Third time's the charm - 40*50*12 build

[wisconsin hillrod]

At this point the work on the shop stopped for the summer and the work IN the shop started.


Ripped apart a couple Craigslist bargain trucks for motor/trans/accessories/ecu:

From left to right. Saganaw 4-speed, Turbo 350, 4L80E, 4L60E.

Did a rear main seal on a 2004 GTO:

My Corvette was “only” making about 450bhp and I came upon some speed parts cheap by virtue of a donor car which came with all the stock parts. I returned the donor car to stock took what I wanted and sold the rest.

Ready to go in:

In:

Together:

My goal was 600whp, I ran out of fuel pump around 570whp. Crammed a 450lph pump in the tank and it put down 635whp or ~750bhp. I was very pleased with that.

-Hillrod

 

[jbmatth]

That must be some fun in the little C5, other than the supercharger and Fast intake what else did it have that you stole, ...er procured?
JB

 

[Z06Joe]

Nice setup!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Nice setup!

Thanks!

That must be some fun in the little C5, other than the supercharger and Fast intake what else did it have that you stole, ...er procured?
JB

It makes more power than the chassis can handle which makes it quite fun. I can't just floor it whenever I want or I might spin around and slide in the ditch.

The 90mm FAST intake was actually mine along with a 90mm TB. They were on the car when I bought it with a 427 stroker.

Parts I acquired and used:

A&A supercharger kit

Motor:
Comp trunnion upgraded rockers
2004 PS & alternator bracket

Drivetrain:
Spec P Type Super Twin Disc Clutch
Driveshaft shop torque tube
RPM Level IV T-56 trans
04 Z06 diff with C6 clutches, halfshafts, pinion support
Pfadt trans mount
ECS trans brace
Hinson Supercars clutch Master Cylinder
1/4" tunnel brace


Wheels, Suspension, Brakes:
Pfadt coilovers
Cross drilled / slotted rotors
C6Z51 front brakes machined to fit on rear
Spare set of rims/tires Cray Scorpions with Nitto 555rs

Electronics:
MSD 2 step ignition
2 bar MAP
Wideband
boost gauge
window valet
Instrument cluster with 7 miles (my DIC was bad)

Other:
DeWitts Supercharger Radiator
60lb Siemens injectors (almost maxed out)
Tial BOV
Center console with 7 miles (mine was cracked)


Stuff I sold:

The car itself returned to near stock.
Spare set of Kooks headers / mid pipes
SLP catback
2 extra tops
Hurst shifter


The crazy thing to me is the donor car made 535whp @ 10psi on a stock LS1 with full exhaust but my 6L with intake/cam only only makes 8psi even with a smaller pulley because the motor breaths so much better. The Vortech head unit is nearly maxed out on CFM (and is maxed out on RPM).

 

[sublime68charger]

Just halfway through the 2nd build but this way I can find your threads again!

the max jax problems just starting that part!

I'm liking what you've done so far,

this way I can search my post to find your post to read up on them again!

 

[C_F]

I am doing it backwards. I read up to here on this build today, then tomorrow I'll catch up on the two previous ones.

This one looks really nice, keep feeding us updates! I love all the space you have in this place.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Did you ever consider relocating your old garage elsewhere on your property or selling it intact with the proviso that it be moved. Does not take much effort to raise a garage like that and move it around. Would have made a nice storage building with room for pending projects.

 

[jbmatth]

Well done on the 'vette parts swap, I did similar on a duramax recently but didn't get any real go fast parts just intake and exhaust. I did manage to take the leather heated seats, almost all of the interior and even swapped the tinted windows. Then parted out the other truck and still ended up doubling my investment. I love when things like that work out! Keep it up, I now have to read your other threads.
JB

 

[NTCRS]

Impressive work on both the shop and the cars!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Just halfway through the 2nd build but this way I can find your threads again!

the max jax problems just starting that part!

I'm liking what you've done so far,

this way I can search my post to find your post to read up on them again!

Thanks! I know I seem pretty negative about the MaxJax but I just had a sour taste after trying to work something out with their customer service. I am VERY happy with my Bendpak lift in my new shop and it was only $800 more. (creating a shop with a 12' ceiling was a little more expensive...)

I am occasionally sent pictures of it as it was included in the sale of the house.

I am doing it backwards. I read up to here on this build today, then tomorrow I'll catch up on the two previous ones.

This one looks really nice, keep feeding us updates! I love all the space you have in this place.

Thanks! It is more space than I ever thought I would have yet I already have it full. If only the house garage had a 3 car instead of a two car haha.

Did you ever consider relocating your old garage elsewhere on your property or selling it intact with the proviso that it be moved. Does not take much effort to raise a garage like that and move it around. Would have made a nice storage building with room for pending projects.

My lot is only ~.58 acres so there isn’t really any space to have a 20*30 building anywhere but the front yard. Back when I was planning to expand the old garage to 40*30 I planned to build a 10*20 shed in the back yard. Going with the 40*50 instead I put up a 7*7 garden shed in the back yard.

I debated trying to sell the old garage but I wasn’t sure what my timeline was going to be and decided I could reuse a lot of the lumber which I have done. My back room is framed with studs and rafter ties from the old garage. The roof of the back room is plywood and the inside walls are OSB all from the old garage. I hung a good portion of the old rafters between the trusses to use as electrical chase ways and a place to walk on in the attic once I hang my ceiling in.

Well done on the 'vette parts swap, I did similar on a duramax recently but didn't get any real go fast parts just intake and exhaust. I did manage to take the leather heated seats, almost all of the interior and even swapped the tinted windows. Then parted out the other truck and still ended up doubling my investment. I love when things like that work out! Keep it up, I now have to read your other threads.
JB

You are a brave man! I was looking into a Duramax but they have the same issue as a C6 Z06 / M3 to me…the engines cost a fortune to replace if something happens. Glad to hear you had success with it!

Impressive work on both the shop and the cars!

Thanks! Long road ahead of me with the shop and cars yet…

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

The whole time I owned my 2014 Silverado I always wished it was just a little bit fancier than it was. I went back and forth on just keeping it or getting what I really wanted. I didn't care for the 2016 refresh on the Silverado but I liked what they did with the Sierra. I also really wanted a 6.2L instead of the 5.3L or at a mimimum 3:73 gears instead of 3:42 (or the 8 speed in place of the 6 speed).

I ended up finding a 2016 Sierra double cab SLT with max towing (3:73s) but the 5.3L. It is apparently rare to have a SLT in the double cab instead of crew cab. I use the bed far more than the backseat so a crew cab makes no sense for me. Worked in a Line-X and undercoating into the deal and drove my new truck home just after my 30.5 birthday!

There was an insane rain storm the night I picked it up so I ended up sitting in the showroom for an hour waiting it out as streets were flooded but I ended up with a great view on the way home.

-Hillrod

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

This lady told me my shop is an eyesore. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Shhh nobody tell her her house looks like a 3 car garage...

 

[wasfast]

Opinions obviously vary.......especially in her case.

 

[C_F]

This lady told me my shop is an eyesore. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If that was mine, the first thing to go would be the midget fence. I wonder where the front door is?

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

If that was mine, the first thing to go would be the midget fence. I wonder where the front door is?

Haha I think I'd start with some (any) sort of landscaping. The "front" door is on the side near the back. Oh well first bit of negativity I've heard so I'm doing quite well!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Merry Christmas!

I trimmed my oak tree and installed gutter guards and took a last look at the shop before the snow flew.

I’ve got the following left to do on the shop:

*Install flood light at peak of roof in front.
*Install jackshaft garage door opener on 10*10 shop door.
*Frame out front wall
*Finish insulation in walls
*Hang plywood on walls
*Window trim and blinds.
*Redo electrical for lights (add more)
*Run 10ga run to opposite corner for future 4 post hoist
*Electrical for jackshaft and light
*Run more 2*8s between trusses (for walking on)
*Hang 2*4s between trusses to hang ceiling on
*Hang tin on ceiling
*Blow in a ton of insulation in the newly created attic.
*Run natural gas, 4 gauge electric, and cat5 to shop
*Run cat5 to shop

Obviously many of these will be prerequisites for the others. I hope to have this done before the snow flies fall 2017. I was hopeful that this December would be like last but no such luck. Frigid temperatures have kept me hiding inside.


I acquired some new toys err tools this year. Picked up a 38” snowblower attachment cheap in the spring. I happened upon a free Craftsman table saw. Picked up a sliding compound table saw, stand, and a Skill saw on black Friday. Also grabbed a stack of 50 ½” BCX plywood sheets and a Big Max 80k BTU natural gas heater for the shop.

-Hillrod

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Unfortunately for me my house started out as a 1,400sq ft ranch growing over time into the 3,000sq ft ranch it is now. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they cut some corners when they did the additions and created two crawl spaces that have very limited access. The only way in is to crawl through the small windows. Unfortunately for me I don’t think I’ve been skinny enough since I was about 5 years old. The previous owner was very small.

I have attempted to illustrate below WHY this matters. When the previous owner built the garage I razed he ran conduit from what was formally the edge of the house in sch40 conduit. It now runs into the crawl space and under the frost walls out into the yard. When I built the new building I tied into the old run and reused the 8 gauge conductors as I was not able to get them to move within the conduit and found I will need to run them.

Fortunately when he finished the basement he had the foresight to install a couple chase ways which I will be able to use to run my cat5 and natural gas lines from the other side of the basement into the crawl space. The issue is I don’t have access into the crawl space. Once in the crawlspace I can pop conduit out the rim joist and then I only need to dig a 10' trench.

You can see the chase way that runs to this closet. I plan to run the natural gas and cat5 cables through here and then out the other side of the closet into the crawlspace.

The electric panel (I crudely drew where the conduit runs in the wall). It then goes through the rim joist curls around and goes back down into the dirt floor of the crawl space. I might need to cut up the drywall to run the new feeder cables as they don't want to pull but I may luck out once I can get to the crawl space. There is no room to go straight out of the top of the box.

The current only access into the crawl space:

Question:

I currently see two options for gaining access into the crawl space:

1. Hire a saw cutting outfit to cut in a bigger window in the foundation that I can easily crawl through. This seems to have a lot of drawbacks. (Cost, mess, and requires reworking drywall/trim.)

2. Cut a hole in the closet floor above the crawlspace and hop down between two floor joints.

Anybody been down this road before? Suggestions? Other ideas? Either solution would still leave me with no access to the other crawlspace under the living room.

Thanks!

-Hillrod

 

[AZ Pete]

The only access to the crawl space under my folks house was through their closet floor. My first house had a hatch that went under the foundation from the side yard, to access the crawl space. I would go for the closet floor.


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[sids04]

Love the shop. LS swap everything !


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[Power Sedan]

Great write-up! The additional square footage on that shop will certainly be beneficial! Wish I could convince my other half to purchase or build on a larger property, to have a dedicated dream shop. Jeff Smith and the guys at LMT have a great performance shop. I just stopped out there tei months ago for their annual dyno days. That place had taken off by leaps an bounds since opening in 2009. Damn impressive numbers on your vette, gotta have serious insane top end power!

Thanks for sharing!
Keith

 

[C_F]

I would go for the closet floor.

So would I, then build a hidden door in the floor for when you need to get in there in the future.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Love the shop. LS swap everything !

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Thanks! Nice looking Vette and engine bay! I always wondered how you do engine swaps in those with the engine 17' behind the bumper

Great write-up! The additional square footage on that shop will certainly be beneficial! Wish I could convince my other half to purchase or build on a larger property, to have a dedicated dream shop. Jeff Smith and the guys at LMT have a great performance shop. I just stopped out there tei months ago for their annual dyno days. That place had taken off by leaps an bounds since opening in 2009. Damn impressive numbers on your vette, gotta have serious insane top end power!

Thanks for sharing!
Keith

Thanks! Luckily for me my wife's very supportive of the shop long as she doesn't have to pay for it haha. When I was debating between a 40*30 and the 40*50 she told me to go big or I'd regret it. I think I have my father in law to thank for that...

LMT was great to work with. Most of the cars in there were a lot nicer than mine haha. I'm surprised how much power it makes with stock heads even with a hair dryer. I'm lucky if the 355 in my Olds makes 400 crank and the only stock thing on it is the block!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

The only access to the crawl space under my folks house was through their closet floor. My first house had a hatch that went under the foundation from the side yard, to access the crawl space. I would go for the closet floor.


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So would I, then build a hidden door in the floor for when you need to get in there in the future.

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking that is probably the answer but I think to do it right (per code) I need to cut one of the joists (after bracing it) as you need more than 14.5" minimum.

I'd still love to find a way to gain access under the living room too without having to cover a hidden hatch with a sofa haha.

 

[cros13]

awesome build mate, just finished reading all 3 from the start to now.

Im kind of where you were with your first house. But I'm knocking down a single garage to build my "dream" *cough* 22x22 double. I wish i could go bigger, but like your old place, i don't have the room.

I really like your Olds. I'm restoring a Dato 260z myself, and i hope to drop a dirty ol V8 into her. Probably a Holden 308 stroked to 383.

I actually got a grin on my face, when in one of your other houses, you had so much drama getting someone interested in the job. I thought i was the only one. We have a Huge housing boom over here in Sydney at the moment, we have a massive under supply of housing, so there are huge developments going on. Im trying to get a concreter out to lay my slab, no one is interested. Its like im doing them a favour by ringing them. No one wants work.

My slab is only 49sq meters, i know it will be around 5k in concrete. Im getting quotes of 12-14k. People are only interested in Laying new house slabs, very frustrating.

How far out of town is that place of yours? looks real pretty. If i want even half a acre, I'd have to move 45 minutes away from the outskirt fringes of sydney, which itself is still 1 hour from the centre CBD. And something like that would be 14x the average Aussie Income. Sydney is so expensive =(

looking forward to more updates! Work on the Olds she is reeeaaaalll purrrdy!

Rudi

 

[sean Buick 76]

Very cool projects and really nice shop! keep us posted!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

awesome build mate, just finished reading all 3 from the start to now.

Im kind of where you were with your first house. But I'm knocking down a single garage to build my "dream" *cough* 22x22 double. I wish i could go bigger, but like your old place, i don't have the room.

I really like your Olds. I'm restoring a Dato 260z myself, and i hope to drop a dirty ol V8 into her. Probably a Holden 308 stroked to 383.

I actually got a grin on my face, when in one of your other houses, you had so much drama getting someone interested in the job. I thought i was the only one. We have a Huge housing boom over here in Sydney at the moment, we have a massive under supply of housing, so there are huge developments going on. Im trying to get a concreter out to lay my slab, no one is interested. Its like im doing them a favour by ringing them. No one wants work.

My slab is only 49sq meters, i know it will be around 5k in concrete. Im getting quotes of 12-14k. People are only interested in Laying new house slabs, very frustrating.

How far out of town is that place of yours? looks real pretty. If i want even half a acre, I'd have to move 45 minutes away from the outskirt fringes of sydney, which itself is still 1 hour from the centre CBD. And something like that would be 14x the average Aussie Income. Sydney is so expensive =(

looking forward to more updates! Work on the Olds she is reeeaaaalll purrrdy!

Rudi

If I had realized how bad of shape my old garage was in originally I might have knocked it over and started over to begin with. But I didn't realize it was leaning until after I had put a new roof, siding, and a new garage door on. The new siding showed what the old did not.

Thanks the Olds looks better in pictures than it really is. But it has a wonderful muscle car rumble. I don't recall if I said anything but I'm putting together a plan to make it into something pretty evil. The plan is for it to make a fair amount more power than the Vette. You are a brave man restoring a Datsun but I suppose you don't have rust like we do here. They are defiantly cool cars. If I lived there I think I'd have myself a R33/R34 Skyline. They are finally getting old enough to import to the states but they seem to all cost $30,000+.

Haha yeah I guess maybe things are relative. What is a huge project to me is a tiny couple day job to the contractor. Hard to motivate I'm afraid.

I am about 30 minutes from the outskirts of Madison, 45 minutes to downtown. Airport is 30 minutes away. Madison isn't very big...you can drive about 20 minutes in any direction and see cornfields. The immediate area I live in is more suburban than rural but it is only 2 minutes to cornfields. I've got municipal water/sewer and natural gas. It is a 10 minute drive to the nearest town they even deliver pizza here! The only reason I have a shop the size I do is I have two lots.

What is awesome is views like this are a 5 minute drive from home:

I've gotten job offers in Chicago and Silicon Valley but I really really like where I live. I wouldn't leave for twice the money.

Very cool projects and really nice shop! keep us posted!

Thank you sir!

 

[cros13]

You are a brave man restoring a Datsun but I suppose you don't have rust like we do here. They are defiantly cool cars. If I lived there I think I'd have myself a R33/R34 Skyline. They are finally getting old enough to import to the states but they seem to all cost $30,000+.

I am about 30 minutes from the outskirts of Madison, 45 minutes to downtown. Airport is 30 minutes away. Madison isn't very big...you can drive about 20 minutes in any direction and see cornfields. The immediate area I live in is more suburban than rural but it is only 2 minutes to cornfields. I've got municipal water/sewer and natural gas. It is a 10 minute drive to the nearest town they even deliver pizza here! The only reason I have a shop the size I do is I have two lots.

We sure do have Rust here In Australia, I'm guessing you get snow up around your parts? for us its rust from salt air, remember, Australia is one big island, and 90% of the population lives on the coast.

That and Datsun's were never rust proofed from the factory, so when the ad says "rust free" the rust comes free with the car! I've spent the better part of 3 years fixing all the rust in her so far.

If your interested, Check out my build on youtube, i have about 4 or so videos so far, mainly of fixing all the rust:

Yeah skylines, they are as common here as fox body mustangs or camaro's would be for you. They imported them by the boat load, they are just as common as our locally delivered junk.

Funny story, when i had my last S13 silvia, I sold it, and it was either buy a "newish" S15 silvia, which i did, or, get a R32 GTR. I passed on the Sklyine cause they were "old". My S15 is worthless and the skyline is double in price.

My mate bought his R32 GTR when they had dropped to their bottom of the barrel price, he paid 13k AUD for his (9.9k USD) A year later, they became eligible for import in the US, and prices skyrocketed EVERYWHERE because of demand, now even here, they have tripled in price, and now you wont find one under 30k.

Another mate, looking for a new car, passed on a R34 GTR when they were around 45k AUD (34k USD) now they are fetching over 80k here.

I guess its all relative, we had them for YEARS here, so they are nothing special.

See, over in Australia, you will NEVER find any old muscle like your Oldsmobile in a junk yard or wrecking yard. They have all dried up, with owners stashing them away and wanting big money for them, Hell, you wont find any 4 door old metal in wrecking yards either. I like to think America is what we were 30 years ago. The supply has all but dried up here. Of course we have 1/10th of your population, less people, so there was less cars made, less to go around.

I watch Roadkill, and am green with envy on the old metal you can pick and choose from to restore when rummaging around a junk yard.

Id love a old mopar, It's still my dream, and once my garage is done, i plan on saving ALOT, taking a holiday with the wife to the US, buying a old 70-71 Duster with a 360, drive across country on holiday, drop it off in LA and export it home.

I can get one landed here in good condition for around 25k AUD ( about 19k USD). to Buy something equivalent here, as in a Aussie 2 door V8 muscle car from the 70's, I'm looking at atleast 60k AUD (46k USD)

We always want what we dont have right?

Your area looks like the dream for me, I could possibly get that moving to another state, (Sydney is the 3rd most expensive city in the world, Gen Y is pretty much priced out of the housing market)

But i don't know if i could leave everyone i have ever known behind to start fresh.

I look forward to the build of the Olds, keep the updates coming here too!

Rudi.

 

[mmavet]

You can see the chase way that runs to this closet. I plan to run the natural gas and cat5 cables through here and then out the other side of the closet into the crawlspace.



How much trouble would it be to contact the gas company and run a new gas line from the street where their primary is located directly to your shop. You would have 2 meters but might be better then tearing up your house.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

We sure do have Rust here In Australia, I'm guessing you get snow up around your parts? for us its rust from salt air, remember, Australia is one big island, and 90% of the population lives on the coast.

That and Datsun's were never rust proofed from the factory, so when the ad says "rust free" the rust comes free with the car! I've spent the better part of 3 years fixing all the rust in her so far.

If your interested, Check out my build on youtube, i have about 4 or so videos so far, mainly of fixing all the rust:

Yeah skylines, they are as common here as fox body mustangs or camaro's would be for you. They imported them by the boat load, they are just as common as our locally delivered junk.

Funny story, when i had my last S13 silvia, I sold it, and it was either buy a "newish" S15 silvia, which i did, or, get a R32 GTR. I passed on the Sklyine cause they were "old". My S15 is worthless and the skyline is double in price.

My mate bought his R32 GTR when they had dropped to their bottom of the barrel price, he paid 13k AUD for his (9.9k USD) A year later, they became eligible for import in the US, and prices skyrocketed EVERYWHERE because of demand, now even here, they have tripled in price, and now you wont find one under 30k.

Another mate, looking for a new car, passed on a R34 GTR when they were around 45k AUD (34k USD) now they are fetching over 80k here.

I guess its all relative, we had them for YEARS here, so they are nothing special.

See, over in Australia, you will NEVER find any old muscle like your Oldsmobile in a junk yard or wrecking yard. They have all dried up, with owners stashing them away and wanting big money for them, Hell, you wont find any 4 door old metal in wrecking yards either. I like to think America is what we were 30 years ago. The supply has all but dried up here. Of course we have 1/10th of your population, less people, so there was less cars made, less to go around.

I watch Roadkill, and am green with envy on the old metal you can pick and choose from to restore when rummaging around a junk yard.

Id love a old mopar, It's still my dream, and once my garage is done, i plan on saving ALOT, taking a holiday with the wife to the US, buying a old 70-71 Duster with a 360, drive across country on holiday, drop it off in LA and export it home.

I can get one landed here in good condition for around 25k AUD ( about 19k USD). to Buy something equivalent here, as in a Aussie 2 door V8 muscle car from the 70's, I'm looking at atleast 60k AUD (46k USD)

We always want what we dont have right?

Your area looks like the dream for me, I could possibly get that moving to another state, (Sydney is the 3rd most expensive city in the world, Gen Y is pretty much priced out of the housing market)

But i don't know if i could leave everyone i have ever known behind to start fresh.

I look forward to the build of the Olds, keep the updates coming here too!

Rudi.

I didn't realize rust was a problem there. Nothing seems to rust in Miami which is also right on the coast. I just assumed the Datsun's rust no matter what but there would be absolutely nothing left in the "rust belt" around here.

You are doing well with your sheet metal work! I tried my hand at a couple Camaros / Firebirds I've owned over the years and I'm useless at it.

I don't mind common cars I have a C5 Vette heh. Makes them cheap to buy and fix. I always wanted a S13 240sx but they sent them here with the crappy motors and it was more than I wanted to spend to swap in a sr20det or a rb26dett. Seems like everybody is tossing LS1/2/3s in them now.

I wouldn't take Roadkill at face value...they have connections and they know people. Also they are out in the desert where stuff lasts forever. There isn't anything older than 20 years old in any junkyards around here I've seen. I bought my Olds from a friend 10 years ago for $6,200 and I've put more than that it in since then and it still doesn't have carpet in it haha. I'd love an old Mopar but I've have to trade all my Chevy's plus some cash to get one haha.

Going to be working on the shop probably through the summer but hoping to have it done with heat by next winter so I can tear into the Olds. With the Vette having 750hp I'm going to be shooting for 1,000+ in the Olds. I've been collecting junkyard LS motors and I've got a stroker crank/rods and a great pair of cylinder heads. Thinking I'll buy a set of forged 9.5:1 pistons and a couple of turbos and toss it all together. Who knows tho depends how much money I have at the time haha.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

You can see the chase way that runs to this closet. I plan to run the natural gas and cat5 cables through here and then out the other side of the closet into the crawlspace.



How much trouble would it be to contact the gas company and run a new gas line from the street where their primary is located directly to your shop. You would have 2 meters but might be better then tearing up your house.

I had initially asked that question but they seemed reluctant to add another meter. The only cutting I should need to do is in the floor of a closet and it will solve a variety of issues for me. I might not upgrade the electrical unless I start popping the circuit breaker in order to not have to rip apart the drywall in the basement. The nice thing is it is only 10.5' from the house to the shop and it is just mulch so I can dig it up to my heart's content.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Greetings! It has been awhile but I as the weather is becoming more cooperative I have been working on the shop again. I made some decisions I am going with a jackshaft opener for the 10*10 door and keeping the ATS for the 18*10.

I also decided to add a floodlight outside to aid in backing trailers in at night. I really dislike so called "security" lights...I see their usefulness but in my neck of the woods they just aren't necessary. It is at best a light annoying your neighbors and most the ones I've seen make noise. Fortunately for me I have a corner light so there is a street light that gives off just enough light to see anyway but I decided to add a flood light which will only be used when needed.

To begin I had to add a ledger board (went with a 20’ 2*6 as I had it laying around). I also framed out walls to accept insulation and plywood on the front wall. While doing this I couldn’t help but stand on top of the ladder and look down on all the toys with anticipation that we are a rainstorm or two away from bringing the cars out!

I ran 2x 20 amp circuits (jackshaft + front wall outlets, heater) and a 15 amp for the flood light. I purchased 10 8’ LED strips and the load on them will be ~6.5amp so I have plenty of overhead to add the floodlight on the same circuit so I just split it in the junction box for the light switches.


New circuits in:

Looking at outlets for jackshaft opener and a dedicated circuit to be hardwired to heater.

Trying to get the workbay area done so I don’t have to worry about tearing the insulation anymore.

-Hillrod

 

[C_F]

I like the shot from above, looking down on the toys.

 

[Power Sedan]

If I had realized how bad of shape my old garage was in originally I might have knocked it over and started over to begin with. But I didn't realize it was leaning until after I had put a new roof, siding, and a new garage door on. The new siding showed what the old did not.

Thanks the Olds looks better in pictures than it really is. But it has a wonderful muscle car rumble. I don't recall if I said anything but I'm putting together a plan to make it into something pretty evil. The plan is for it to make a fair amount more power than the Vette. You are a brave man restoring a Datsun but I suppose you don't have rust like we do here. They are defiantly cool cars. If I lived there I think I'd have myself a R33/R34 Skyline. They are finally getting old enough to import to the states but they seem to all cost $30,000+.

Haha yeah I guess maybe things are relative. What is a huge project to me is a tiny couple day job to the contractor. Hard to motivate I'm afraid.

I am about 30 minutes from the outskirts of Madison, 45 minutes to downtown. Airport is 30 minutes away. Madison isn't very big...you can drive about 20 minutes in any direction and see cornfields. The immediate area I live in is more suburban than rural but it is only 2 minutes to cornfields. I've got municipal water/sewer and natural gas. It is a 10 minute drive to the nearest town they even deliver pizza here! The only reason I have a shop the size I do is I have two lots.

What is awesome is views like this are a 5 minute drive from home:

I've gotten job offers in Chicago and Silicon Valley but I really really like where I live. I wouldn't leave for twice the money.




Thank you sir!

I concur 100%. Living 10 minutes from lake country, 25 minutes from the downtown life, and enjoying the great rolling hills and twisty highways with phenomenal views. Great photos!

 

[zmotorsports]

Coming along nicely.

Nice job.

Mike.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Nerd rant:

I’ve been looking for a cheap power over Ethernet switch to run my VOIP shop phone and access point. My home network runs on retired Cisco enterprise equipment that I got for free or next to free. What I really wanted was a fanless 8 port POE switch like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-WS-C3...020221?hash=item5b29f6217d:g:CekAAOSwdIFXxII8

..but I can’t stomach over paying over $100 for one. I scored a 24 port version (but have to deal with a fan) for $10. I was then looking into buying a vertical rack mount but the $30 Amazon wanted was too rich for my blood! Instead I flipped the rack ears around, sistered up a 2*4 and jammed some screws in. (I'll clean the wires up once my plywood is up and I get my net workbench built).

I drilled a hole in the wall to hide the cat5 cable for my access point (they give these things away!)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-AIR-L...368083?hash=item5b2d7072d3:g:DD0AAOSwc-tY1~K1

And a phone I got for free:

Cell phones don’t work for s**t here so I had to come up a home phone solution. It had been a few years since I had done VOIP but I had everything I needed sitting around. I’m running Cisco Call Manager Express on my 2811 router with a few desk phones, a couple wifi phones, and an analog telephone adapter so I can tap into the home phone line. (I got all this stuff free over time). They connect to the world via a SIP provider. I’ve got 3 phone numbers (home, my home office, my wife’s home office) and it costs about $8 a month. An added benefit is my wife can call "2311" and tell me dinner is ready

So what's the catch with this cheap stuff? Twofold, one they eat a lot of power and two configuration is definitely on the difficult end. I do it for a living so it is perfect for me.

End nerd rant.

-Hillrod

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

I like the shot from above, looking down on the toys.

Here is another

I concur 100%. Living 10 minutes from lake country, 25 minutes from the downtown life, and enjoying the great rolling hills and twisty highways with phenomenal views. Great photos!

Coming along nicely.

Nice job.

Mike.

Thanks!

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Greetings,

It was finally time to order my jackshaft opener.

I was able to install it myself fairly easily. It mounts with a collar with 4 bolts and two set screws to the torsion bar and two lag bolts to the 2*4. I remember when I was about 10 my Dad and Uncle installed a new garage door opener at my Grandma’s house they bypassed the safety sensors claiming it was too difficult to get them lined up. I didn’t even aim mine just stuck them to the track and they worked. *shrug*

And the remote light:

A friend came over and we got 7 sheets of plywood to finish the shop bay off and 2 OSB to close off the “shed” room.

The laser level works amazing:

The sheets are all ~1/2” off the floor and I plan to install a rubber baseboard once all the walls are done. Feels so good to see that much plywood up! That is only 24*12 though…lots to do still!

I picked up 10 of these 8’ LED fixtures from Menards for $70 each when they were on sale. I got one hung up and…WOW it is bright! I’m hoping to get the rest up this coming weekend weather permitting. (Need to roll cars outside).

Finally, I got sick of needing a helper to move the miter saw outside so I cobbled together this disaster haha. It works great.

-Hillrod

 

[C_F]

Love the miter saw wheel set, nothing wrong with that!

Your long plywood wall looks pretty cool, with all that wood grain. Forgive me if you said earlier, but are you going to leave it like that, unpainted? Looks pretty cool the way it is.

 

[hemifalcon]

Haven't seen this thread till now.. As another SW Wisconsin'er, nice place you have there!

 

[-Brent-]

Awesome build. Period.

So much cool stuff hanging out inside of it, too!