Projects It's time for a complete garage overhaul

You might want to check on "light attic trusses". They have 2x6 bottom chord that allows them to carry a heavier load. With my pitch and span I've got a 10'x16' deck over my two end bays with stand up headroom. Drywall will reduce the volume to heat. Closing off the attic will also make the shop cooler in the summer.

 

Outstanding ideas guys, I study every post and pictures. I work for a construction company and we have tons of "leftover" lumber including OSHA planks.These will be my rafter boards. Planning on a steel I beam conveniently placed to hang a trolley and come-a-long. Also available is 3/4 plywood, box ribbed aluminum sheets for roofing, and as many 2x4s as I can use. So, materials wise I'm good. I just need the time and some friends to help knock it out when I'm ready.

 

Well it looks like I have a new winter project when 2 of the 3 cars go to storage.

 

I have to say that I somewhat disagree with you about shelves and cabinets. I have bought lots of things at auction and on line and dis***embled them to get certain expensive components for use on a project. I separate the left over stuff and store a lot of it. When future projects materialize in my mind, I often have lots of things that I can use and they cost me nothing. You can find someone selling a box of pulleys on line for what you may pay for just one new pulley. Steel shafts and sprockets and even steel plates and tubes. I wouldn't get rid of all my "junk" for anything. Yep, some of it sits for a long time, but shelves cabinets and drawers keep it out of my way so I can work on stuff.
As for the storage locker thing, people who live in apartments may need them, but someone with their own home should just buy a shed.Its really just pissin money away most of the time.

I'd plan it in stages somewhat. Spend a Saturday forming the concrete floor and the next Sat pouring the floor.
Next stage, go out and lay the 2x4s on the concrete floor and ***emble the walls and stand them up. Normally a half day sould easily accomplish that. Try to spend a weekend getting the rafters in place and the following weekend getting a roof in place. Once its under roof, you can take your time doing the rest of the stuff. Since you work for a construction company, maybe this will be very easy for you. I'd do the things you can do easily and rely on the friends when doing the concrete pour and the roof. It can be somewhat overwhelming to try to consider everything, but if you break it into smaller "tasks", it works pretty good.

Edit: You will love having an overhead beam with a trolley. Takes up virtually no shop space and becomes one of your best friends..........

 

Hey, I recognize those 50 Pontiac tail lights!

I bet there are some really nice Guide 682-c in primer some where in there too.

 

I've come to the point where I store nothing. With exception of a few jars of nuts and bolts.
When it comes to materials and such, let the store, store that stuff. Those that live out in the middle of nowhere need to keep things on hand. I get it. Most of us has a hardware or big box store nearby where you can get what you need. Besides, it usually took me twenty to thirty minutes to find something in my cluttered space. Now, I make a list of things I need. Head to the store. And I'm back in twenty minutes anyway.
Nowadays, a search on Amazon and with a click, the items are at your door in a day or two. And yes, that includes auto parts.
One difference, we don't store beer in our garage fridge, we keep it there.

 

I'm happy to come be dumb labor. I can cut a straight line and I have a strong back.

 

There are different situations for everybody. Do what works for you. Some people don`t build much. So, they don`t need extra stuff. Some people work in the shop every day, so they need a bit more. Some are limited in space and others have lots of space. A little bit of stuff in a small space looks like a lot. When in fact, it ain`t. Do what works for you, but don`t judge other people for doing it differently than you.

 

I’m building my avatar in a typical 2 car garage, so I put this contraption together. It allows me to park my wife’s car every night

 

Countless times I've needed something unexpected for a project I've been working on in the house or yard, so I walk into the garage and grab the item or tool I need or even make it, then go back and finish the task with it. Not only does it mean I can finish the task faster, but it also means I'm not double-buying stuff that I would have thrown out.

Plus it makes me look like a hero to my wife.

I live on an acreage outside of my local town, but I'm 9 minutes away from Home Depot and 15 minutes away from NAPA (and other hardware and parts stores). Every time I have to run to the store, they may or may not have what I want and I lose 1-1.5 hours each time. Plus then I'm not always getting the best price on the item I'm buying. If it's a project for materials I don't have, I make a list and buy them. But if it's leftovers from another project, they almost always come in handy.

I store beer in my garage fridge. I learned a long time ago that money spent on beer is money not spent on cars, so my beer waits patiently for me to get around to drinking it.

100%. I thought I had a lot of stuff in 20x20, now I have triple the square footage with extra storage buildings and I have a lot more clutter than I did before.

Wow, that's a smart idea! Happy wife!

 

Yessir! The headlights are on the roadster Robert

 

@safetythird ,thank you very much. I just may take you up on that!! Next spring sir

 

@nochop - the microphone stand/flashlight holder is a great idea!

@wheeldog57 - Recently, I unloaded a bunch of stuff at a swap meet, made a few bucks but also gained valuable space. It's a great feeling!

 

nochop;
Boy-howdy, I'm liking that!
Marcus...

 

Tons of ideas & inspiration here! You're gonna love it when it's done!
I'm on an up-hill climb with my shop too. It was a dirt floor horse barn complete with a small flock of pigeons. The doors, 5 of them, where rollers that a medium dog could get through. They've been removed, walled up and replaced with 2 overhead garage doors and a man door. Tricky stuff working with stucco! But in the interest of having a decent place to build cars, the fight continues... Keep swingin', you'll get there!

 

I am a thrifty buyer. Every time I pull an item worth $50 or more from my storage unit (s), it pays for the rental. This happens more than once a month. Not everybody is blessed with big shops and lots of land.

 

Don't I know it! Bottom of pic is the garage door. The car is as far back as it can go. It doesn't help.

 

Ha haa, When I built my Silver Hawk in Illinois the garage was just like that... If I wanted to get to the other side of the car I had to lay down & barrel roll! Small wood burning stove was the only source of heat. Tough going, but I was much younger.

 

It`s the first of the month, piss`in more money away. Wait I need to run to my storage unit and grab something. I was there 3 days ago as well.

 

I think a lot of the problem with space is that people are unwilling to search for a place that has room to have a decent shop. Like everything in life, you decide what you want and then have to put the effort into acquiring that thing. Some people are unwilling to even try to find a better situation. You might be surprised what you can find if you just keep looking.......but people are often reluctant to change things.

 

I have a 2 car garage that's big enough for 2 cars and not much more. I have 2 sheds in my backyard, one for me and one for the wife. That keeps most stuff out of the garage. I've also gotten rid of a lot of stuff in recent years that I don't have a specific purpose for. Every little bit helps.

Devin

 

I like to use my imagination to build tools and solve problems. There is no way that I could justify paying for storage lockers to hold all my stuff. Also, much of the stuff I have is not always something you could even expect to be able to purchase. Things that came off of machines and anything you can imagine. I have an industrial bandsaw and my son was wanting one for his shop. I found a killer deal on one with a blade welder for $700. When I returned with it on my trailer I easily hoisted the 1200 lb saw with the "homemade" crane in my shop. Once on the floor, I walked 30 ft and plucked a 3hp/single phase motor off a shelf. I don't even remember what I removed it from. It was sitting with about a half dozen other left over motors. Sometimes I even sell some of them and make money. So now I have the 3 phase motor I removed and a replacement motor that cost me virtually nothing. I put the 3 ph on Facebook. So no rent for storage either way and I saved a bundle by having a free motor on hand.
I bought a bunch of round steel stock and bars a while back. Hard to find stuff for making things on my lathe. Got a good deal because I bought all the guy had. Gave my son about a 3rd of it for his lathe. When he tried to lift the pallet with his 40 hp tractor, it couldn't lift it...........but his tractor did lift the 1200 lb saw. Go buy a few pieces of 4140 steel about 2-4 inches in diameter and 4 feet long and they will cost nearly as much as I paid for a trailer load of steel.
Guess how much money I will save over time........and a lot of the shorter pieces are even larger. Probably a $100 apiece if you can even find them.
Here is a bead roller I built from mostly discarded components or things I acquired from other purchases. I wanted a deep throat bead roller. Price one of those.........
The quality shafts I used came from some sort of "crane thingy" with rollers and I beams that I bought at auction for $75. The I beams were worth several hundred dollars and I used a couple of them to make cranes in my smaller areas. I had to buy the "speed control and foot pedal and the lathe handle off ebay" but pretty much the rest of the bead roller was "on hand" junk I had. How much did I save?

One of the I beams used for a crane in a car port on the end of the pole barn. Notice the extra steel sitting on saw horses .


and another crane in my paint shop/storeroom that came from the metal bought at the auction. One purchase yet I was able to use stuff for multiple things.......and I still have some more components that maybe I'll use for something else.


Or how about this neat little crane.......again built from stuff I had laying around. This one is in my son's pole barn.

The support posts were throw away industrial fence posts that they got rid of at work. Again the I beam at the front was something I already had.

How bout something smaller. I bought a cheap $50 HF blade sharpener and converted it into a precision ring filer. Bout $600 to buy something similar. Again, I have several drawers full of old knobs taken from machinery and even household items that were s****ped.


How bout a scratch built valve spring tester mostly from stuff I had on hand

How about my "multi-machine" made from an old Harbor Freight wood lathe i bought from some lady for $125. I removed the motor from it and bought some small chucks to convert it. I can put a head in it and measure actual coil bind distance and/or maximum valve travel. Rotate it and lock it in place for doing porting work with convienient positioning. Install a camshaft and check its specs. Install a crankshaft and polish the journals. And I was able to do this because I have lots of "stuff" to pick from by taking just a few steps.


Check Valve Travel


Check a camshaft


Polish a crankshaft




Before^^^^

After ^^^^

And then the actual polisher which used the motor I removed from the wood lathe and some $10 handlebars and a drive wheel off ebay.


My point here is not to say that your method of storing and retrieving things doesn't work.....you seem to be very happy with it. For me though...it just would not work. Many items are too large to store or too small to remember you have them. Simply look thru some drawers or shelves and its right there in my hand when I need it. I'm simply trying to demonstrate to the creative people on this site that if you put the effort into getting space available, you can do many many things cheaply or for nothing. Buying and selling offsets costs and can actually turn a profit.........but for me, space is the most important commodity to start projects with..........and then you ac***ulate .

There is an old saying: Wish in one hand and s**t in the other and see which hand gets full quickest. If you just "wish" you had space............well, you get the idea.

 

Whatever method you use. You have to be organized and know what you have and be able to find it. And maximize the space you have at hand. bump.

 

Dude, I have two sheds too, one for each. Today she says "you're encroaching in my shed with car sh*t" so it's a sickness

 

I have been where you are now. I swore I would never go back, and I never have....

Tips, get a building to put in the back yard... Keep the gardening, chainsaws etc out of the garage period. Things you don't use but 1 time ever 2 years go in building, things you don't use but every 5 to 10, then they need to get axed. I have my garage very streamlined and clean now...

Storage is your friend, cabinets help get it out of sight out of mind. I put a row of ikea cabinets up at the top that I can walk under, this helped me get stuff up and out of the way.

Good places to put clutter away and out of the floor space is key. Slat wall or peg board will help you more than decorations. Just saying that you can make storage work for both but big posters and what not are hurting rather than helping. How many clocks do you need on the wall? Do you use the drive on ramps all the time? IF not put them outside....

Check out my garage journal journey in my signature. Maybe it will help you out some... But the key is minimizing while maximizing what you have. If you can a bump out of a side wall would help for sure, but you deff need a workbench and dedicated spaces for tools, benches, and seating.

Looks like you got a cool old house so get that garage up to cool for sure... Dig the projects for sure man! Find some peace with getting clutter out of your way.

 

Agree with both of those comments 100 percent. I have found that labeling the cabinets or if its something thats hard to describe..........I put one of the items on the front of the drawer. That way you get subconscious reminders that you have this stuff when you are looking for other stuff. Bolts with odd shaped heads comes to mind. Like those godawful bolts GM used to use on doors. The ones with two halfmoon slots.

Bought these cabinets at a school auction. They were old drafting table cabinets with table wings on each side. Got 10 of them for about $12 ea. Threw the wings away. Not roller drawers, but made a nice cheap tool storage for about $125.




Getting the A/C and brake stuff grouped where I can find it.


Notice the drawer labeled Plastic and Rubber.....lot of oddball stuff in there

Look at this junk....but a lot of times the special fitting are what I might need.

My old aircraft stuff that comes in handy sometimes...


A/N and JIC fittings and a reference guide. Buy em in bulk and save $$


Big ole wooden cabinet with double doors at the top and a bunch of drawers at the bottom. $40 Old time machinists toolboxes used to be made of wood because it kept moisture away from the tools. In the lower drawers I have a cache of end mills which I bought from a guy at a flea market. Lots and lots of smaller ones (200?) and then maybe another 100 up to 1" in size. Don't remember what I gave for them but it was maybe $300. Could easily sell them for a $1000 but never gonna need to buy any again. Price just one end mill these days.

All kinds of small tools and parts in these drawers. Oddball stuff like shock wrenches, battery tools, sensors, ignition and carb parts, handheld testers.........and then the cabinet has test equipment and reference manuals etc. All semi-organized and easy to locate.

Another look at the old drafting cabinets

Don't have a new picture, but this small cabinet now holds reference materials for things I want to do on my projects. Dedicated drawers for each type of thing. Quick reference when I want to refresh my brain on a way to accomplish something.


A better look at the ole $40 wooden cabinets


The thing is, I have a lot more cabinets than whats pictured here..........and I can have them because I planned and worked to create space to have them. If this is the kind of thing someone wants to have, then they have to quit wishin and start doing. Its fun when you actually start toward a goal and see it materialize. No fancy clean eat off the floor shop for me. This is exactly what I want.......a place to work.

Build something bigger than you need.....and it still won't be big enough.

 

Clutch Head!

 

Good for you, getting a fresh start in the garage!

I'm past due for a shop purge. There is ZERO space left for incoming parts and projects in progress stuff. So the stuff piles up on every horizontal surface. I have shelves of old stuff that used to be important, but no longer is. I need to get rid of that junk and reorganize the keepable stuff in it's place.

 

Women do spring cleaning. Men do fall shop purge hahaha I started mine a few days ago as well

 

That's in my near future also. Need to make a little bit of space for the snowblower. If I ever get my act together and get the 327 to the engine shop...

And the shed will then have an opening for some other stuff. It's a sickness I tell you, a sickness!