Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Uncle Skelly's Garage

[Skellyii]

I've got to be out of my frikkin mind...trying to outfit two shops at once.

But, I had already run the dedicated power line for the mini-split in my home garage, so what the heck.

Isn't having too many projects the GJ way??

 

[Skellyii]

I have two complete sets of tools, one at the house and one at the condo. Heavy duty stuff gets done at the condo, routine stuff gets done at home. Any specialty tools stay at the condo.

Great set up, when are you inviting me over? Lol

I was hanging out with the SWMBO last week, she wanted togo to a couple of estate sales. Not a problem, I found an unused mini fridge for $30. Since I saved so much money on the fridge, I put my savings to good use.
@sh944 , I'll have an open house the next warm weekend we get.

 

[sh944]

Hey, keep me in mind when you are ready to let the Maxjack go, I‘d potentially be interested. I have a Quickjack set up but having some added flexibility regarding lifting height would be nice.

When the warm weather hits, I’ll bring some liquid housewarming gifts. Bonus points if Dave (Jagman) shows up too!

 

[MrPink]

OK, I made my first decision on the condo. I decided to buy another toolbox.
After spending a week or so dealing with the idiots on CL and FB, I ran across another GJ member who had purchased a ProSteel box on clearance from Menards. it's a 52" wide and 24" deep which I really like, as it can also serve as a workbench.

Not the greatest box in the world, but for my uses it will be just fine.

Hows the quality of it? I have actually been eyeballing this exact one from Menards

 

[Skellyii]

Honestly, it's average at best. If you have a lot of tools, overloading this box probably won't be a great idea.

My needs were somewhat unique. I needed a box that I may or may not still be using two years from now, it only needed to store a subset of my tools in a secondary location, I preferred the 24" depth, and I wanted something cheap.

One warning though...if you're like me, and want to store your sockets in the top drawer, be advised that the top drawer is not as tall as some of the competitors in this form factor. If you're using most common socket trays, this shouldn't be an issue, but if you're a Hansen socket tray guy/girl (raised pegs) they won't fit.

 

[MrPink]

yep i use the Hansen rails lol. So i will pass on it, i am looking for one where i can put my sockets in that top drawer and not have to worry about them fitting.

 

[Matt018888]

That's funny my mother is a Skelly! Nice shop.

 

[Skellyii]

That's funny my mother is a Skelly! Nice shop.

Thanks!

As was previously suggested, I keep forgetting to start looking for a Skelly sign.

Maybe next month...

 

[Skellyii]

The fiancé has been burdening me with house stuff, so I haven't been able to do as much wrenching as I would have liked. Fortunately, I was able to get some things done this week, and take advantage of the new space and the lift.

I did some suspension work and an oil change on the Suburban.

Crawling around under a car at my age isn't as fun as it used to be. My back and my knees thanked me for getting a lift!

 

[Skellyii]

Hmmmn....

One of the sharp eyed GJ folks noticed something in the background and PM'ed me about it.

This is a 1965 Thunderbird I bought a few weeks ago. I got it from the widow of a guy that was going to restore it.
Sadly, he had just purchased this car to restore it with his brother, who is a bodyman, and a member of the local Thunderbird Owners club. Supposedly, he passed just a few days after buying this....I hope it's not cursed!

Anyway, this bird was in the brothers shop, and he's currently working on two other Birds, a 63 convertible and a 62 hardtop.

Technically, it's neither a roller or a runner. It starts, but one of the calipers has frozen, but it had enough power to get on and off the trailer, and into my shop.

I have been wanting one of these for decades, and have been looking for a long term project to start on this fall, so this was a good find. First, it was local, I had been looking at Birds at least 500+ miles away. Second, it's got all of the necessary parts, and third, a manageable level of rust.

This will NOT be a ground up restoration, it will be a restomod, something I will put together as I want, updated here and there for nice weather cruising.

 

[MrPink]

Nice, i've always liked the ol' birds they have some very nice design lines to them for sure.

 

[Skellyii]

Had to believe that I haven't posted anything here since June, but I spent the month of July in Sweden, followed by coming home nd getting Covid.

Been trying to get things done, so I've been doing just that, and not posting. Let's se if I can catch up.

First thing was to install a wet/dry wall vacuum, this is a VacMaster, I found it in the Amazon warehouse, supposedly it was a return, but the package was still factory sealed. The nice part was getting it for around $80.

I mounted it between two of the garage doors, it has about 30' of hose, so we can use it either out in the driveway, or even clean up stuff at the rear of the garage. It has the bluetooth controls on the end of the hose, so you can turn it on and off without running back to the wall unit.

My fiancée had been bugging me about getting one of these for awhile. She likes to vacuum out her car in the driveway, and always hated having to roll the shop vac out there.

 

[Skellyii]

Next up was doing something with the wall space behind the workbenches. While I'm NOT a big pegboard fan, it has it's uses. I totally dislike the pressed

board stuff, and the steel board I wanted was OOS in the sizes I needed, so I compromised on plastic pegboard.

The computer is an HP all in one mounted on an arm that lets me swing it between worktops. I think I paid $25 for the computer and $5 for the mounting arm at some estate sales.

 

[Skellyii]

I got some more stuff done, but forgot to document it.
The sad thing is...I should have done this last thing FIRST, and it would have made some of the other things easier:


Yep, I FINALLY finished up the install of the mini-split yesterday. A lot of the other things that I did out in the garage would have been a lot easier and more pleasant if I hadn't been sweating like a pig.

It's a Pioneer 24K unit, I took my time and installed it in a couple of days. I had already installed the 240 circuit awhile back, so that made things easier.

After I finished, I cranked up the music and poured myself a bourbon...or two.

 

[Skellyii]

Was doing a lot of non-GJ stuff the last couple of weeks, but my fiancée's car needed brakes and rotors. Normally, I would have done this in the shop with the lift, but it was 90 degrees yesterday , so I took advantage of the freshly installed mini-split in my home garage. And yeah, she needs to wash her car more often.

 

[Skellyii]

We used to have Skelly gas stations here about 50 years ago. An old sign from them would be killer in your garage.

FINALLY found a Skelly sign that was affordable. It's smaller than I would like, so I'm still on the lookout for a larger one.

 

[HogDude]

FINALLY found a Skelly sign that was affordable. It's smaller than I would like, so I'm still on the lookout for a larger one.

Like anything, it's a start. Man does it have character.

 

[Skellyii]

Looks like I'm gonna have to learn how to repair a Forward EF9:

 

[Skellyii]

Wow! Can't believe I haven't posted since October. We've been working on the basement, had family stay with us over the holidays and all that stuff.

We've also been dealing with the Snowcopopolyse so the fiance finally was able to go to work today. Yesterday she was bugging me to make sure that I had turned on the heat in the garage, so she wouldn't have to get into a cold car.

Ironically, this is the first winter the garage has been heated, and I've been busy with other things, so I haven't spent much time out there. But she wants the heat on!

She also uses the wall mounted vacuum way more than I do.

Whose garage is it anyway??

 

[sh944]

Welcome back, I’ve been lame too. We should get together soon and catch up!

 

[Skellyii]

No kidding. You might have to talk me into buying one of the last condos in your development. Mine changed owners, Everbody is pissed at the new rules and people are leaving in droves.

 

[sh944]

I’m curious, what sort of rules?

You would be a welcome addition out at our community.

 

[Jagmandave]

I would like to get back in touch with both youse guys, maybe as soon as mother nature turns up the thermostat a bit we can meet up at one of your shops?

 

[Skellyii]

I would like to get back in touch with both youse guys, maybe as soon as mother nature turns up the thermostat a bit we can meet up at one of your shops?

Sounds good.

I think both @sh944 and I have been spending too much time renovating our basements.

 

[Skellyii]

Possibly the middle of March??

This current cold snap is going to be pretty brutal. My shop isn't heated, and the last time I was hanging out with Scot, his wasn't either.

 

[sh944]

Mine has a heater but it won’t hack it in this cold…. Soon though, we are overdue.

 

[Skellyii]

I've been wanting to get started on my projects, re-organizing both the garage and the shop WERE at the top of my list. But...

my niece crashed her car, and had forgotten to pay her auto insurance , so she needed a hand. I had an early Ford Escape Hybrid in my inventory that I had put off working on. It was in great shape, no rust and all of the battery cells were in spec. I got it less than dirt cheap because one of the rubber brake lines had split and totally emptied the brake system. When that much air gets into the system on the early hybrids, a lot of dealers/mechanics specify that the EHCU needs to be replaced, which is usually way more expensive than the vehicle itself.

So I replaced all of the rubber brake lines, power bled it a couple of times, probably went through a gallon of brake fluid, cleaned it up, tuned it up, and had it running perfectly.




So, I handed over the vehicle to her, and in less than a week:

 

[rharman]

Is it safe to assume she had no insurance for this one either? Sad, regardless....

 

[Skellyii]

Is it safe to assume she had no insurance for this one either? Sad, regardless....

Sadly, liability only, so it's on her to fix it.

 

[Skellyii]

More fun, had to rebuild the front end on the lady of the house's BMW.

Fun, fun, fun.

 

[Xti04]

You could always count on a Bmw or Audi to need multiple control links replaced. Easy money especially when some folks only wanted to do 1 at a time. I had a guy who would come by my house every couple of months and want a link replaced. I had scored a closeout deal on a master set which had all the links for 100 bucks or so. I would sell him each link for 100 bucks plus install. That game ended when he smashed it into another car.

 

[Skellyii]

You could always count on a Bmw or Audi to need multiple control links replaced. Easy money especially when some folks only wanted to do 1 at a time. I had a guy who would come by my house every couple of months and want a link replaced. I had scored a closeout deal on a master set which had all the links for 100 bucks or so. I would sell him each link for 100 bucks plus install. That game ended when he smashed it into another car.

Yep, that's why I did everything at once.

It rides really nice now, and everything is a lot tighter.

 

[Skellyii]

In the "No good deed goes unpunished" category, I was riding with the female in the newly fixed E60 yesterday, and we were taking some turns and various roundabouts in the area.

Looks like she's taking advantage of the vastly improved handling abilities provided by the front end refresh. Fortunately, I didn't require fresh underwear....but it was close.

 

[Skellyii]

Lately I haven't been working on my garage as much as I've been working IN my garage, which I guess is a good thing, but it does need some major reorganization and cleaning.

I have been able to accomplish a few things, as well as send a couple of cars to new owners. I previously mentioned the Escape Hybrid that my niece received, but the next one was the Dodge Charger in my profile picture. The bad thing is, when it hit 150K miles, I told my son it was time to get rid of it, because it was probably getting close to the time when things would start breaking. Of course, he didn't, so he ended up replacing a LOT of components. We ended up rebuilding the front end, along with some of the control arms in the back end, brakes all around, and a new fuel pump.

It had a really strong Gen 3 Hemi, so he ended up with too many tickets, so he bought an econobox, and tasked me to do the remaining fixes and sell it for him.

Got it sold a couple of weeks ago, and the guy I sold it to wants my older F150 after I fix a couple of things on it.

That leaves me with:

1965 Thunderbird Project car, haven't started work on it yet
1983 Porsche 944 bought in 1988, probably going to sell it this year
1991 Miata Bought cheap had it forever, low miles (Keeper)
2008 Suburban Had it forever, do I still need it??
2006 F150 Hopefully sold within the month
2007 F150 Probably keep for awhile, as long as I have rental houses

2006 BMW 650ci Beautiful convertible with a tune, really love it (keeper)
2007 BMW 650 Daily driver
2009 BMW 528xi House females daily driver, but we'll see if she keeps it

New arrivals
2005 BMW 645 Bought as a parts car, but turned out to be in better shape than expected
2011 BMW X5 Needs work, I already have the parts, haven't started on it yet
2013 BMW X3 Needs work, low miles, beautiful car, haven't started on it yet, house female has been eyeing it
2016 Audi Q3 Needs work, still trying to figure out why the hell did I buy this??

I would REALLY like to eliminate two cars from this list over the next two months.

But...I just had a procedure done on my back, so I'm not moving as fast as usual.

This getting old stuff ain't for sissies.

 

[Skellyii]

Found some random memorabilia relating to my wrench slinging as a youth.
A Skelly truck from the estate of a local executive with the Skelly corp that passed, and a Amoco hat.

I honestly can't remember if the Amoco/Standard station was still Standard when I worked there.

 

[Skellyii]

Haven't done much the last couple of months, the procedure I had done on my back only resulted in temporary relief.

However, I did manage to get the X3 running. When I bought it, it made a truly horrible sound just after it started. I figured that the chain guides were close to disintegrating, probably everybody else did as well since I got it really cheap.

After I started working on it, my scanner indicated that BOTH vanos solenoid actuators had failed. I didn't think that was possible, but I pulled them and bench tested them..they were both bad.

I scrounged a couple of actuators off a of car at the local salvage yard, fixed. Runs like a champ.

The lady of the house has claimed it, she's already road tripped it, so I guess the E60 will be for sale shortly.

It does need a good detailing on the outside, I was able to get the inside detailed before my back got wonky again.

 

[Skellyii]

I had ANOTHER procedure done on my back yesterday, hopefully this one will correct things.

I knew I was going to have to take it easy for awhile, so I rushed and got a few things done in the garage with some help.
I added another ceiling rack on the back wall of the garage. Half for me half for the fiancé'.


Also hung some of my beer signs. I need to add a dedicated circuit for them, hade the wires, and reconfigure and permanently wire the ceiling lights. I hung them temporarily as a test (2 years ago) and haven't gotten around to running a new circuit for them.

 

[Skellyii]

This was a last minute thing, I was hanging out on the Vintage Toolbox thread, and it was mention that Craftsman made 26" intermediate boxes that were 16" and 18" deep. I knew about the 12" deep ones, but had never seen the others.

To make a long story short, due to the greatly appreciated assistance of a fellow GJ member @alinc100, I was able to obtain 2 of the 18" deep boxes. With a little cutting and metal bending, I was able to create a 52" intermediate box to go on my 52" stack.

I move my boxes from time to time to clean the floor, so I bolted everything together to provide extra stability.



The intermediate boxes are friction slides, everything else I have is ball bearing. I yanked the drawers and slides out, cleaned them thoroughly and lubed them before putting everything back together. They seem to be working just fine.
Fortunately, I have enough room, so I won't be overloading them.

 

[alinc100]

Wow!! I would have never thought to use them in that manner.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Saw your post in another thread and read through your build. That thing in the corner when you bought the house is interesting. Too large to be it, but it resembles a two bag golf bag storage area my grandfather had built in his garage.

The garage layout came out great. Seems like you are slowly tackling your long list of car projects. Hope your second surgery has helped your back.