The Multi Purpose Shop

[Jeepster04]

Nice build! I really like the two lofts.

If you dont mind me asking, what caused the wreck? Looks like its was brutal, glad everything seems to be ok!

 

[Fyrme]

The short of it was, the trailer was 16' and had a tailgate, which I left up. The upward slope of the 18' boards created a 7' wide spoiler, which pushed down on the back of the trailer. That caused unexpected weight transfer, having the same effect as if I had put an extra 1000lbs on the back of the trailer.

 

[Fyrme]

This little project took a full day and still isn't done. But in my defense, I was 100% wing-in it with no pre-plan, I just went out back, found a old fire hose cabinet I saved from my demo days, then went to the shed and pulled some old T-Mobile slat-wall dispaly's I bought years ago. After that, I went to town with it. I am pretty happy with it so far. On top of the willy-nilly build, the shelves were a total afterthought. I am undecided as to what finish to put on the shelves. The tops are plywood, but I trimmed them in oak, so I could get away with stain and poly, or just paint them black. What do you think? I kinda like the contrast of the wood, but can't picture it, in the "whole" picture of the shop build at this point of the game.


The door panel will be opened up to the outer frame and filled in with plexiglass.



While the cabinet is stainless steel, it had some old metal casters and bolts sitting inside of it as well as steel screws on the hinges, that caused some rust that needed to be cleaned up. Otherwise, it is in really good shape.





Then there was the caulking and paint to deal with...



Some wire wheeling and scotchbrite pads, I had it cleaned up and presentable.



I was trying to figure out how to put shelves in the cabinet, then it dawned on me. I have a bunch of shelves made for slatwall. AND I just so happened to have some slatwall too, lol.
So I put one of the panels inside the cabinet to match the panels on the sides.



I'll be using this cabinet to house all of my wood screws and related hardware. The slatwall and shelves will hold other woodworking related tools.

 

[Fyrme]

I've almost got the cabinet done, but have a few details to work out before I post any more pics of it. Mean while, I've been working on some other things. Like a unplanned bathroom addition. Well, I shouldn't say unplanned, but it wasn't in the plan until later down the road. The wife likes to hang out with me in the shop sometimes, and said a bathroom is a must. And since I kinda like her a little, after 21 years, and a bathroom might actually be handy, I came up with a solution to put one in now. More to come on that one later as I get more done to it.

So for now, I just have a couple small detailed things I've addressed.

First, I addressed the undersized ugly cover on my flush mount electrical J-box.



Keeping with the stainless theme, I grabbed the plasma cutter and sheet of 304 I salvaged a while back, to make a new one.

 

[Fyrme]

I also got the plumbing in the wall done. Up until now, the water supply was cobbled together just enough to be able to use my pressure washer last year. Now it's all tied together permanently as well as plumbing the line through the wall for the bathroom.



Where the pex penetrated the metal siding, I used some glad hand seals, that I acquired years ago.





I will insulate this water line, however I will be installing a small heater inside the doghouse that houses my compressor and PW.



To cover the plumbing lines, and to keep it accessible, I cut out a cover from some galvanized sheet metal. I could have done it in stainless as well, but I wanted to paint it, so why waste the good stuff.

 

[Fyrme]

And lastly for the day, I finished up my stove chimney.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fryme: loving all the cool finishes you are doing and great idea to put a bathroom in especially if it makes your bride happier.

just curious cause it sounded like you'd already had fires in your stove. how were you venting it before the new very well done vent work? or maybe you had the stove burning in a different location?

keep up the great work.

any updates on your son's truck or is he driving it with a few parts missing on it?

 

[Fyrme]

drives's, I was using the stove in that location, but it was just a pipe through the wall with a big gap around it. There was no wall box, and no inside finish on the wall. (the pipes were separated in this pic, but this is how I used it for a month or so.)

Truck has slowed progress because of the cold temps (for painting), and work, and the girl friend. But I told him I want it done by the end of March, so it's crunch time.

 

[Fyrme]

On another note. This week I may be going up to Missouri to pick up a little piece of my childhood history. I'll explain more of the story if this thing comes to be.

 

[cbacres]

Chad, shop looking great. I really like your taste in the finishes. I love all things stainless also.
I'll be checking in as you go along.

 

[Fyrme]

Thanks for stopping by cb.

 

[Fyrme]

Been using the shop more than working on it the past few days. Pulled the Polaris in yesterday and put new bearings on the rear axle, new bushings in the control arms, and fabbed up a receiver hitch on the rear axle clamp for reasons unknown. But more importantly, I got the Nissan pulled in to get it finished up this month. Today's job was bedliner the floor and back wall.

Got the boy doing the crappy work... (yes there's a clear lens in that hood lol.)



I used AL's bed liner from Amazon. Sprayed it with a drywall texture sprayer.





It turned out pretty good. My only reservation was the hopper got in the way of getting good coverage in the tight spots.

 

[Fyrme]

I haven't had a chance to start transfering my screws yet, but I got 48 of these 32oz bins from Costco. I didn't need 48 of them, in fact I still have two unopened cases. But I called them the other day, and they said they had something like 20 cases left and when they were gone, they would not restock them. No big deal, cause you can get them other places, right? Maybe, but not 12 for $20! It's the best price I've seen on these Most places want $2-3 each. Hope to get time to finish my door and fill the bins up soon.

 

[Fyrme]

Well ****! I nearly forgot

Complete, all original, numbers matching 1964 c10 283/3spd 40,000 miles.

 

[OOBER]

Nice shop. Cool story and pics.

Keep it coming!

What are the plans for the 'ol Chevy?

 

[Fyrme]

For the time being, I am going to tune it up, fix the brakes, throw some decent used around-town tires on it, wash it, and drive it. Other plans include, fix the three cancer spots, and blend them to look like the old red paint. give it a soapy wet sanding and spray it with clear Matte. I will also be upgrading it to disk power brakes and power steering. After that, who knows. The only thing that is for sure is, the body will always look like it does right now.

 

[drivesitfar]

FRYME: looks like your son has made time for his truck and maybe his girlfriend will allow him to finish with your help.

looks great and nice idea on using a hopper. does it clean up ok or is the hopper going in the trash after using it for this?

keep up the great work!!

 

[Fyrme]

Thanks drives. The Hopper I used was an old Kobalt sprayer that I needed to replace anyway, so I planned on throwing it away. But before I threw it out, I tried clean it out after it sat for about 8 hours, according to the instructions, and it peeled right out.

 

[Fyrme]

More progress on the Nissan today. Spring Break started, so me and the boy busted *** on it all day. Wired up his stereo, and a bunch of other stuff, as well as prewired for his audio upgrades he'll be doing after its road worthy. Then we got the dash, steering wheel, some trim, shifter boots, seat belts, and seat installed.



Being that this is the first time, since the day we brought it home, it's been complete enough to drive further than across the driveway, we had to celebrate with a "Roadkill" (an awesome youtube/MTOD series) drive around the block. So picture this; no door latches/handles(prepped for paint) held closed with bungee cords, muffler only tack welded on, unbalanced 33" mud tires, no bed, no tail or brake lights, no tag, no hood, missing one fender, oh and a newly licensed 16yo that has barley had any seat time driving a stick, kinda fun! Gotta love living in the country.
Click for vid



I planned to get more video during the drive, but I had more important things to tend to. If it wasn't bad enough that the first stop sign was on a incline, a truck came up behind us right about the time he came to a stop. He just looked down at the shifter and said "oh ****" in a worrisome voice. It was hard, but I managed to hold my hysterical laugh back just long enough for him to dump the clutch in super rev mode, causing the truck with zero weight in the back to jump and buck like we were riding a bull. Right about the time he got it around the corner and straightened out, the tacked on muffler fell off. It was then I busted out laughing my *** off. He pulled off into a ditch that would swallow the truck, had it had street tires on it. I quickly jumped out and sacrificed my door latch, aka, bungee cord, to do the duty of securing the muffler to the non-bedded frame. It was an awesome 1.8 mile trip!

 

[Fyrme]

More progress on the Nissan. It has slowed progress on the shop to a stop, but the truck is a higher priority at the moment.

We are going to build a stubby flat bed for the truck, so the frame rails behind the spring hangers were cut off and capped.



I put the boy on the job every chance I can get.
The plasma cutter was the best $1000 tool I've ever bought.







Capped with 1/8" plate.







Also fabbed up a muffler hanger out of a piece of scrap treadmill frame.



Next step is to paint the cab.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Progress looks good Chad. Staying tuned for more to come.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fryme: I like all the pictures of your work on the truck which we don't get to see all that often from you handy guys that seem to make something great out of what looks like scrap.

It also looks like your son is keeping busy on his truck with Dad's help. not that he doesn't know a ton about safety either from you or from others, but there are good tips on both of these threads he should read. I've read that a few members have mentioned that they know guys that had a welding slag fly in an eardrum and consequently lost hearing in that ear for one example. sure a burn on a bare arm from a little spark or piece of slag won't be fatal, but losing your hearing or something else wouldn't be good. my gramps was a logger for 65 years in the woods and only piece of safety equipment i always saw him wear was a metal helmet and occasionally safety glasses, but never ear protection and he was almost deaf even with hearing aids most of his later years.

Safety 101:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338827&highlight=safety+101

Grinder safety 101:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263083&highlight=grinder+101

not trying to lecture and just throwing out a little safety and caution cause i'd hate to see your son end up not being able to enjoy all this teaching you are giving him. I still forget to put on ear protection and use my glasses as safety glasses cause of OLD BAD HABITS that i'm trying to break.

take care and thanks for all the updates and pictures!!

 

[Fyrme]

We always wear glasses and gloves. And dark tinted glasses for plasma and torch cutting. In no way am I discounting your advice, but I would love to know the odds of a piece of slag jumping in your ear. I've been burned with slag from my collar line to my feet, but never in 25years of cutting and welding has slag hit me anywhere near my face. I've even accidentally stuck a hot MIG gun wire through my jeans about 1/8" into my leg when I dropped the gun to save something from falling. That happened a year ago and still have a purple scar on my thigh. But to be honest, I've never thought to wear ear plugs while welding/cutting with fire.

 

[drivesitfar]

Fryme: good to hear you have safety on your mind. even though the odds are not very good it can happen sort of like winning the lottery I guess. i'm also guessing maybe the slag dropped in an ear when welding or cutting from below a project like a truck's frame or having something up on a lift. that said i thought i'd mention it and you can do as you wish with the information.

like i said I may have started these SAFETY threads more to get more information out cause i'm still learning about SAFETY and at 62 i'm trying to break more bad habits and create good ones that I can use and maybe pass on to my kids and whoever wants to listen.

since i don't weld much (yet) i don't have the issues regarding hot slag or cuttings from a torch on my bare skin, but more than once i've used power tools with wire wheels on them when wearing shorts and short sleeves and bled plenty of times from the flying wires.

take care and your garage looks like it's being used as a garage.

also interesting to hear how permits and inspections are all around the USA. in our area it might cost more to get the damn permit than it cost for your entire garage in some cases and areas. then the real fun begins once you get the inspections. a 60 year old couple are building a 1500 square foot rambler across the street from me and they bulldozed their 800 foot 70 year old home and i think it's been going on for 2 years and they still are not moved in yet.

 

[Fyrme]

Being an electrician for nearly 25 years, I've seen some crazy inspectors. It seems each inspector, even in the same trade has that one thing they harp on and white glove inspect on every job, many times over looking other non compliant things. That one thing is usually prompted by the last "training" class they took, so it changes all the time. IMO, permitting comes down to greed more than safety in the grand scheme. I mean I get the purpose of permits, but the number of different permits required are BS and revenue driven.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Being an electrician for nearly 25 years, I've seen some crazy inspectors. It seems each inspector, even in the same trade has that one thing they harp on and white glove inspect on every job, many times over looking other non compliant things. That one thing is usually prompted by the last "training" class they took, so it changes all the time. IMO, permitting comes down to greed more than safety in the grand scheme. I mean I get the purpose of permits, but the number of different permits required are BS and revenue driven.

Good points, Chad. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm happy I'm not having to go through permitting with my building, not because I'm cutting corners or have something to hide. I'm building as safely as I can in all aspects of construction. I wanted to get away from government overreach and that's why I bought where I bought. I don't need government looking over my shoulder, I'm 56 years old and can take care of myself and my own projects.
Rant off

 

[madison069]

We always wear glasses and gloves. And dark tinted glasses for plasma and torch cutting. In no way am I discounting your advice, but I would love to know the odds of a piece of slag jumping in your ear. I've been burned with slag from my collar line to my feet, but never in 25years of cutting and welding has slag hit me anywhere near my face. I've even accidentally stuck a hot MIG gun wire through my jeans about 1/8" into my leg when I dropped the gun to save something from falling. That happened a year ago and still have a purple scar on my thigh. But to be honest, I've never thought to wear ear plugs while welding/cutting with fire.

I've had a slag jump behind my facesheild and land on my eyelid behind my glasses. That was a pretty painful experience. Since I wear hearing aids I haven't had the slag in the ear experience but I've heard it has happened from my welder friends. One had a nice blister form in his ear canal.

But these guys weld pipelines and any oil/gas related projects in the field.

 

[Fyrme]

Getting the Nissan closer to getting out of the shop, and just in time. My part time business repairing small engine equipment has picked up triple time in the last week. I need the room in a bad way.

5 coats of Satin black down. I'm using acrylic enamel reduced down 15% with acetone and 8:1 hardener added. Lets hope it cures out good and durable. Saturday I'll lay down 5 coats of Satin Olive on the top half.





The bed is pretty darn rough, so I'll just be scuffing the bed and shooting a couple coats on it to get by, since it's only temporary until the flatbed gets built. It will find it's way to the scrap yard most likely.

 

[Jeff Scott]

What model gun do you spray with? And what tip size for this project? Just curious.

 

[Fyrme]

Don't recall the model. But the tip is a 1.4. I bought a cheap gun set from the paint store in town about 8 years ago.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Jeff Scott]

I've used everything from a Harbor Freight HVLP for oil base enamels, to a Porter Cable PSH1 for auto paint to my C.A.T. Jaquar gun which I only use on waterborne clears for woodworking.

I've found with most coatings I prefer a larger tip to get the spray pattern I like and so I don't have to thin as much. For auto paint I'm between a 1.5 and 1.8 tip depending on the ratio of the paint to activator and thinner and brand, type, etc.

Down the road, I hope to build a finish room in the shop for spraying. Right now i use a cheapie 10x20 portable garage to try to contain most of the overspray.

 

[Fyrme]

Man, i don't know how you manage to spray in a 10' area. The bay I'm in is 12' wide and it was as close to the truck as I wanted to be.

It looks good from far, but far from good. I am no body man, that's for sure.








We still need to get the door handles and mirrors back on as well as addressing a couple little things, but then once the bed is painted (hopefully today or tomorrow), it's ready to hit the street. Then we will start fabricating the front bumper and flatbed.

 

[55stone]

i read through most of this and didn't see you mention if the floor sealer was holding up to all the automotive chemicals? if you did mention it i missed it lol.. shop looks awesome!!

 

[Fyrme]

Hey 55stone, thanks for visiting and taking the time to read. I have not mentioned any updates on the sealer. But first let me say, and forgive me if I miss spoke before, I put down a waterproofer, not a sealer. And boy, let me tell ya, you can tell. I've got oil stains all over the floor now. It wipes up easy if I address it right away, but if given even a couple hours, it soaks it right up and leaves a hell of a stain. I've had to convince myself, it's a shop, and it will be used as a shop, and it will look like a shop.

 

[55stone]

Lol, yeah i think thats what im going to do too. I just had a slab poured last week in a little shop that will be used as Motorcycle/atv shop. i have a ton of toys myself and do a ton of wrenching on the side for people and was debating spending the big bucks on a "oil Repellent" sealer or not. Love to see you and your son working on stuff! Cant wait for my son to be old enough to do that stuff

 

[drivesitfar]

Fryme: nice work on the truck and I think I can see your son's smile shining brightly through the dark windows. i bet he'll be a happy camper once the truck get's finished and hopefully he won't get in an accident again.

good luck and hoping your winter weather leaves soon so you can enjoy your garage even more.

cheers

 

[Jeff Scott]

Truck's coming along nicely Chad. Bet your boy is happy. Paint looks good!

 

[Fyrme]

Thanks fella's. Oh, and drives, he wasn't the one who wrecked it. He sold his dirt bike to buy his first truck, and bought it that way for $500, about a year ago. He just turned 16 back in November of last year. It was supposed to be ready by then, but it turned out to be a bigger project than we first thought. I don't know the exact number, but between the two of us, we've invested an additional $1000 in it roughly.

 

[Fyrme]

So, while the bed still needs painted, I decided to break it in Roadkill style by driving it to Tulsa to get a new windshield this morning. Nothing like a 60 mile round trip for its maiden voyage, right!? The temp gauge got a little higher than I'd like to see, It needs an alignment really bad, and it has a few rattles and weird noises. But over all, it did great. I never broke 65mph coming into town, but i'm planning on living dangerously and hit the turnpike on the way home and get 'er up to 75.

I think we will put some real gauges in it soon to monitor oil pressure and water temp better than the idiot gauges on the dash, to see if it's really getting as warm as it shows.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

Fryme: since gas is cheaper in your part of the world how are front window replacement prices? looks like you found a deal with the daily 50% off pricing as part of their sign and I paid around $300 for my last window on my honda pilot which needs to be cleaned on the inside now that I think about it.

happy to hear a wheel didn't fall off or worse on your road trip and truck is really looking good. hope you and your son get some of the minor flaws tweaked on it so he can have a safe fun ride soon. maybe the wind gusts were part of the alignment issues cause as I recall the last time i was in Tulsa the wind blew a steady 30mph and the trees all are tilted to one side from having the wind push them all the time.

cheers