. Or if I'll actually wheel it over when I'm working on the car. We'll see. It might stay, or it might go. But it was a fun little project to make. :beer:
Jack
is that what I think you have on the lift? A duck tail Porsche 911 Carrera RS?
 
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Jack Olsen

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Jack
is that what I think you have on the lift? A duck tail Porsche 911 Carrera RS?
It's a Frankenstein, of sorts. To mis-paraphrase Feerdinand Porsche, 'I couldn't find the Porsche of me dreams, so I built it myself.'
It's a 1972 tub, with a 1995 3.6l engine, a magnesium-case 1977 transaxle, 1986 930 brakes, and various other components ranging from 1965 to 2000.

 
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Jack Olsen

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Mar 22, 2009
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Los Angeles
I drive my old 911 on the street and also the track. I was coming back from my local track last week, and I decided to work out how many track-only miles my car might have, since I'm going on 25 years of ownership. I was surprised enough by the number that I turned it into a video:

 

Outlawmws

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Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
39,221
Location
The Badlands
Truely amazing Jack!

Very few race cars come even close to that level of miles logged.

For fun I just did a quick estimate of one of the hardest driven winningest cars in circle Trak racing (short track) and came up with about 2200 miles in a ten-year period; lets double that for hot laps and trophy dash races, 4400 miles? Yes the big track cars put on a lot in a 500 mile race ten races? - they use different cars for different tracks so maybe 5000, in a year? but those cars are typically only run a few years - if that, due to crashes and such...
 
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LWB

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Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
1,225
Location
ON, Canada
Hey Jack, how many engines have you been through, if any? I'm curious as to your suspension maintenance schedule.
 

Nolift911

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Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
1,013
Location
Lansdowne, VA
I'm on my second engine. When I made the decision about a rebuild versus a low-mileage used motor, the used-motor option was much cheaper ($5k). Front and rear shocks get rebuilt every 10 years. The front JRZs are more expensive than the rear Ohlins, for what it's worth.
I think you have a 3.6 in there...man...a 3.6 for $5k today....wow, not sure you can touch one(or find one) for less than $20k these days all in?
 
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Jack Olsen

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Mar 22, 2009
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Los Angeles
Morning.jpg


Yes, that's my track. Here I am last month -- it was 31° when I got there.

I still drive there 6-8 times a year. I'll be there next month, too.

It's hard to say what the sale is going to mean. The previous owner (who bought it in 1962) died in 2015. The family has been running it since then, and it appears to have been primarily just a revenue source for them -- I don't think they've had the resources to update it and keep it as functioning and relevant as it could be.

My hope would be that this new group will put some capital into it and hopefully continue to make it available at reasonable prices for rental and testing/tuning days. I can't say I'm optimistic about that, but I'm also not too pessimistic about it. Time will tell.
 

Colin Len

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Joined
Jan 30, 2013
Messages
1,233
Location
Long Beach CA
Morning.jpg


Yes, that's my track. Here I am last month -- it was 31° when I got there.

I still drive there 6-8 times a year. I'll be there next month, too.

It's hard to say what the sale is going to mean. The previous owner (who bought it in 1962) died in 2015. The family has been running it since then, and it appears to have been primarily just a revenue source for them -- I don't think they've had the resources to update it and keep it as functioning and relevant as it could be.

My hope would be that this new group will put some capital into it and hopefully continue to make it available at reasonable prices for rental and testing/tuning days. I can't say I'm optimistic about that, but I'm also not too pessimistic about it. Time will tell.
Fingers crossed! I'm worried there's an extremely good chance it'll end up being turned into a private track/resort/community. If that happens it really will be a huge loss for California car culture.
 

rharman

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Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
8,813
Location
SoCal
Sadly, this sounds like.... "We'll keep the track open while we get the permits and funding to build a big housing tract". :mad:


"While CrossHarbor Capital can not provide details on acquisitions before they are complete, we can confirm that a deal is pending and the team is excited to preserve the legacy and enthusiast access to one of America's most iconic racing facilities while also setting up the property for growth and success in the future. More details will be released soon," read the statement provided to The Drive.
 

drmarkr

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Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
4,211
Location
Tucson
Morning.jpg


Yes, that's my track. Here I am last month -- it was 31° when I got there.

I still drive there 6-8 times a year. I'll be there next month, too.

It's hard to say what the sale is going to mean. The previous owner (who bought it in 1962) died in 2015. The family has been running it since then, and it appears to have been primarily just a revenue source for them -- I don't think they've had the resources to update it and keep it as functioning and relevant as it could be.

My hope would be that this new group will put some capital into it and hopefully continue to make it available at reasonable prices for rental and testing/tuning days. I can't say I'm optimistic about that, but I'm also not too pessimistic about it. Time will tell.

Trevor and I are driving the Pacific F2000 series this year. Come hang out at Buttonwillow on Mar 15th weekend if it works for you?!?

481255650_10160617151836744_7899638329121054929_n.jpg
 
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Squankum

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Joined
Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,702
Location
Southeast
I just googled for "12 Gauge Garage" and next thing you know my browser took me to a frightening place!

 

GrabberOrange69

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Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
43
Location
World Capital of Hops
Sadly, this sounds like.... "We'll keep the track open while we get the permits and funding to build a big housing tract". :mad:


"While CrossHarbor Capital can not provide details on acquisitions before they are complete, we can confirm that a deal is pending and the team is excited to preserve the legacy and enthusiast access to one of America's most iconic racing facilities while also setting up the property for growth and success in the future. More details will be released soon," read the statement provided to The Drive.
Got this from the SAAC Forum 2 weeks ago. Sad day:

"...spoke to Lynn Park at the LASAAC show. Willow is DEAD as a track day for COCOA or LASAAC.
They raised the rent from $14,000 to $40,000 for a weekend. They will not allow passengers. They will probably require a Hans device. The real killer is they will require the sponsor to be financially liable for anything that happens during the event. Gas/oil spill you pay for the cleanup - somebody slips and falls - you're on the hook. I'd wager they'd also bill you if someone backs up a toilet.
BTW: Lynn has already given up the dates they always had reserved since around 1974 or 5..."
 
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Jack Olsen

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Mar 22, 2009
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Los Angeles
Yikes. I hope it's not as bad as that. But I don't have any evidence pointing in the other direction. I was out there two times in September -- once with my normal (Open Track Racing) group, and once to help coach drivers at a private event held by one of the new owner/investors.

I think OTR's pricing was secured a while ago, so it had not gone up for the September event and looks to be the same for the next one (in November) as well. And I didn't get any useful information from the private event, other than that the new track manager seems to know his stuff and the changes to Streets of Willow are overwhelmingly positive.

But I imagine increasing the rental by 300% would drive away a lot of the regular groups that use the track. I'd be very disappointed to see that happen.
 

Squankum

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Joined
Mar 28, 2011
Messages
7,702
Location
Southeast
Sorry, I just saw this...

2007 .1 and yes, it has the big bearing and small slugs.

Yes I eventually will track it so Jack will be costing me MORE money...

Don't wait for the planets to align! Go autocrossing* now!

_________
* And, perhaps, spending money on autocross.
 

Madc

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
99
Location
Northern NJ
Jack on a lighter note (no pun intended) I thought of you yesterday. Your 1972 and Garage are the seeds of my obsessions, but yesterday I saw Stronghold was now making multi-drawer cabinets- I assume to compete with the likes of Lista and the like. I was however slightly bummed to see their proud advertising of "Made with 14 gauge steel!". Thank you again for the years of inspiration!
MADC
 

Squankum

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Mar 28, 2011
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7,702
Location
Southeast
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