The Busted Knuckle

[Statesman]

Well i finally have something to add after so many months of biding my time!
I am always on the lookout on ebay as i am constantly chasing parts for the Statesmans resto.When i have finished in the car parts section i generally have a quick look in the building & gardening section for cheap tanks,as i still haven't found one for the shed.i also have of late been looking for something to use to line the garage wall,but most stuff is either too expensive or too far away.
Well a couple of weeks ago i found a guy local selling mdf packing sheets,he had thicknesses from 3mm-9mm & sheet sizes of 1200 x 2400 to
1800 x 3600.And very cheap prices as they were used as packing on stuff he was importing.
After a few phone calls i was off with the trailer & returned home with 7 sheets 6mm thick 1800 x 3600 long.My total investment $140.00 .
Two weekends later we went from this:

To This:

Excuse powercord in this photo.

i am still in the process of putting everything back in(what a job!)but have enough material to build a shelf right along wall where second photo was taken,and,by cutting old bookshelfs in half will have shelving to ceiling ( it's all planned in my head!!scary)
All the paint i used was leftover from jobs over the years,including paving paint.The ony expenses apart from the wallsheet was a tray of chipboard screws,some cheap paintbrushes & a bottle of hydrochloric acid to etch the concrete,sum total less than $50.00.
Happy,you bet!!
I will post up some more photos once shelving & wall art is re-installed

 

[HOTFR8]

Well done.

 

[Statesman]

Thanks HOTFR8,it's no garage mahal & with limited budget it is taking a long time!
Anyway i decided not to start putting too much back in,as while i had the time,room & materials i wanted to get the shelving installed.This weeks investment is $30.00 for 2 angle brackets,as the others were leftover from our factory unit.The 19mm ply i am using for shelves was attached on garage wall,i think previous owner did some sort of painting on it,so i decided to reuse it & leave his brushwork on it because i think it has some character.
The paint was a cream enamel left in the house when we bought it,just enough for two coats!
here we go:
Old bookshelves cut in two,ply cut & ready:

Shelving installed:

Old bookcases in place:

All painted & if i may say so myself,looking good!

I also had a couple of smaller brackets leftover so this space above powerpoints & lightswitches is pretty much dead space,so it was perfect for the garage stereo!!

Now to start filling those shelves!

 

[Zelatore]

The shop's coming along nicely, but I'm more impressed with the GTV6.

My last one....a little rough looking, but the 3.0 and suspension work made up for it.

And my brother's MUCH nicer GTV6. Also a 3.0 car, but not a daily driver.

(too bad for him it's still not as fast as my old 2.5 track day car was )

 

[Statesman]

Hi Zelatore,
I wish our tempermantal italian was a GtV6,alas she is but a humble 2tr!!
But a whole lot of fun nonetheless.she is a fairly standard car,we used to do a lot of tarmac rallies,so had the gtv6 interior fitted,a rally computer,&thats about it.
She has only 1small spot of rust,95%of the paint is original.
We are very close to a transaxle rebuild(double clutching is fun on rallies,but tiring in city traffic!)
She has a replacement engine,we have the original due for rebuild at a later date.
Once we finish everything around the house & Statesman restoration,she is. Next in line.
They are a fun drive!!

 

[Statesman]

Well after many months i finally have some time to add some updates.
A meeting in March has Turned the last 5 months into a whirlwind.
We enquired after a equity loan to add a glass enclosed room onto the back of the house so we could create a study/office & wall off one end & have a larger Laundry.
By doing this we could then knock through the wall between bathroom & laundry & create a large family bathroom.
Well we are still waiting for the glass enclosure(council took 4 months to get approval through),though construction should start this week,but kitchen now looks like this:

Have a look on page one to see what we startedwith!as i am the chef of the household i am over the moon with this change!
Unfortunately most of my contribution was in the form of heavy labour & weilding a paint brush.
I am searching for a before shot of the bathroom before i post any shots of the change.
Unfortunately i have had to hand a large part of the garage over to the boss lady for use as a laundry!but it will be worth the inconvenience once the extension is completed.
I have added a prize i won at the local bottle shop:

I have also used some of the old bathroom sheeting to line a wall above my new bench.But will post that when i locate my photos of the bathroom!
So between ******* & lugging,removing a large lemon tree,wielding a paintbrush,and the ongoing Statesman restoration,the garage makeover is running a distant last.

 

[HOTFR8]

Nice to see an update. Now do not talk about Councils and slow permits as mine took nearly five months but then you can see I have not wasted time getting stuck into what I wanted to do if you look for my sheddwellers extension posted here.

In the mean time just be patient the permits will come....eventualy.

 

[Statesman]

Hi hotfr8,
Thanks for that,i have been lurking on your Sheddwellers thread & can sympathise over the frustration with council,they even had our builder scratching his head over information that they couldn't see in the application,that even to my novice eye was in plain sight? go figure....
Good to see yours progressing at a great rate now

 

[Cougar67]

I'm enjoying your renovations. What kind of wood would that be on your home's floors?

 

[HOTFR8]

Hi hotfr8,
Thanks for that,i have been lurking on your Sheddwellers thread & can sympathise over the frustration with council,they even had our builder scratching his head over information that they couldn't see in the application,that even to my novice eye was in plain sight? go figure....
Good to see yours progressing at a great rate now

Still like me you can now get into it well if you have all the permits you require.

 

[Statesman]

I'm enjoying your renovations. What kind of wood would that be on your home's floors?

Hi Cougar,
They are a pine,i think Cypress,but when i had them sanded & polished i had the sander add a maple stain to give the floors that rosewood colour.I think it suits the style & age of the house.

 

[Statesman]

Still like me you can now get into it well if you have all the permits you require.

Yes it's all in the builders hands now!!

 

[Big-Foot]

Very nice work there Adrian!

I've been on a somewhat similar journey and someday I will spill the beans on that. Suffice it to say, I am nearing the completion of our old residence which was very neglected and actually made me seriously ill with mold. It's been almost two years now in the full renovation of this almost 100 year old house. My mother is still in her own home and refuses to go to assisted living. It is costing a small fortune to have help come in to her house 2 shifts per day. The funds are running out and something is going to have to give very soon.
Good luck to you on the rest of your journey and keep up the good work. The transformations are marvelous!

 

[Statesman]

Very nice work there Adrian!

I've been on a somewhat similar journey and someday I will spill the beans on that. Suffice it to say, I am nearing the completion of our old residence which was very neglected and actually made me seriously ill with mold. It's been almost two years now in the full renovation of this almost 100 year old house.

My mother is still in her own home and refuses to go to assisted living. It is costing a small fortune to have help come in to her house 2 shifts per day. The funds are running out and something is going to have to give very soon.

Good luck to you on the rest of your journey and keep up the good work. The transformations are marvelous!

I Look forward to your Thread

Our hand was forced with her advancing dementia.The aged care authorities here do there utmost to keep elderly in their own home as long as possible.This did become very worrying for us,as we began to worry about her leaving the gas on,forgetting to turn water off,& most worrying is she was very trusting to anyone who approached the house.

Thanks so much for stopping in on my humble project.

 

[Statesman]

Okay,found the old bathroom photo's.Heres what we started with.We called it our alpine sauna room :



Also make note of the size....You had to step outside to change your mind,it was that small.
My job was to strip the walls and the fittings.So this give me the idea of trying to salvage the timber from the walls as a little project in the garage.Just have to now finish a litte bit of trimwork off:Not the greatest picture,i will post up a better when it is all complete,but i reckon it looks great,total cost $0

Oh and the new bathroom;



Double the size thanks to knocking through the laundry.We don't know ourselves!

 

[HOTFR8]

So changing your mind now is easier and you no longer have to go out side .

 

[Statesman]

So changing your mind now is easier and you no longer have to go out side .

We were that used to the postage stamp bathroom we were worried the renovated one was too big

 

[Statesman]

Well can't believe it's been over three months since i updated this thread!
so much has been happening i almost don't know where to start,but here goes:Here is the back of the house,as left by the builder after bathroom renovations;

During construction;

Finished product;

What was left inside was the old exterior fibro wall,with plywood over old openings,as plastering is definately not my skill,i engaged the builder who did the bathroom to plaster the old exterior wall.Rather than disturb the old asbestos sheet,he framed over the top & this is the end result(after my painting:
.
I installed the vinyl flooring,in the above shot i haven't fixed skirtings.here's another view;

And Laundry:

We had a few issues,finding the old clay stormwater pipe being blocked so badly it needs replacing,i thought the old gutter was just leaking badly,not so.We found out the hard way with the guttering to the new room overflowing(messy) but fortunately no lasting damage.At the moment the stormwater is flowing onto the lawn & i have installed another downpipe onto awning so we capture some into existing tanks.When the money becomes available to do this i will be putting another water tank in.
Another update soon.

 

[HOTFR8]

You have to like progress.

 

[Statesman]

Oh and while all this was happening i had a delivery arrive:

 

[HOTFR8]

Looks like you have been busy. The re-assemble part is always fun.

 

[Statesman]

Looks like you have been busy. The re-assemble part is always fun.

Busy's not the word!!
I am recycling some of the old garage benchtop into a servery (pictures to come),laying 600x600 concrete blocks to move our cat run (which was moved in front of the carport while room was constructed)so i can access our small carport.I can then move the Alfa.Which gives me room in the Garage to start work on the Statesman.
I can then access the Statesmans engine & gearbox to bring them to work to do an overhaul.
I have ordered the vinyl for the Statesman & arranged the trimmer for after .
I then have to find some shelving for the garage so i can unpack all the box's of Statesman bits & decide what is good enough to go back on car,or be refurbished.
Oh and i have ordered a bench grinder & polishing wheel & bars so i can polish all the brightwork!
Hope this post isn't too long winded,but writing it helped me put some order & perspective int whats been rattling around in my head for weeks.

 

[HOTFR8]

Everything is looking good so I guess for you it is just what project do I work on today ! .

 

[Statesman]

Well it's been nearly 12 months since I posted here.
And here's why:

The fabric is what I located at SMS Auto fabrics,after posting a question when ifirst joined here




Have had my registration inspection today,she will be at her first show next weekend.
Now to start on the 12 month long list of jobs.And start sorting out the disaster zone the garage has turned into!!!

 

[HOTFR8]

Nicely done. Good luck at that show. As for the cleanup after a project, well that can become interesting as you find parts you believed lost.

 

[Statesman]

Thanks HOTFR8.
Let me tell you I reckon even though I put everything in jars,labelled every part and put them in "safe" places.
When I find all those lost parts there will be enough to make another car!!

 

[HOTFR8]

Or you will be saying I do not recall that part and wonder just what part of the vehicle it came from. Believe me I know all about it. I have boxes of parts and extras. That is usually how that next project is started.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Nice job on the Statesman.

 

[Statesman]

Or you will be saying I do not recall that part and wonder just what part of the vehicle it came from. Believe me I know all about it. I have boxes of parts and extras. That is usually how that next project is started.

HOTFR8.The next project will have to wait a long time.With all the now saved up jobs!!

Nice job on the Statesman.

Thanks 1/2 cup.It's turned out a lot better than I could have ever imagined!