Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage
- Thread starter Strouty
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
I finally got the hole enlarged, I am trying to be good and go home, but I really want to get the welder setup and weld the bung in. It will probably take me a half hour just to get it setup, so I think I am going to call it for the night and get it taken care of tomorrow. I did setup everything to make sure it is going to fit, I can see that I will need to raise the cabinet up just to drain out the media, I am going to see what I have for material, might be able to make a quick spacer or way to setup the casters, I know I have lots of casters, so that isn't an issue.
For everyone that was wondering what the hydraulic knock out punch does, it allows you to enlarge a hole without using a drill, usually in an electrical cabinet, where metal filings could be problematic. Here are a few pictures of everything, it basically is a portable punch, but for sheet metal, I would imagine it could punch through 10 gauge at least, maybe thicker. I have dies that will cut hole big enough for 4" conduit IIRC. The size I used was a little bigger than I wanted, but it will be fine, the unit fit well inside, if it had been tighter, I could have mounted the ram on the underside and punched down through the cabinet.
Just so everyone doesn't get too worried........
For everyone that was wondering what the hydraulic knock out punch does, it allows you to enlarge a hole without using a drill, usually in an electrical cabinet, where metal filings could be problematic. Here are a few pictures of everything, it basically is a portable punch, but for sheet metal, I would imagine it could punch through 10 gauge at least, maybe thicker. I have dies that will cut hole big enough for 4" conduit IIRC. The size I used was a little bigger than I wanted, but it will be fine, the unit fit well inside, if it had been tighter, I could have mounted the ram on the underside and punched down through the cabinet.
Just so everyone doesn't get too worried........
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I measured the glad hand seal, it needs a 1.09" hole, one of the knock out punches measures 1.11", guess I will use that, I don't have a drill bit that will work, it is either smaller or bigger. I will need to drill a 3/8" hole for the small punch, then I can step up to the larger size. I can see a couple more semi quick mods that should be done to the cabinet, I should mount the dust collection to the side of the cabinet and reroute the hose, this will allow the cabinet to fit closer to the wall. and keep it all as one unit, right now it is two pieces and cumbersome to move. I want it to move easily, that way I can put it out of the way if I don't need it for a while.
More good news, this is my first real tank of fuel since changing the injection pump in the Blue Burb, I did 100 miles of highway, then 180 miles of around town and it got 16.5 MPG, much, much better. I expect once I get the timing dialed in, it will do better than that. Thank you Tom Cruise, 12.5 would be killing me right now, not that 16.5 is a ton better, but definitely better than 12.5!
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xtremek
Well-known member
You're talking the Blue Burb, right?
Last night was a late night, couldn't sleep, I think I am in Uncle Willie territory. 
I decided to get the small welder from the Hill, that should make it much easier to complete the sandblast cabinet upgrade, I will also hold true to the get it done attitude and will just put some blocks of wood under it for now, I can make the other changes on round two (or is it three?). The carpenter that is working on the office at the Hill will be there today, so I am going to be up there for a while, then I will head to the SG to try and get to the point where I can sandblast, wouldn't that be nice? I have to grab some breakfast, then I will be out the door.
I decided to get the small welder from the Hill, that should make it much easier to complete the sandblast cabinet upgrade, I will also hold true to the get it done attitude and will just put some blocks of wood under it for now, I can make the other changes on round two (or is it three?). The carpenter that is working on the office at the Hill will be there today, so I am going to be up there for a while, then I will head to the SG to try and get to the point where I can sandblast, wouldn't that be nice? I have to grab some breakfast, then I will be out the door.
harley jim
Well-known member
I'm really glad for you that things are going well, not going to jinx it with specifics but great work.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Drink lots of coffee, it helps.
I am not a coffee drinker, I will have an occasional 5 hour energy mixed into my water bottle. I do drink unsweetened iced tea from time to time, that has some caffeine.
I am currently delisting the Blue Burb's front driveshaft. I wanted to clean it and paint it the other day, but I just didn't have time. I am loading things that need to go to the SG, bunch of tools and supplies, still need to build a list and order supplies, in a lot of instances I am stretched too thin if I split things between the two shops. It is cold and windy today, kind of ***** some of the motivation out of you.
I am currently delisting the Blue Burb's front driveshaft. I wanted to clean it and paint it the other day, but I just didn't have time. I am loading things that need to go to the SG, bunch of tools and supplies, still need to build a list and order supplies, in a lot of instances I am stretched too thin if I split things between the two shops. It is cold and windy today, kind of ***** some of the motivation out of you.
Way more stuff to move than I expected, I have started to get a feel for what I can and can't do at each location. So there are supplies and tools that do not need to be at the Hill, stuff I originally thought was going to be important to have there. I am also planning on taking the excess parts for the Burbs back to the SG, I have a lot more room to store it there and I am tripping over things at the Hill. I really need to get both bays back to fully functional at the shop on the Hill, that way I can start doing more on Perk, I have kind of neglected things so far and there is a long list of things that I want to get done.
I can also see I am going to have to make piles at the Hill, piles of like kind supplies and things. I have electrical stuff scattered everywhere, it needs to all be in one cabinet, I have hardware everywhere too, it all needs to be in one cabinet, tools, don't get me started........
I know it is going to take me a while to dig out from my mess, I am doing things somewhat systematically, I am not seeing any real progress yet, but I know it will get there, hopefully hauling things to the SG will help open up some space and make me feel like I have gotten something accomplished. Sometimes a little win is all I need to keep me moving.
I know it is going to take me a while to dig out from my mess, I am doing things somewhat systematically, I am not seeing any real progress yet, but I know it will get there, hopefully hauling things to the SG will help open up some space and make me feel like I have gotten something accomplished. Sometimes a little win is all I need to keep me moving.
racer-john
Well-known member
First things FIRST.
I just placed an order for some things that I need, had a 10% off coupon, used it, but I screwed up the shipping address. Called them to see if I could change it, but they said only way to fix was to cancel, no big deal, they even gave me another code for 10%. In the meantime, I get an email that says thank you for your order here is a code for 20% off your next order. That was nice, I saved about $90 instead of $45, I can live with that!
The burb is loaded and I am going to head to the Salvage Garage, hopefully we can make the sandblast cabinet work tonight. Of course I just created a million other little tasks by loading the burb with random stuff. I think I can handle it, but we will see. I may actually need to move one or two racks over to the Mayflower, then I can actually put some things away and not have to move them again (at least not for a while).
My late night last night is making this afternoon tough. I am definitely going to use an energy drink today. The good thing is that things are progressing and I am seeing sandblasting in my future. Also the office is looking really nice and I should be able to start layout of the file cabinets and desks before June. That was a very pleasant surprise, I also think it will be one of the biggest improvements in my life, should help with work and personal stuff. Can't wait.
So I am trying to figure out how I am going to get everything from both the Conex and the old moving van into the Mayflower. It is 11’ longer, but I am still going to have to lose some stuff. I know there are some bulky things that need to go to the Hill, the brake lathes are going in the Quonset hut, but there are a lot of things that will either get sacrificed to the scrap gods or sold or moved or all three, just in a different order.
I think my biggest issue is that there are two different types (not interchangeable) of racking. Best course of action is going to be one style on one side, the other style on the other side. This should allow me to get the first few easy sections out rather than having to take all of one style regardless of what is in it. Of course I will start assembling from the very front of the Mayflower, then I won’t clutter up the doorway right off the bat. There are several things that I know need to be sold, so I will keep those together and label them appropriately as they get put away. I don’t really want to do this right now, but there is a lot of stuff inside the SG that needs to go out there and I want it on shelving. Plus, the sooner the Conex is emptied, the sooner I can start building the fancy rolling shelving.
I think my biggest issue is that there are two different types (not interchangeable) of racking. Best course of action is going to be one style on one side, the other style on the other side. This should allow me to get the first few easy sections out rather than having to take all of one style regardless of what is in it. Of course I will start assembling from the very front of the Mayflower, then I won’t clutter up the doorway right off the bat. There are several things that I know need to be sold, so I will keep those together and label them appropriately as they get put away. I don’t really want to do this right now, but there is a lot of stuff inside the SG that needs to go out there and I want it on shelving. Plus, the sooner the Conex is emptied, the sooner I can start building the fancy rolling shelving.
I found a couple uprights, that will make things a bit easier, I am going to scrounge around and see if there are any more spare parts, I almost think I had some extra shelves floating around. Either way, I have enough unloaded already to get a start, there are lots of empty bins and lots of diesel suburban parts.
The other thing that I hadn’t thought a lot about is the Mayflower has operational side doors, the old trailer had doors, but they were not really functional. I may end up leaving room to be able to open a couple and load or unload through them. Looks like there is four doors, no way do I need that many, but having the option for a couple may not be a bad idea. Although for right now it may just be a waste of effort, this is supposed to be temporary, notice I said temporary.
xtremek
Well-known member
Sounds like you're moving and grooving. And it's good to hear that the Blue Burb is turning out to be a reliable vehicle. A nice pay off for your diligence.
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Fingers crossed on the Blue Burb, we still have a way to go before I will say reliable, I have only been about 400 miles so far.
I am opening up a can of inventory management.... almost every storage box is open, I even moved the office trailer out so I could get to some materials. I was looking at the Mayflower and thought about making a shelving unit up at the front using the E-Track, at first I thought I had enough aluminum crossbars to make three shelves, but five of the six that I had were for a narrower trailer.
I have brackets that accepts 2by material, all it looks like I have at the SG is 2x6 boards, I think there is a pile of 2x4s in the Quonset hut (of course). At least if I plan things out, I can start setting up the metal racking and just leave enough room to get the front shelves setup tomorrow. Maybe I will find some 2x4s if I keep digging, maybe not. I have a direction, things should start moving now, hopefully in the right direction too.
I am opening up a can of inventory management.... almost every storage box is open, I even moved the office trailer out so I could get to some materials. I was looking at the Mayflower and thought about making a shelving unit up at the front using the E-Track, at first I thought I had enough aluminum crossbars to make three shelves, but five of the six that I had were for a narrower trailer.
I have brackets that accepts 2by material, all it looks like I have at the SG is 2x6 boards, I think there is a pile of 2x4s in the Quonset hut (of course). At least if I plan things out, I can start setting up the metal racking and just leave enough room to get the front shelves setup tomorrow. Maybe I will find some 2x4s if I keep digging, maybe not. I have a direction, things should start moving now, hopefully in the right direction too.
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
You could always organize the way I did. Buy a new place, sell a bunch of it, take what you want, and leave a huge mess for the people that bought the old place.
It would be easier.
I ran into some trouble getting shelves out, I counted shelves and uprights, looks like I need more of both. I also think I found the same shelves at Lowes, I am going to draw out the pattern that the shelf brackets fit in, this way I will know for sure if they will fit. If they do, I am going to buy two more setups, that should allow me to complete one side of the Mayflower completely. I think I have enough of the silver racking to do the other side without any issues. I couldn't find any 2x4s, so I will have to take a look in the Quonset hut before I hit Lowes, either way I will have enough wood and shelves to outfit the trailer completely. Nothing got done on the sandblast cabinet, I just came inside to grab a light for the Mayflower so I can assemble some of the silver shelving. I would like to at least get things so I can close the doors tonight. The plan in my head looks like a winner, but I still have to make it work in real life.
I ran into some trouble getting shelves out, I counted shelves and uprights, looks like I need more of both. I also think I found the same shelves at Lowes, I am going to draw out the pattern that the shelf brackets fit in, this way I will know for sure if they will fit. If they do, I am going to buy two more setups, that should allow me to complete one side of the Mayflower completely. I think I have enough of the silver racking to do the other side without any issues. I couldn't find any 2x4s, so I will have to take a look in the Quonset hut before I hit Lowes, either way I will have enough wood and shelves to outfit the trailer completely. Nothing got done on the sandblast cabinet, I just came inside to grab a light for the Mayflower so I can assemble some of the silver shelving. I would like to at least get things so I can close the doors tonight. The plan in my head looks like a winner, but I still have to make it work in real life.
The totes fit perfectly, I can easily get four on each shelf and the silver racks will allow a row on the floor and four more shelves worth. I am going to run out of totes pretty quickly. The black racks are a foot taller, they will end up having extra space on the floor under the first shelf, will be a great place for the heaviest things.
Monza Harry
Well-known member
Strouty 4 Thumbs up for your "I Love it When A Plan Comes Together" Moment! May I suggest for your trailers and Conex's bunch the shelves [cross bars] closer together and leave the first on X.x' (ft.) off the floor open. that way like you said for heavier things, palletize those items to go there and with a short pallet jack* they are easily accessible, and more shelf space for bins [if the spacing actually works out that way]. Or if spacing doesn't work out leave the first row out and every third will create another shelving section. And for your multitude of excess doors, leave a space in the shelving, and find something tall(ish) to fill the spot. Your blast cabinet comes to mind, store it at the door, just open the door and pick it out with one of the many lift trucks at your disposal. Easy enough to move for those unfortunate circumstances that seem to "Just Pop Up" way to often where access is limited at the main door. We know you have enough things to easily fill those 3 extra door openings. Things that while too useful to get rid of, but not often used enough to use "Prime Shop Real Estate" Win Win for you.
*a 3' long unit in an eight foot wide trailer/bin with 2ft.shelve on each side?
Just some of my thoughts after reading your thoughts/adventures, and Again Congrats on the victories! Oh on the fenders for Perk that colour (blue) will soften with sun exposure! I personally would think polished aluminum/Stainless or plain steel and paint/ powder-coat to suit. [1/2 fenders, and mud flaps, full fenders [that style any ways] just don't look right to me] Harry
*a 3' long unit in an eight foot wide trailer/bin with 2ft.shelve on each side?
Just some of my thoughts after reading your thoughts/adventures, and Again Congrats on the victories! Oh on the fenders for Perk that colour (blue) will soften with sun exposure! I personally would think polished aluminum/Stainless or plain steel and paint/ powder-coat to suit. [1/2 fenders, and mud flaps, full fenders [that style any ways] just don't look right to me] Harry
I am sticking with plastic, I have seen what the stainless look like after they come in contact with a trailer on uneven ground, the plastic are sooooo much cheaper, they won't rust and they have some give to them. I think the silver color will look decent, I will post some pictures once those samples arrive. I agree, the 1/2 fenders are the way I will be going, if there was more truck behind the wheel, I might consider going with the full fenders.
I will have to measure and take a quick look at the layout, your idea about having the floor area free at the doors would be a good one, but it will depend on where the uprights land, definitely worth investigating.
The 2x4s will need to be over 8' to fit, but I am thinking I can add a vertical 2x4 in the middle, that way the cross pieces could be shorter and I can make some plywood gussets to strengthen everything up. Hopefully there are 2x4s in the quonset hut like I think there are. I still have to buy two more shelving units, basically it costs me $100 a shelf, plus plywood, but I have plenty of that for this purpose. I saved all the cutoffs from when I made the last round of shelves, they will end up being two pieces (leftover is 2' by 4' ish), but it won't be a problem.
I will have to measure and take a quick look at the layout, your idea about having the floor area free at the doors would be a good one, but it will depend on where the uprights land, definitely worth investigating.
The 2x4s will need to be over 8' to fit, but I am thinking I can add a vertical 2x4 in the middle, that way the cross pieces could be shorter and I can make some plywood gussets to strengthen everything up. Hopefully there are 2x4s in the quonset hut like I think there are. I still have to buy two more shelving units, basically it costs me $100 a shelf, plus plywood, but I have plenty of that for this purpose. I saved all the cutoffs from when I made the last round of shelves, they will end up being two pieces (leftover is 2' by 4' ish), but it won't be a problem.
harley jim
Well-known member
Wow, like kirk said movin and grovin. Go Strouty Go.
Johanfpa
Well-known member
Hi Strouty,
Great to see you made some good progress over the last weeks.
I had some similar issues with my garage/workshop set up, albeit on a much smaller scale but found the key was getting organised before tackling jobs (unless these were urgent).
You got the Lista wall & the stack rack (wish I had a system like that & the room to put it up), not sure you can set those up yet but if you can I would make that priority #1. I wasted so much time trying to find stuff for various projects until I got the place much more organised. Also it is a good idea to make a spreadsheet, as you go along, with what is where, something I did afterwards but would have been much quicker to do right away.
I realise you got to deal with not just your own stuff but with all the stuff of your dad's businesses, which make it even harder, but while it will take a while to get organised it will pay big dividends in the end.
Great to see you made some good progress over the last weeks.
I had some similar issues with my garage/workshop set up, albeit on a much smaller scale but found the key was getting organised before tackling jobs (unless these were urgent).
You got the Lista wall & the stack rack (wish I had a system like that & the room to put it up), not sure you can set those up yet but if you can I would make that priority #1. I wasted so much time trying to find stuff for various projects until I got the place much more organised. Also it is a good idea to make a spreadsheet, as you go along, with what is where, something I did afterwards but would have been much quicker to do right away.
I realise you got to deal with not just your own stuff but with all the stuff of your dad's businesses, which make it even harder, but while it will take a while to get organised it will pay big dividends in the end.
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Ralf99
Well-known member
…and give every shelf a unique identifier and log this on the spreadsheet against the item stored there. Update the sheet everytime something of consequence is added to or taken from the storage area. Organising the initial physical storage of stuff is the hard part, keeping track of it with a logical inventory system is a relative doddle with a touch of discipline.
Good points by all, I have a bit of a wait before I can setup the Stak rack and Lista wall, the goal is to have all these systems in place before the snow hits. There is a ton of work to be done and in reality, not much time to do it. I have a about 6 months, maybe less.
I have several deliveries from fed ex today, I am trying to stay close to home until they get delivered, some drivers leave the stuff out front and I am not sure I want to risk having someone else like my stuff more than I do.
I am at the Hill checking out supplies, there are 2x4s that were cut out of 2x6s??? Anyways, there looks like there is enough wood to get the shelves done, I even think I found some more plywood scraps that will work as well. I am going to do a bit of loading, then head to lowes to get the shelving I need. I hope to be at the Salvage Garage by lunchtime, depends on Fed Ex at this point.
I am at the Hill checking out supplies, there are 2x4s that were cut out of 2x6s??? Anyways, there looks like there is enough wood to get the shelves done, I even think I found some more plywood scraps that will work as well. I am going to do a bit of loading, then head to lowes to get the shelving I need. I hope to be at the Salvage Garage by lunchtime, depends on Fed Ex at this point.
I think now that I am loaded, I am just going to head home for a bit, I have a few things I can do while I am there and it seems like a waste of fuel to drive back and forth. Although, I could unhook the trailer and put the blue Burb on the lift to install the front driveshaft. Let’s do that.
Glad I decided to work on the blue Burb (I think I am going to start calling it the Blurb), anyways there has been a bit of a rainbow effect underneath the Blurb every time it rains. I assumed it was one of the leaks we tried fixing, well it was the lift pump (fuel), it was leaking out of the housing where the power wires went through it. It was leaking all the time it was running, so I definitely got better than 16.5 MPG, probably leaked a gallon over the last week. I replaced that, replaced the steering stabilizer, and reinstalled the front driveshaft. Of course fed ex still hasn’t delivered the goods, I may go home for lunch and see what happens. I need to bring most of the deliveries back to the Hill anyways, so no big deal if I have to come back to get the trailer.
jakemac
Well-known member
Hey ! You fixed a problem BEFORE it became a problem. Score that one a WIN ! 
Kevkx125
Well-known member
Good to hear that you are making progress on blurb.