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In all the time I’ve been posting in AI I’ve never started a project thread, but have always wanted to, so here goes. Here are the near term plans: 1. Prep my current DD, an 2008 VW R32 for trade in 2. Continue preparing my basement/garage for drywall 3. Get a new DD, likely a BRZ 4. Continue finishing my basement and garage (drywall, texture, paint, flooring, fixtures) 5. Get a project car, likely something 25+ years old. So far contenders include RWD Celicas, Celica All Trac, Subaru XT or GL turbo, BMW 2002, BMW e21, Datsun 510, Dodge Colt... You get the idea. My garage as is sits right now is essentially half of my basement and definitely not huge (32’ long, 11.5’ wide and 8-9’ high). The house is a late 20’s craftsman, so it’s got good bones, but has needed a lot of updating. While doing that I’ve been building for greater use of the space so that what was an unfinished basement, will eventually be a double long heated garage on one side with a bathroom/laundry room and A/V room on the other. It’s all well insulated with new plumbing, electrical, etc. Long term I hope to build a nice big garage in my back yard with a four post lift, but for now I’ve got this and I want and need it to be a nice space to work on my cars, stage continued home remodelling and learn to weld. Pictures! Excuse the fish eye, but to give a good sense of the space, it was needed. Here is the back corner of the garage facing towards the center of the house:  This is from the center wall, by the garage door towards the back of the garage. You can see my current storage and tool boxes as well as a few various projects I’ve been finishing up:  And finally, by the door into the garage towards the garage door, my R32 in main view:  As of my writing this, I’ve just reworked some HVAC ducting to remove what would have been a soffit in the middle of the ceiling, but wasn’t needed due to reworked plumbing. I’ve also got the R32 scheduled to have it’s coilovers removed on Tuesday. After that it just needs my crap taken out and it’s ready for trade in! That’s all for now!
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Dec 17, 2012 08:34
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I've always liked the old Craftsman houses, it'd be neat to hear about the house too.
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Dec 17, 2012 09:09
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Looking forward to more pictures. I really like garage chat. I also don't recommend the old school subaru turbos, from what I hear, you get more power out of current non-turbo motors and the old ones are finicky and like to poo poo themselves for no reason. Good for a restore of a weird old car, but not good for performance. ChrisGT can sperg about old subarus way better than I can if you're seriously interested.
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Dec 17, 2012 17:01
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Yea I'm excited for the garage/house pics, motivate me to someday make my house less lovely!
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Dec 17, 2012 17:12
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some texas redneck posted:I've always liked the old Craftsman houses, it'd be neat to hear about the house too. I'll work some stuff in then! It's pretty standard of the era, but has somehow managed to keep a lot of the great craftsman touches (crown molding, archways, solid core doors, fancy door knobs, etc) that often don't make it 80+ years on a house. Slow is Fast posted:Looking forward to more pictures. I really like garage chat. The old Subaru's are interesting to me for the weirdness and because I'm a sucker for anything with "turbo intercooled" graphics on it, the RX turbo coupes being a perfect example  . That said, I doubt I'll find a Subaru that has lasted that long in Seattle. Most of them get used and worn out so what is available is often in horrible condition. dreesemonkey posted:Yea I'm excited for the garage/house pics, motivate me to someday make my house less lovely! Re: Garage chat, the door between my garage and basement now has a doorknob! Accomplishments! Also, I may or may not have a line on a reasonably priced BRZ!
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Dec 18, 2012 04:43
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(Small) Updates! My (interior) garage door has a knob!  My coilovers have been uninstalled! Once I clean a few more things out of the car it'll be ready to trade in.  I'm hoping to spend some time tomorrow running coax and power (through the garage ceiling) to a main floor closet that is going to serve as a data closet. I also need to pick up the vent and ducting for a fart fan for the bathroom and install that. Then it's drywall time!
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Dec 22, 2012 05:33
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 my arms/legs are already itching like hell just looking at the insulation.I'd suggest, at the least, a locking knob on the door. Just in case someone goes and leaves the overhead door open. But I'm a bit  when it comes to locks and alarms and stuff on a home.
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Dec 22, 2012 12:24
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some texas redneck posted:I'd suggest, at the least, a locking knob on the door. Just in case someone goes and leaves the overhead door open. But I'm a bit You're a poor Texan. I've heard locks down there are double barrel 12 gauge with a double ought key.
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Dec 22, 2012 14:48
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Updates! About a week and a half ago, I ordered a BRZ. It'll be from the dealers next allocation at the end of January, in World Rally Blue, White or Silver. The R32 trade in price is confirmed and the car itself is completely ready to trade in. Sold my R32 coilovers netting more space and money:  Replaced a fence post in the back that had been very poorly installed. No gravel for drainage, the post wasn't fully enclosed (so it could suck up moisture) and the cement was buried deep. The old cement was a pain to get out, hammer for scale.  Here is the repaired post. The 2x4s and fence slats need replacement as well, along most of the fence, but it'll stay upright for now. I'll revisit the rest in the spring when the weather is a little more favorable.  After a Goodwill run and more work, here is the garage as it sits. I need to install a few 1x2s here and there to accommodate changes from the front of the garage to the back and run the coax and power for my wire closet. Once those items are done I'll be drywall ready and am now hoping for it to be complete by the end of January.  some texas redneck posted:I'd suggest, at the least, a locking knob on the door. Just in case someone goes and leaves the overhead door open. But I'm a bit The door isn't generally open unless I'm in the garage or my front yard, so I'm not too concerned. My driveway is walled on both sides for about 20 feet too, so it's not like someone could just dodge in really quickly without me noticing.
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Jan 7, 2013 05:15
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Mat_Drinks posted:The door isn't generally open unless I'm in the garage or my front yard, so I'm not too concerned. My driveway is walled on both sides for about 20 feet too, so it's not like someone could just dodge in really quickly without me noticing. Make sure you put both burger, and fire alarms in it. Then, make sure they react to climate change and even noisy exhaust. STR will thank you for it.
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Jan 7, 2013 07:03
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So does the burger alarm go off when the burger is ready or is it for when I'm burgen? If it's the former it could probably be integrated with the fire alarm.
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Jan 7, 2013 18:59
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The burger alarm is there to tell you to flip them when they're ready so you don't turn them into charcoal. 
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Jan 7, 2013 19:03
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The Burger alarm stops the hamburgler obviously. I need to get my garage finished up. I need new doors.
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Jan 7, 2013 22:03
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Bumping this to make sure it doesn't fall into the archives. I'll work on a proper update with pictures in the next few days, but where it stands now the garage is ready for drywall and I just need to buy it and bring it home. I've done some measuring and have mocked up a really nice cabinet setup that will allow me a ton of storage, but almost completely elevate from the floor to maximize room around my cars for working on them. I also got my BRZ about a month ago and as of arriving home this afternoon it's at 975 miles, which means that tomorrow afternoon on the way home I should break 1000  .
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Mar 13, 2013 04:41
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Substantive Updates! After a lot of little repairs, nail removal, bathroom fan install, cable running, etc I bought drywall!  Only to have accidentally unplugged my sump pump making earlier repairs. No problem! My basements lowest point has a drain in case the sump fails! gently caress.  Turns out the drain housing and bottom are metal... At some point in the past there must have been lightly running water in the basement for a long time... Long enough to rust the drain and cause it to clog itself. My basement had no drainage on a rainy Seattle evening for about 10 hours which allowed six inches of water to collect and touch the sheetrock I had just purchased. Luckily I got the basement drained out fast and put a few box fans to work drying the sheetrock. The exposure to water was brief enough that it was all still usable and I learned about the drain in such a way that minimal damage occurred. And of course, I fixed the drain the next day, spray painting it for future protection.  This past Monday the drywall was hung!  Here is a further back shot for a bit of perspective:  While I could hang, tape, mud, and texture myself, I'm not great at it, so I'm leaving it to a crew my family's business uses. But while they were working, I was still busy... digging 48 cubic feet of dirt to plan this bamboo hedge in my front yard.  There isn't much new with the BRZ. I got it filmed (with yellow fogs) and tinted two months ago. I'd like to take it autocrossing soon and I think I'm going to get gold 17x9 RPF1s to replace the stock wheels. I'm still trying to decide on tires (likely 235 series though).  I've still been casually shopping for project cars, but I haven't seen anything that I really HAVE to have. Mudding in the garage should start in a week or two, then paint!
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Apr 29, 2013 04:38
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Looking good. I'd say you could do the mudding yourself but for an experienced crew that's probably a couple hours worth of work, so "meh". Any other big plans? Epoxy floor or anything?
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Apr 29, 2013 14:32
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dreesemonkey posted:Looking good. I'd say you could do the mudding yourself but for an experienced crew that's probably a couple hours worth of work, so "meh". Any other big plans? Epoxy floor or anything? gently caress mudding yourself. ITs cheap enough that its worth hiring someone. And definitely epoxy the floor if you can afford it. Check garagejournal's flooring forum for info. Don't use the cheap poo poo from catalogs.
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Apr 30, 2013 01:43
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sharkytm posted:
Even the cheap poo poo works better than nothing. I have 2 of the $100 kits from home depot on my garage floor and they are the best thing I could have done to the floor. Oil doesn't stick, the epoxy has held up to an engine swap, and makes paint spill cleanup possible.
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Apr 30, 2013 02:49
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I've actually got a DIY Epoxy flooring on it already (in cement gray, which is why it might not be obvious from the pictures). It came out "ok", but I've had the typical hot tire issue where a little of the epoxy lifted up (despite me following proper prep). I figure the fact that most of the cement was poured in 1928 doesn't help. On that note too, it isn't terribly pretty to look at, just because of how uneven everything is, etc. I figure I've got four options for flooring: 1. Rubber mat - My Dad actually found a roll of the black coin rubber flooring for the garage in their business house and it's awesome. I've seen some options out there and I like it for it's additional cushion and good looks (and cover up of the many imperfections). I haven't seen any rolls that are 12' wide at a reasonable price though, so I don't know that this will work. 2. Redo/patch the epoxy where issues have occurred and as they continue to occur. 3. Have the epoxy redone professionally 4. Modular floor tile, which is pretty much a non option due to have uneven the floor is in places. While we're on the topic of garagejournal too, am I the only one that tends to be kind of disappointed by it? Don't get me wrong, they have some awesome builds, but it seems like most are either high end, or so low end they're kind of disappointing to follow. It doesn't seem like there is much middle ground to be inspired by in an obtainable way... Or maybe I'm just bad at looking for it? In non garage house news I installed new house numbers this afternoon:  Laser cut COR10 float mounted to my fence. Ignore the hose, I had just watered
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Apr 30, 2013 04:10
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Eh, garage journal is like most forms... Lots of chit chat, some good stuff mixed in, lots of rich folks bragging/showing off, and a lot of regular Joes trying to keep up. I check the hot deals, classifieds, and fab/tool forums a lot. I ask questions in the electrical forum if I need to, and read the general forms if I'm bored. Repairing the existing epoxy won't work well, the only options are to grind it off and recover with something better, or just say gently caress it.
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May 1, 2013 02:47
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 CAR NEWS! I bought a project car!  The 2002 was on my list of cars I was watching and about a week ago I went and drove this rustbucket:  Needless to say, the rust was more than I was willing to take on, even with a solid drivetrain. Still, I was able to drive it and enjoyed the heck out of it. I went and looked at Red the next day and bought her.  It's a 1968 BMW 2002. Weber DCOEs, suspension (with Bilsteins), Panasports, a five speed, rear disc brakes, full exhaust, and best of all a huge stack of records.  It does need work... The paint is pretty rough in some places, it has a little bubbling on various panels and the driver's rear fender will need to either be cut off for fender flares or patched. It also has a bunch of small bits and pieces missing, but still, I'll be able to drive it and enjoy it all summer long, then this winter after the garage is done I'll strip the interior, fix any rust holes, POR15 the crap out of it and paint the outside. I'm pretty excited about it if I'm honest. It's loud and it smells like old car and gas. 
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May 15, 2013 04:35
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Very nice. If I remember I'll take a picture of one that lives near me with a really nice coppery metallic paint job and driver name decals on the side. Probably rally set up. There's a few in town. Rally cars, not 2002s.
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May 15, 2013 04:41
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I love that BMW still offers cars in copper metallic colors too. I ordered parts for the 2002 and grabbed some stuff off of CL. I now have, or will shortly have: - a second window crank - a second vent window knob - rear seats - a new fuel tank neck - two of three missing exterior trim pieces In short order I need to order new seat belts front and rear as I've got the dreaded old belts made fun of here: http://youtu.be/KiHKq19dUyQ The previous owner had also taped over the sunroof to block leaking  ... I pulled the tape off yesterday and attempted to open it. No go, just clicks. I guess that means I've got a cable (or two) broken or seized. The headliner looks a little worse for wear so I'm trying to decide if I even want one end state, especially if I've got to pull it for the sunroof repairs.
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May 16, 2013 05:53
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Small bit of progress on the 02 today, I replaced the old, cracked fuel filler neck. It'll be nice to have the garage and car smelling not quite so much like gas  It's funny, every time I look at the car it reinforces for me how much the guy that built it (two owners ago) was good with mechanicals, but didn't make some of the best choices bodywork and paint wise. Take the engine bay for example:  It's clean, and has great mechanicals. I can even live with the decision to cut out part of the nose section and build new bracing for a radiator and electric fan. He even welded up the seams pretty well. It's not the best ever, but I can clean it up and make it work. What confused me is this:  If you don't see what I saw today, then I feel a little better, because it took me a week and a half to see that there is no seam in between the front of the fender and the nose. The dude decided to (presumably) weld, bondo and paint over the seam. But just one side. Hrm. OK. So now I'm thinking about just leaving it, or if I can try to cut where the seam used to be and salvage the nose and fender as best as I can. I didn't buy the car to be a show car. I KNEW it was going to have some issues and that the parts on it were easily worth the purchase price. I'm not bummed and still would have bought the car. I'm just confused. What an unusual thing to do. I guess a pro side of this is that I'm feeling even less like I should necessarily keep the car Granada red because it was the original color. If I'm going to even moderately delve into the body this winter, maybe not going for perfection, but certainly decent results, then I'm going to paint it whatever color I want. Red is ok, but I like the weird BMW colors. Like some Mintgrun or something! Or maybe two tone? I keep seeing pictures of one on instagram with a Granda red upper and silver lower that is gorgeous. EDIT: I'm wondering now if this is something the early cars had? Some of the pictures I'm seeing are showing minimal seam, or non at all. Maybe this guy just wasn't the first one with the bright idea... EDIT 2: Aaaaaand, that's likely the original fender. Not necessarily welded, just attached very well... http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?677548-2002-Front-Fender-Removal Mat_Drinks fucked around with this message at 07:52 on May 19, 2013 |
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May 19, 2013 07:09
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I haven't posted in a few weeks, but it's been for eventful reasons. Here comes a monster post! First, mud, and tape! I had it done professionally because I'm honestly not great at it and with how much there was to do it just made sense. Here you can see a wide shot of the garage, a closer shot of a garage wall, and a shot of the living space on the other side of the basement.    Then texture! That brick wall is remaining exposed as a cool accent in the living space.     I don't have any pictures of it, but the garage is now painted (white semi gloss all around), the bathroom too, and I'm halfway done with the staircase, hallway and and living area. I'm hoping to complete painting tomorrow. And awesome news! I managed to find some used 5/8" rubber flooring on craigslist! .50 a sq ft and I picked up 400 sq feet! It needs to be sprayed down and cut up (it's in gigantic, heavy rolls), but it should make for an awesome, awesome floor. This is gym grade stuff, super thick and very durable. I'm really excited.   I also went to IKEA earlier this week to check out their kitchen cabinets and I've confirmed that I'm going to get around 6 of their wall cabinets and one tall cabinet with black doors for storage. I'll be able to hide my air compressor away, all of my supplies, as well as likely get rid of one of my tool boxes. This will allow for a lot of walking around space in the garage and make it much easier for me to work on my cars unobstructed. In 2002 news, I replaced the 40+ year old original seat belts, installed my son's car seat and took him for a spin. He enjoyed it a lot and it was awesome pulling up to the playground I took him to in a noisy old car    Finally, here are a few cool pictures I've taken recently, one of the 02's crooked smile, my two year old son trying on my new helmet (after which he suggested we go for a drive while he still wore it) and a shot of my BRZ the other night when I went to Home Depot.    So yeah, the project is progressing along nicely! Over the next few weeks I'll get painting done, the rubber floor installed, new garage storage installed, probably paint the garage door and fix the seal around it, then grind and level the bathroom floor and hopefully get flooring figured out and installed (it'll likely be a mix of Marmoleum on the stairs, porcelain tile in the bathroom and hallway and carpet in the living area). I'll be ordering three doors (two folding, one bathroom), a shower door, picking up trim, and ordering a vanity. I've already got a toilet and bathroom sink. If all goes well I should be mostly done by mid August, at which point I'll be painting my living room and working on a new fence in my backyard. Then this fall I'll start tearing into the 2002, which I'd like to do carpet on, fix the fender and a small hole in the floor pan and prep for a repaint.
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Jun 23, 2013 06:50
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I should mention too, if anyone has 'garage chat' they'd like contribute, I'm always interested to see what kind of garages everyone else works out of. Also, I just bought my first new style LED bulb the other day after reading about STR getting some a few weeks ago and I'm super impressed with how bright and good looking it is. I think I'll likely get at least one for the garage, likely the light I like to leave on all of the time. Mat_Drinks fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 05:16
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Honestly, for the garage I'd go with some T8 strip fixtures. I replaced the lone porcelain socket (which had a Y adapter and 2 largish CFLs) with a single 2 x 32W T8 fixture. It's a night and day difference. This is the fixture I used (though if I were to do it over again I'd go with this one instead, since the one I got requires that you run the wires into the junction box above the light - not fun when you're holding the fixture) LEDs are fantastic, but they're also highly directional, and still pretty expensive if you need a lot of light. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Jun 24, 2013 |
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Jun 24, 2013 20:45
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some texas redneck posted:Honestly, for the garage I'd go with some T8 strip fixtures. I replaced the lone porcelain socket (which had a Y adapter and 2 largish CFLs) with a single 2 x 32W T8 fixture. It's a night and day difference. Heh, funny, I actually already have two of the lights you're suggesting going with that will be going up in the garage as well. I'm going to put the LED bulb in a fixture that has it's own switch to the side of the garage door where a large fixture won't fit. I agree the the LEDs are expensive, but for a light I leave on all of the time I can't argue with the energy savings
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Jun 25, 2013 04:07
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What about skylights? They cost nothing to run and illuminate spaces well during the daylight hours.
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Jun 25, 2013 07:05
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Converting my two porcelain fixture CFLs to the T8s listed above was on my list for this year. Unfortunately other things have cropped up around the the house which are taking financial priority.
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Jun 25, 2013 15:52
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When I get a garage I'm getting some 10w led floodlights, they're available for less than £20 each and give off the same light as ~120w halogen. This is in addition to a bunch of flouro fittings.
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Jun 25, 2013 16:17
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As for lighting, Read here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191336 I went from 4x4' T8's and 2 CFLs to 28x4' T8's in the main garage... HOLY gently caress, I CAN SEE!
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Jun 26, 2013 00:35
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I'm pretty jealous of your garage even before it had lighting. Very comfortable looking.
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Jun 26, 2013 01:32
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It's almost hard to have "too much" lighting. I've got 640watts of CFL tubes in my garage.
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Jun 26, 2013 01:43
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General_Failure posted:What about skylights? They cost nothing to run and illuminate spaces well during the daylight hours. This is a garage/basement, so skylights aren't a very feasible option. There are two ~3'x1' windows at ground level (which is at about 8' when you're in the garage) that help with light a bit, but I also live in Seattle, WA where it's gray a large portion of the year (October to March) and that'll be when I spend the most time in the garage working on projects. Cakefool posted:When I get a garage I'm getting some 10w led floodlights, they're available for less than £20 each and give off the same light as ~120w halogen. This is in addition to a bunch of flouro fittings. Won't floodlights be pretty focused? Why not just get the equivalent of the 60w bulb? The one I have in my entry way is absurdly bright and it's a 'warm light' bulb. sharkytm posted:As for lighting, Read here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191336 Hah, so I have two 4' T8s and a porcelain fixture and was thinking about getting another T8 for a 12'x32' garage. I'm pretty sure that guy would either ridicule me or simply wouldn't be able to see me and would complain that it's "too dark" Seat Safety Switch posted:I'm pretty jealous of your garage even before it had lighting. Very comfortable looking. Thanks! My hope it to make it functional, but nice enough that I'll be ok hanging out in there even in December and January. Sockington posted:It's almost hard to have "too much" lighting. I've got 640watts of CFL tubes in my garage. I'm going to have to do the math to see what I've got so far, but that seems like a ton. What are your garage's dimensions?
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Jun 26, 2013 03:23
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That guy is me. Scroll to the bottom to see my setup. Trust me, more light is better. Do the calcs, and try to get close to 120 lumens/sqft. Its made a huge loving difference in my garage. With 2 switches, I can just leave the base lights on. If I'm painting or doing something detailed, I can turn on the rest. Remember, measure and calculate with lumens, not watts. Better bulbs will put out more lumens for the same wattage. The best thing is: no shadows!
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Jun 26, 2013 03:30
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sharkytm posted:That guy is me. Oh, duh, I didn't even bother to look at the screen name. Duly noted regarding Lumens, which, I don't think I'm hitting 120 per sq ft. I think the main challenge I'm going to run into is ceiling space as I'm somewhat limited between the soffits, plumbing breathers, and garage door (which is mounted close to the ceiling).
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Jun 26, 2013 04:09
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Mat_Drinks posted:This is a garage/basement, so skylights aren't a very feasible option. There are two ~3'x1' windows at ground level (which is at about 8' when you're in the garage) that help with light a bit, but I also live in Seattle, WA where it's gray a large portion of the year (October to March) and that'll be when I spend the most time in the garage working on projects.
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Jun 26, 2013 06:43
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Mat_Drinks posted:Won't floodlights be pretty focused? Why not just get the equivalent of the 60w bulb? The one I have in my entry way is absurdly bright and it's a 'warm light' bulb. In a 2 car garage I'd have a minimum of 10 6' tubes for general lighting, spots for task lighting. They have about a 70° spread so they're not landing lights exactly.
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Jun 26, 2013 06:44
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Mat_Drinks posted:I'm going to have to do the math to see what I've got so far, but that seems like a ton. What are your garage's dimensions? 21x24 inside dimensions. I have four shop light fixtures. Each fixture has four x 4' fluorescent bulbs. So 16 x 4' bulbs. I'll probably add some more lighting above the work station.
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Jun 26, 2013 19:54
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