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

[markviii]

Blues, and the rock and roll that came from it, are the only thing to play in our garages! It just sets the tone.

 

[klogan121]

Thanks.

I can only find the one picture of the Jeep. It's a 1983 with the straight six (so I doubt it would have the oomph for towing). It was from when AMC owned the company and (if I remember right) the cars were made in Wisconsin.

It's purely a work car for me -- a parts hauler. I wish I had a picture of it with the 1200 pounds of ceramic tiles and adhesive for the garage. It was riding LOW.

But I've had it since 1993, and it's never broken. I've thought about restoring it -- paint and a V8. But I don't know what I'd do while it was out of commission.

I drive the 911 around town and also to the track. I used to run stickier tires, and made 10-hour drives to some tracks with wheels and tires on the roof.

I love those original, un-restored Jeeps! I would keep it the way it is! Here in MI, most Jeeps are rust-buckets Weren't Jeeps produced in Toledo, OH? Maybe elsewhere, too.

 

[markviii]

My grandmother worked at the WIllys plant in Toledo, OH from the late 1930s to the late 70s when she retired. She was an upholsterer. While JFK was in the White House, he ordered 6 Jeepsters for Jackie. My grandmother did the upholstery. She was always bringing home leftover material and making things for us - zippered bags for our swim suits, shoe holders to put up on closet doors, picnic table cloths, etc. AMC had Kaiser-Jeep from 1970-1987. Chrysler bought it. My grandfather worked at the Chevy plant in Toledo for 55 years. My dad's cousins (on grandmother's side) all lived in or around Detroit and worked for Ford. My dad always bought Fords and grandpa would always tell him, "Don't park that jalopy in my driveway!" There was a definite rivalry in our family.

The Parkway Jeep plant in Toledo closed in June of 2006 when the last Wrangler came off the line. Within a year it was demolished. Part of the paint plant is still there (the smoke stack with Overland on it). It just doesn't look the same driving down the parkway. I think the Stickney Avenue plant building where they did final assembly is still there, but my guess is it's unused. The North Toledo assembly plant is where the Jeep Liberty is assembled. I think there's another plant in Perrysburg, OH (less than 20 miles away). The engine for the Jeep Cherokee is made in Kenosha, WI, I think. My grandmother use to keep me up on all this stuff, so it's kind of just a memory now that she's gone. If we still owned our 1949 Jeepster, I might have kept up with the history.

I heard from relatives that they also did a very poor job of saving all the historical documentation of prototypes and other artifacts for the museum.

 

[bluesboy]

Thanks for the information. That titles not very politically correct for our times, but back than they were also called race records also. Check out this link http://www.venerablemusic.com/default.asp some interesting music all on 78rpm. Enjoy. Jim

 

[Jack Olsen]

Well, I took the 911 out on Tuesday and discovered the smell of gasoline in the oil tank -- which confirmed what a previous leakdown test had suggested: I've got broken rings and it's time to go through the motor.

So for my track day on Wednesday, the new baby-hauling BMW was called off the bench and sent into the game. It doesn't have the personality (or capability) of the 911 out on the track, but it got itself around just fine and got me there and back in comfort.

 

[dho]

Jack, is that your Porsche in the new issue of Classic Motorsports mag? Beautiful car and beautiful garage - great work!

Buddy

 

[Jack Olsen]

Jack, is that your Porsche in the new issue of Classic Motorsports mag?

It might be. They called a while ago to ask if they could use a picture in some article about a low-cost racing class. Thanks for the heads up. I'll check it out next time I'm at the bookstore.

 

[metelburner]

Jack where did you get those clamps that are on your drill press

 

[Jack Olsen]

Jack where did you get those clamps that are on your drill press

Harbor Freight.

 

[cdrewferd]

Great looking garage Jack. Sorry to hear about the motor in the 911. Any special plans for it during the rebuild process?

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks. And thanks for the engine condolences. But it's a little like when a grandparent lives past a hundred -- I stopped keeping track of 'track hours' at 500 or so. I do monthly track events with Open Track Racing, have run multiple POC and PCA events, did the Open Track Challenge (driving 'to' and then 'at' seven tracks in seven days, like a more-concentrated One Lap of America) three times, as well as time trials with NASA and the Alfa Romeo club. I also did two seasons of racing with ARC, three seasons of time trialing with NCRC. In other words, I ran that engine pretty mercilessly for a long time.

And it's also been a street car.

So a replacement or rebuild is coming up, but it's not a surprise. We'll see which path ends up making the most sense.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Jack,
If you go with a rebuild will you try to do it yourself using Wayne's book? I REALLY thought about doing it on my little 2.7. I'm guessing if you taught yourself to weld and to fabricate tables and fences, etc you can teach yourself to rebuild a 3.6. Plus you've got a lot of contacts in the Porsche world. If you decide to go that way, I'd love to ee you post the progress photos here on the Fabrication sub-forum (obviously, I am assuming you would post to Pelican as well?)

 

[billscamaros]

Jack - it's cool the way that you have let creativity rule in the garage. Does that extend to the house also? Is it an ongoing project like the garage?

 

[gorilla]

Jack, Think of all the neat tools you could buy if you rebuild that flat six yourself and all the neat things you could make like an engine stand, and a floor jack adapter and who knows what else. The last 2.6 I rebuilt cost about $8,000.00. Don't be afraid of it it's just nuts and bolts.

 

[WANTSOM]

The tearing down and re-assembly is certainly something that can be done by people with good mechanical knowledge and skills. The tricky bit with any engine rebuild is the tolerance measuring and machining work, particularly with hi performance motors.

There is a sense of satisfaction with piecing it together, if you have the time and ability to do it right.

 

[28HopUp]

Here are the new Matco ones, along with the new quick-release Vise Grips:

Jack,

I must have missed reading it, but what's the story on the doored cabinets with the pegbaord inside? Those look great, even opened (closed too I bet). That set-up would be a great way for me to hide tools yet keep them handy.

TIA!

 

[abrahamfh]

Really great looking garage Jack, I must thank you ahead of time for all the inspiration and motivation reading through your thread has done for me.

I was wondering, could you include a photograph of how you organized the interior of the storage unit you built along side of the house?

As per the previous comment, I too really dig the doored cabinets with the peg board inside. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have noticed this style of storage in a lot of the older Los Angeles home garages. My Grandfather in law built his own house and two car garage in historic Stonehurst (sun valley, ca) back in the late 40's and he too added this same style cabinet/storage unit. It's so practical and looks so cool.

Thanks again for sharing your garage vision and how it slowly became what it is today.

Cheers

 

[mustangmccance]

Hey Jack. this may be inappropriate in this forum but I was just wondering what kind of writing you do? I like the attention to detail, and passion you show in your garage and I was just curious. if this is not appropriate here I apologize in advance.

 

[Gareth]

Excellent, and inspiring thread.

Thanks for sharing in such detail. Absolutely love the 911 - I will own one of a similar era one day.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I must have missed reading it, but what's the story on the doored cabinets with the pegbaord inside? Those look great, even opened (closed too I bet). That set-up would be a great way for me to hide tools yet keep them handy.

I wish I knew more about them. They were a Craigslist impulse buy. I liked the way they folded up small, then opened up for a lot of storage area. By the time I found a use for them, it made more sense to just keep them open (the one with the hammers swings closed, if needed, but I've got the one with the hand tools mounted so it's always open). The box around them keeps the tools cleaner, even when it's not closed, and it also makes the tool storage look more 'on purpose.'

They didn't come with the pegboard. I put that in, with spacers behind it.

Really great looking garage Jack, I must thank you ahead of time for all the inspiration and motivation reading through your thread has done for me.

I was wondering, could you include a photograph of how you organized the interior of the storage unit you built along side of the house?

As per the previous comment, I too really dig the doored cabinets with the peg board inside. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have noticed this style of storage in a lot of the older Los Angeles home garages. My Grandfather in law built his own house and two car garage in historic Stonehurst (sun valley, ca) back in the late 40's and he too added this same style cabinet/storage unit. It's so practical and looks so cool.

Thanks again for sharing your garage vision and how it slowly became what it is today.

Thanks. Maybe someone who reads this thread will be able to add some information about the metal cabinets. I'd be interested in learning about them.

I don't have pictures of the inside of the shed. It's divided into four compartments. The three on the right side are each about 40" wide and less than 60" high. I built in shelves to make two sections in one, three in another and four in the third. The shelves are about 48" deep.

The larger compartment to the left is 6' wide. I'm able to keep a tool box, my welder, my Oxy-Ac setup and a 30" combination press brake/roller/shear in there. You can't stand in it, but I'm always surprised by how much fits.

Hey Jack. this may be inappropriate in this forum but I was just wondering what kind of writing you do? I like the attention to detail, and passion you show in your garage and I was just curious. if this is not appropriate here I apologize in advance.

I write screenplays for movies. Some of that is original scripts and some of it is rewrite work on other people's scripts. It may sound glamorous (and I can't complain), but I've been doing it for a living for 14 years now and you still won't find my name on any of the movies I've worked on.

Ah, well.

 

[darkbuddha]

Jack, I gotta tell you, I keep coming back to this thread for ideas and updates. Like any good product of creativity, it keeps providing feedback and brain fodder. I find it interesting that you're so thorough in your compartmentalization of everything. I wonder if you do the same thing in your writing with words and concepts? I know I often do in both my composition process and works it produces as one way of working with and structuring materials.

BTW, I also spied your 911 in that recent issue of Classic Motorsports magazine. It was included in an article about Pro-Touring, making a point about whether non-domestic cars "qualified". (I don't call my '89 Merkur "pro-touring", but I modify it with the same mindset that I modify my '70 Mach 1 Mustang, so whatever... right?)

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, Wyatt. I actually do take a sort of engineering approach to writing. In meetings, I'll use the concept of a story as a machine that is designed to 'do' particular things (impact the audience in certain ways), and that everything in the story should be looked at in terms of how it serves that larger function.

But a lot of it is also typical creative stuff -- chaotic and difficult to quantify. You make up a bunch of stuff that you hope will surprise and entertain your audience.

I was happy to let Classic Motorsports use that picture of my car. I guess I'm a published photographer, now. But I only skimmed the article. My car is updated with a newer engine and cherry-picked components from almost 40 years of 911 production. But I did it only because I wanted the particular version of the 911 I had in my head. Some guys like to restore. I liked the fact that the 911 had (and has) been manufactured for such a long time that you could really pull out your own particular version from all of that history.

(A 1970 Mach 1 is awesome, by the way.)

 

[chicane]

Jack, I think you have one of the best garages I have ever seen. That is based on your use of space, originality, creativity and cost effectiveness. I think your garage should be a blueprint and a model for others, especially those who have smaller spaces. Kudos.

 

[bdubbin]

Amazing garage, Jack. Would you care to share exactly what colour green you're using so I can go to my local Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, Sherwin Williams, etc and pick up a few cans for myself?

I've been struggling for a long time trying to pick paint colours... I've thrown around the usual red/black/white combination along with some greys, etc. But that's a little to racy for me. I want more of an old-fashioned look. Thought about natural wood colours, too, but it's a garage, not a garden! I've spent hours looking through the garage gallery here and ultimately yours is my favourite.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys.

The green is a Sears WeatherBeater color called Tarragon. It's discontinued, officially -- but as long as you know the name, they can mix it. I used exterior semigloss, and I'll warn you that the WeatherBeater paint is not very good. I always have to do two coats with it to get consistent color. (But it's what I started with, and I've gone too far downstream with it now to change.)

The cream is a Sherwin-Williams color called Macadamia. It's a much better paint than the Sears stuff.

And since there haven't been actual pictures of the garage in a while in this thread, I'm going to add some, so newcomers don't necessarily have to slog through all 12 pages to see it. I don't think I've posted these particular images before, but I don't keep any record, so there's always a chance they're duplicates (if so, I apologize for the bandwidth waste).

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

...The green is a Sears WeatherBeater color called Tarragon. It's discontinued, officially -- but as long as you know the name, they can mix it. I used exterior semigloss, and I'll warn you that the WeatherBeater paint is not very good. I always have to do two coats with it to get consistent color. (But it's what I started with, and I've gone too far downstream with it now to change.)

Jack,

Paint a sample of the Tarragon on a small piece of wood, take it to Home Depot or OSH and they can color match it exactly. Sherwin Williams, Dunn Edwards, etc probably can too. No need to keep using paint you don't like....unless you "went long" and bought 5 gallon buckets and still have a lot left! (in which case you should have responded to bdubbin with,"It's discontinued, but youre in luck - I have some left which I'll ship it to you for a nominal charge!")

 

[santagary]

I still think that bench is an amazing design and may belong in the Guggenheim museum or the Louve in Paris...but at least in the Smithsonian...I can't quit looking at it...perhaps your entire garage should be enshrined and blessed by Jay Leno, or someone equally famous in LA! Just my opinion.

 

[flyng_fool]

Jack,

Paint a sample of the Tarragon on a small piece of wood, take it to Home Depot or OSH and they can color match it exactly. Sherwin Williams, Dunn Edwards, etc probably can too. No need to keep using paint you don't like....unless you "went long" and bought 5 gallon buckets and still have a lot left! (in which case you should have responded to bdubbin with,"It's discontinued, but youre in luck - I have some left which I'll ship it to you for a nominal charge!")

I wouldn't go to Lowes or HD. Their paint is junk too. You get what you pay for is especially true in paint. SW, Kelly-Moore, Benjamin-Moore(expensive as hell but excellent paint), easily outdoes the big box store paint.

 

[Indy_500]

I don't know if this was brought up yet but i noticed you moved your deep drawers up to the top, why is that? how hard was it? I still kick myself in the **** for not painting my drawers black. I love the black drawers red box look and i put stickers on it right away after i got it without even thinking about painting it. Your box looks a lot better with the black.

 

[markviii]

Good to have a refresher on the pics! I agree with santagary that your garage design is amazing. Lots of detail work for very personal reasons shine through in everything included in this unique space. But really, santagary, having it blessed by Jay Leno would be a comedown imho. The garage sells itself without a "celebrity" endorsement. GJ is much better and, in fact,this thread may deserve a Sticky. As many times as Jack's thread keeps getting bumped to the top, maybe this could be consider, Bull?

Chris

 

[qship510]

Jack,

Love the garage! Love the early 9!

One question; 6 handheld grinders? I am verging on buying a second one so I'll have a cutting wheel and a grinding disc at all times without switching, but, 6?

Awesome garage, awesome early 9!

Jerry

 

[Jack Olsen]

Paint a sample of the Tarragon on a small piece of wood, take it to Home Depot or OSH and they can color match it exactly...

True. But 1) I've already painted pretty much everything, and still have a couple of gallons in the cabinet, and 2) the Orchard Supply Hardware is my closest hardware store -- which makes it convenient to get the Sears brand stuff.

I still think that bench is an amazing design...

Thanks, Gary. I like it too. I also like the fact that it doesn't block light when the door is open.

I don't know if this was brought up yet but i noticed you moved your deep drawers up to the top, why is that? how hard was it? I still kick myself in the **** for not painting my drawers black.

Thanks. I put the deeper drawers up (no work involved, they'll fit anywhere in the stack) because I keep one drawer full of different kind of gloves, and another one is my junk drawer. The stack of Craftsman boxes to the right is still where I keep my hand tools, so I didn't need to put any bigger, heavier tools down low.

Good to have a refresher on the pics! I agree with santagary that your garage design is amazing. Lots of detail work for very personal reasons sine through in everything included in this unique space. But really, santagary, having it blessed by Jay Leno would be a comedown imho. The garage sells itself without a "celebrity" endorsement. GJ is much better and, in fact, this thread may deserve a Sticky.

It's nice that people like it, but the thing I like the most about this garage is...

...simply...

...that it's easy to work in. Yesterday and this morning, I cut and welded together a rack for my Jeep. It's nice to have a place where you can do something like that quickly without having to move a bunch of stuff to make room for the work (1/8 acre lot, not much space for a shop). I lived for too many years with a perpetual mess in the garage. I like this much better now.

Next up: an engine swap for that old Porsche.

Love the garage! Love the early 9! One question; 6 handheld grinders? I am verging on buying a second one so I'll have a cutting wheel and a grinding disc at all times without switching, but, 6?

I've actually got five grinders now, since one broke. Two have grinding wheels. One has a flap wheel. One has a wire brush. One has a cutting wheel. I guess that's one more than I actually need -- although I have had grinders running at different benches before. And I've also run a full cutting wheel on one, while using up the little nib of an old wheel on jobs where it would still work. I'm frugal.

Case in point: the HF grinders are like $14 when they're on sale. Having more than I need means the next time I cut through a cord or something, I won't have to run out to get another.

 

[JC23]

I've had great luck with, if you want to believe this, Walmart's Home Place paint. Moistly because it's Sherwin Williams. A fiend who works at SW told me that and after using it, I believe it. I'll give it an extreme test this summer when I paint the house.

Also, WM has matched any color I have produced and usually the cost is less than $10 a gallon.

Jack, I'm with you on 'Wallet Beater' paint. I painted my light colored house years ago
(B4 HD and Lowes) with a darker color and it still took three coats to cover. The guys at Sears thought I was ripping them off of thier gurantee.

Also for Jack, is that clock two sided?

 

[onewaydave]

...so newcomers don't necessarily have to slog through all 12 pages to see it. ...

But Jack, that's what makes this a wonderful live.

Dave.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Also for Jack, is that clock two sided?

Yes. I didn't have a space on the wall where I could see the clock from the different benches in the garage. So I hit on the idea of using the kind of two-faced clocks they used to put in train stations and school hallways. But I learned the nice ones sell for 'collectible' prices.

So I found a clock I liked and just ordered two of them. I bent a piece of aluminum and mounted each clock back to back -- instant two-faced clock.

 

[JC23]

I thought it looked like it. Nicely done.

 

[ChristopherLutz]

I am new to this board...what an awesome place.

Jack -

Thank you for taking the time to document your progress. That adds time to projects; and, I'm sure everyone appreciates it. Your descriptions really bring your projects to life and your frugal nature/approach mean the rest of us have a hope and a prayer.

ANYONE with a big budget can have a cool garage/shop. That's not particularly interesting or exciting. Pirmarily these people hire OTHERS who are skilled and creative to build them a place. Nothing wrong with that...but, the inspiration comes from the skill and creativity....not from having the means to sign a check.

I'm a southern CA native (Garden Grove, next to Anaheim) and move do the Dallas, TX area 6 years ago. The "garage in back" design is really fantastic from a security, privacy perspective and works well in mild climates. Perfect for Los Angeles. (Incidentally, your comment on commute times really rang true with me. One of the contributing factors to my relocation was my 90 minute (one way) commute)

Anyway - sincere admiration for what you've done, many thanks again for sharing.

I was able to upgrade to a 3 car garage here in TX, which is great....but....the temps in the summer make it MUCH less comfortable to work in.

Thanks for the inspiration, links and pics.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, Christopher. I never gave the garage much thought when looking at a place to buy, but I agree about the privacy/security of having the garage all the way in the back. The narrow 1925 driveway also turned out to be a good deterrent for the wife wanting her half of the space. All in all, a lot of fortunate accidents.

As you know, the temperature swings aren't as great here in southern California as they are in most parts of Texas. But the summers get hot. And I liked having the propane heater enough during the winter that I've got some plans for cooling the place on hot days this summer. I've had a spare window unit kicking around for a while, but there's just not a good place to put it the way the walls and neighbors are aligned on my lot. But I recently got a cheap (second-hand, of course) portable AC unit that might take the edge off of our days where the temperature goes into the triple digits.

Jack, I must have missed reading it, but what's the story on the doored cabinets with the pegbaord inside? Those look great, even opened (closed too I bet). That set-up would be a great way for me to hide tools yet keep them handy.

By accident, I finally found out who makes these cabinets. It's a company called Edsal, and they sell them on Amazon for $113 each (which isn't crazy, but makes me glad I got them second-hand). The dimensions are 30"Wx12"Dx24"H (closed) and 60"Wx6"Dx24"H (opened). In the picture you can see the shelf I removed from both of mine. (Warning: the steel is thin enough so that my effort to use a 4.5" grinder to take out the spot welds led to the steel getting bent and distorted.) If I had to do it again, I'd leave the shelf in place.

Open:

You can see there's a pegboard pattern to the steel in the back, and the mounting points are embossed so there's a gap to make room for the tips of hooks behind the cabinet if you use the holes like pegboard. In my case, I just put a cut piece of pegboard (and spacers) back there.

Closed:

 

[terabyte]

Here is the amazon link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUBTOO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[HIRISC]

Garage looks great..

BTW - you got picked up as 'My Favourite Garage' on BuildThreads.com - congrats

http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/my-favourite-garage/

Chris