The Swedish Garage

[M. Blue 240]

I've been a "car guy" since I was a little kid, so when it came time to buy a house the garage was very important. When we were house shopping I already had my daily driver, a project car and my wifes car. Our tight budget made it so a 3 car garage wasn't going to happen. We found several houses that had great garages, but the house itself didn't fit our needs. Then we found the perfect house, with a decent garage.

To start the house sits higher than the road, so our driveway is quite steep. Its keeping me from lowering my car anymore than I have and keeps some of my friends cars out on the street. I also got stuck with two single bay doors and a support post in the middle of the garage.

This as close to a "before" shot that I have:

I'm making do with what I've been given and am slowly building it to a space I'm prowd of. I reused some peg board and a single cabinet left from the last owners. I painted the peg board to look like the Swedish flag. You can also see how few tools I had 2 years ago.

This is just a few days ago:

Notice the cubby on the right side. I pulled everything out of the cubby to get ready to build shelves.

My Dad couldn't make it over to help, or bring tools, so the shelves haven't been built yet. Unfortunatly I've spent all my spare cash to get car tools, so I don't even have a saw. Everything got shoved back in the corner, so i could get both cars back in the garage.

This is the "large" side of the garage. The cabinet on the wall was left from the last owners and the workbench is a free bathroom vanity from one of my neighbors. The chalk board is a Volvo 142 hood that I had stashed away, it works great for making notes as you work on the car.

The front part of the same side:

I just added one shop light, the whole garage has been lighted by 2 small light bulbs. When I lifted the hood of my car it would cover the light and my engine bay turned into a blackhole. I've become a master of placing stand lights in just the right places to light the whole garage.

The small side of the garage is more or less useless. I can't even fit my 240 on that side, the 142 is the only car I have that'll fit over there.

The immidiate plans for the garage are to finish the shelf, wire in the stereo I got out of a Volvo 850, finish painting the walls and find a better cabinet to hang on the wall.

I also have a decent size shed on the side of the house. I've built a rack to store my spare wheels.

And just to prove I'm a true car guy I even have an engine block on display at the front door.

 

[ghnl]

Välkommen!

You do have some work cut out for you but it will be worth it once your stuff gets organized. I recall trying to get all my tools & cars & a motorcycle, etc in a 22'X22' garage. The more things you can keep off the floor &/or mobile the better.

BTW, I like the pegboard. (I am of Swedish/Finnish descent.)

 

[Red Leader]

Ahh, so much potential with that space - I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Having the two individual doors and the post in the middle presents some fun and creative challenges with how to work around it. I know Jack Olsen's 12 Gauge Garage has a post in the middle that he's worked around.

You already have all the drywall up, which is both good and bad. Bad from the perspective that it makes it a little more challenging to run more electrical if you want (but not really = external hard conduit lines). And good from the perspective that it is already up

Which means hopefully there is a minimal level of finishing to the drywall mud and you can get to priming/painting.

Any thoughts on the color? I like those Swedish colors, and something like that might be nice in that garage. I could even see something like 1/2 the wall is corrugated steel with a trim piece at the top, then the rest of the upper wall is blue, with a yellow stripe. Lots of fun ideas you can come up with.

I also enjoy that you have the theme. I think that is one of the best ways to have your garage stand out, and gives you a launching point for all considerations in your build, like paint color, design themes, etc.

You're going to have some fun with that one! Keep us posted and take lots of pictures!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Cool project! Paint makes a big difference both in terms of appearance but also the way it reflects the work light.

 

[SoL from Sweden]

Hej, kul med svenskar på denna sidan

will follow

 

[M. Blue 240]

You already have all the drywall up, which is both good and bad. Bad from the perspective that it makes it a little more challenging to run more electrical if you want (but not really = external hard conduit lines). And good from the perspective that it is already up

Which means hopefully there is a minimal level of finishing to the drywall mud and you can get to priming/painting.

Any thoughts on the color?

The upside to the drywall is that the garage is nice and warm, downside is now I need to map out conduit. There are a total of 5 outlets in the garage. 3 are on the front wall(within feet of eachother), one on the far side(behind the shelf I'll be building, and 1 on the ceiling for the door openers.

I plugged a pressure washer into the far outlet and it blew the breaker and shut everything off in the living room, so its useless for any tools. The 3 on the front wall are all too far away from any future work benches to do me any good. I'll install a new breaker and run conduit to the wall with the hood hanging on it, I'm thinking 2 or 3 outlets waist high. I'm also planning on getting rid of the two bulb sockets and hard wiring in a total of 4 tube lights. I'll also be hanging a tube light above the peg board that will plug into the extension cord that powers the current light by the hood. This way I only power up the workbench lights when I need them, no reason to turn on 8 lights just to take out the recycle at night.

I also need to figure out to how wire in one or two more exterior lights. I have two right by the front door, then the far left of the house just turns black. I'd like one light on the left of the garage doors thats wired into the exsisting light switch at the front door, so our driveway is nice and bright. Then down the side of the house I want a wide angle motion light.

I've already primed a good portion of the walls and ceiling, so its already better. Once it warms up I'll start to do some real painting. To start everything will just be white. Then when I decide how tall my work benches will be I'll add the war stripes.

The four blue lines will run around the garage and angle up at the interior door. Both garage doors will be painted white and vinyl will be cut with each cars name, M. Blue 240 and The Dream, taking up one panel of each door. Add in my Volvo posters, chalk board hood, Volvo stereo and 2 actual Volvos and I think I've got the theme covered. The wall cabinet will the the hammered grey spray paint and the work bench will likely be painted to match my future Craftsman tool box.

Everything will be slow going on this project. This is my first house and I picked a fixer upper. The house needs new siding, new paint, new carpet, completly remodel the master bath, I'm going to tile in the family room and if we haven't bought a new house yet we'll remodel the kitchen. On top of that I'll continue to work on both my car projects, get a new daily driver for me, pay down our debts, work two jobs, get new furniture (almost everything we have is a hand-me down) and have 2 more kids.

The man cave is a low priority on the grand list. The only reason I can get away with budgeting the shelves is that it'll help clear out many boxes currently stored in the kid's closets. I'm saving up Sears gift cards that I get for christmasand birthday presents. I have $100 out of $300 saved up. I'm hoping this christmas and my birthday in February will get me to the point I can go purchase the big box.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

Love the painted peg board, great idea!

 

[magnusk750]

Pegboard for tools is very correct for a swedish garage!

 

[M. Blue 240]

The pile of wood turned into something today! I finally had some time off that matched my Dad's free time(I work graves with split week days off), so we spent a couple hours building shelves. I'm glad I had his help, we ended up doing more with less.

I bought way too much hardware, and the wrong type, and a little too much wood. I need to return all the bolts I bought and the four 2x2s and buy two more 10 foot 2x4's, so we can add one more shelf. Once we frame in the third shelf we'll add 2 vertical supports at the front of the shelves and screw in the chip board.

The top shelf, that lines up with the door rail, will be for misc. items. The lower shelf(and the one yet to be built) are the perfect size to fit Rubbermaid 18gal. tubs in. Once its done I should be able to put 12 or 14 tubs in there, more than enough storage....for now.

 

[KF5LCH]

Very nice! It's a little tight, but at least you have your cars inside, out of the weather.

 

[Curt_pnw]

I love your inspiration for the theme in the garage. The Nordica 242 is such an awesome car.
I look forward to more progress and pictures of your space.

 

[M. Blue 240]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! It looks like progress is going to come to a halt until it warms up, christmas presents for a huge family are going to kill my budget. But, that doesn't mean I couldn't finish the shelving project today.

I started by returning the hardware and 4 boards I had bought for a $30 refund, then buying 2 more boards and less hardware for $18. That brings the total cost of the shelving to about $40, $20 below budget.

In the end they're just as strong as I wanted, but offer twice as much space as I had hoped for.

All loaded up, for now. Eventually they'll be overflowing.

I also made a trip to HF for an oxygen sensor socket and bought a few little things with it. A magnet to hold all my screwdrivers freed up a drawer in the box for my sockets. I also snagged two socket rails, so I don't have to use the huge vacumm fromed box anymore.

 

[zjrog]

I really like the hood for chalkboard. I have a couple hoods about that would work for that. Did you just use chalkboard paint for that?

 

[M. Blue 240]

I really like the hood for chalkboard. I have a couple hoods about that would work for that. Did you just use chalkboard paint for that?

Yup, chalk board spray paint. I did almost no prep and it turned out "ok." I should have sanded the hood, since it had spider web cracks that are now showing through.

 

[zjrog]

Yup, chalk board spray paint. I did almost no prep and it turned out "ok." I should have sanded the hood, since it had spider web cracks that are now showing through.

The hood I might use (fewest dents) will need sanding, but not like a real paint job. Just minimize the spiderweb cracking. Nice garage. Reminds me I need to redo mine somewhat...

 

[M. Blue 240]

I took a tip from Red Leader and decided to paint the hardware on my garage door. I started with the "Hammered" spray paint and decided its ****. The finish was nothing like the pictures suggested and you can barely see a difference from the unpainted brackets. I tried one bracket in black and was much happier, now I have to redo all my effort.

Before:

Painted on the left and unpainted on the right:

I also tried to remove all the lock hardware, but its stuck with the handle on the outside. I'll take some time on Saturday to see if I can get the assembly on the inside removed, while keeping the handle on the outside.

Also got my new 200pc Craftsman tool set. Only $100 on Black Friday, all payed by gift cards. I'm a little dissapointed that 40pcs are allen wrenches and most of the deep sockets are only 1/4" drive. Its a good start though, now i just need a bigger box to fit them in.

 

[pontifex4]

You certainly know this already, but just for posterity: don't undo the brackets on the bottom corners that the cables are attached to, or anything on the shaft for the spring without unwinding the spring first!

I like the shelves, by the way. I far prefer them to metal racking.

 

[M. Blue 240]

Santa brought me a new tool box! I moved stuff around in the garage to get it in place, but clearly have some more organization to do.

Before:

After:

I'm pretty excited to have a cup holder for me beer/coffee and a set spot to always find gloves.

Now I have to clear the work bench and reorganize the metal shelf. I also need to hang my bike on the ceiling and get it out of the way.

 

[Mavawreck]

Good to see another T'bricker on here.

 

[Brunow]

I must say you are heading the right direction! Any shots of the area you live?

We visited sweden last year and i really really liked some of your musea!
(

Here a pic of a very very old swedish garage
http://6volt.blogspot.com/2011/10/husqvarna.html <- Husqvarna museum!
http://6volt.blogspot.com/2011/10/motala-motormuseum-sweden.html <- motola museum!

If you haven't been there is really worth a visit!

 

[M. Blue 240]

Good to see another T'bricker on here.

You're the third or fourth one I've seen on here. Its good to know a few of us do more than put zip ties and jb weld on our cars.

Any shots of the area you live?

The area looks like the rest of the PNW, plenty of green trees and rain. But, just to give you an idea:

I've started to organize to the new box a bit. I bought 4 boxes of of the HF socket trays. Each box comes with 3 trays(one for each size drive) in either metric or sae. I bought two boxes of metric and two of sae, so I have trays for 6 point and 12 point. Filling the trays with my sockets is a pretty easy way of seeing just how much I'm missing from the collection.

 

[M. Blue 240]

I added another light on the side of the garage, this time so I can see my tools. I also scored a Craftsman drop light with 40ft cord reel for $25!

Here you can see both turned on:

I wanted to hang the Craftsman light in the center of the garage, but the light is so big it would constantly get in the way. Luckily the cord is long enough to reach anywhere in the garage...and quite a ways down the street.

 

[M. Blue 240]

I got lucky and found a 1976 Craftsman tool box on craigslist. After a thorough cleaning (shown here:http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135239) I've put my tools in it and can't help put smile every time I reach to open a drawer.

A friend was kind enough to give me this older Craftsman floor jack. Something isn't right though, since the jack can't even lift its own weight.

I snagged a set of old Pioneer speakers at the junkyard today. For $10 I thought they looked pretty cool. The plan is to clean them up, put on some fresh paint, fit newwer speakers and mount them in the garage.

After a minute or two I got one all pulled apart.

Any ideas as to waht the top woofer was used for? It had no wiring run to it and the paper was actually attached to the speaker box.

The portion that came out:

 

[barbus]

Top one would be passive radiator

 

[M. Blue 240]

I made a little progress on the speakers tonight. I light cleaning and a quick coat of paint got them looking new again. I painted the speaker grills, bolts, and the (formerly) chrome cross bars.

Everything resting in place:

Looking at the fresh paint against the untouched boxes made me think I needed a little more detail work. I was thinking about the best way to paint them when I realized if they were mounted in my car I just Armorall them. Low and behold that did the trick.

I did a quick search of the model number on Google and found two sets for sale on eBay. Each auction has some time left, but both are going for $40. Looks like if I had left these untouched I could have sold them for a 400% profit. I'm happy to keep them though and think they'll add to the unique look of my garage.

 

[M. Blue 240]

I got hosed on cl shopping today. I had emailed about a small 2 drawer box with removable tray that is the same era as the box above. The seller said I could get it this afternoon, I told him it matched one my grandfather had (the truth) in hopes he would save it. When I woke up and called him he said he had sold it earlier in the morning. I also emailed about a 2hp bench grinder. The CM model that RedLeader has, with the turned metal. It was sold early in the day too, 2 strikes.

Then 10 minutes from my house an ad popped up with a bad picture. They said it was a base for a CM radial saw, but no CM logo visible. It was sitting on the side of the house, has surface rust, slugs, and ants. After I got it home I pulled down the cover and found the CM logo, redeemed myself for the day.

I have nothing in the gold/tan style, so I'm thinking I'll "hot rod" this box out. Maybe satin black on the outside, gloss black inside the drawers, and gold flake on the drawer faces.

The kicker, I got it for $10! Plus I found a set of Knipex channel locks tucked inside one of the drawers. I'd say this is one of my best finds.

 

[mysta2]

Whoa! I don't know tools like half the guys on this site, but that's a cool looking pair of pliers. Looks like they're worth $10.

Did you say in the beginning that you were going to try and wire up a car stereo in there? Sorry if I missed any details, but that sounds like a really cool idea.

 

[tuner4life]

Sweet garage! I could easily go with a similar theme. Ive got 2 Saabs and a Volvo, among the others.

Definitely following this one!

 

[M. Blue 240]

Whoa! I don't know tools like half the guys on this site, but that's a cool looking pair of pliers. Looks like they're worth $10.

Did you say in the beginning that you were going to try and wire up a car stereo in there? Sorry if I missed any details, but that sounds like a really cool idea.

I need to try and find just how much the pliers sell for, but I'm guessing well over the $10 mark. I have a double DIN stereo from a Volvo 850 with a cd changer that I plan on using. I just need to find a power supply, then plan where and how to mount it.

Sweet garage! I could easily go with a similar theme. Ive got 2 Saabs and a Volvo, among the others.

Definitely following this one!

I'm sorry you have a Saab I thought about getting a 900 like yours as a DD, until I talked to my buddy who owns a Volvo/Saab shop. He listed every little flaw about them and why he runs the Volvo side of the shop and lets his brother run the Saab side.

 

[M. Blue 240]

Finished a little project today that isn't in my garage, but it does mount to a garage wall. I used the HF trailer mount with pretty good success. The bolts that come with the kit are only 4.5" long, so I sourced a set of 6" bolts to go all the way through the wall.

(sorry for the crappy instagram photos)

https://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/292407_581117469372_1158054994_n.jpg

Its goes well with my engine block planter.

https://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/581953_581117494322_1176770757_n.jpg

 

[M. Blue 240]

Wow no update in two years. I've been busy with 60+ hour work weeks, three kids, and everything else life throw my way. I dug through some facebook pics ad found the best garage related updates.

First I bought a '68 144S

Then I parted the '68 144S

https://scontent-a-sea.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/v/t1.0-9/576594_574839829812_490561440_n.jpg?oh=098a6b52f9b47643f5027c783baf1b8b&oe=54E2F92F

Then I bought an '83 242 that hasn't been driven in 14 years.

Met some new neighbors the other day and they were trying to understand which house was ours, then settled on "Oh, you're the Volvo guy."