Good source for shop plans?
 

I am ready to start building my backyard garage/shop. I intend to build one big enough to hold 3 vehicles with one bay large enough for vehicle/furniture restorations with a floor drain. I also intend to have a 'boys club' room with an entertainment center and cooking area with refridgerator. (Engatwork may need to hide there from time to time:D )
I also need an enclosed area to store three lawn tractors and related impliments necessary to keep up my six acre yard.
The ceiling will have to be at least 12 feet in one bay to accomodate a car lift. All this while fitting into the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
Now, I have a basic idea of what I want, but before I start digging I would like to see some other ideas.
So, does anyone know of a good source for shop design and layouts?

Cap'n - next time you come over here give me a call and let's ride over to a friends house that has his shop approximately 75% complete and you can get an idea on the "size". His has one double car size garage door and then a single size garage door with a good bit of space on either side. Right now he is building a '69 Chevelle dragster and restoring a '69 Camaro RS. He also uses his shop for painting cars.


I mentioned to my wife about building one behind the house and she said I ain't going to be there long enough LOL so keep me some floor space open:).

Threads collide, but you just gotta see this!
Look quick, before he takes it off the site (seriously).

http://www.ultimategarage.com/UltGar2.htm

While thousands in our country are homeless and have naught to eat.
..." talkin 'bout a revolution...yeeahhh..wellll.... ya knowww.."

"We'd all love to see the plan!!" That's what I want is the PLAN!!:D

I loved John Lennon's music, but I always thought it ironic that he was worth $600 million when he wrote that line!!!:rolleyes:

DAYAM!! That garage is nicer than my HOUSE!! But now that I think about it.... why not?!?!?!?!;) Somebody do the Tim the Tool Man grunt!!!

The Vintage-Mustang.com has a gentleman there with a "Garage-mahal" here is the link to his site.

http://midlife66.com/

Randy has built a real nice garage for his mustang

Browse his web site and you can see more of his garage.

Heres the link for Vintage-mustang

http://www.vintage-mustang.com/

Dave

Thanks for the links Dave! Cool shop. Good idea about the roll-up door in the lift bay!:cool:

For the service bay, I would allow a 6 foot working area/path on each side, front and back of a full size auto, this should provide ample room for toolboxes, engine hoists and car doors. The 12 foot ceiling sounds about right, but you may need to close the hood before lifting the car.

Hehe! That's one of the first lessons I learned about working on Mercedes with the hood in the verticle position!! :eek: :o

Right now I'm thinking one of these two designs.

My wife likes this one.

What kind of lift are you going to put in?

Seriously thinking of this one. I really prefer the two post but I think this one is safer and will work better with Mercedes due to the four wheel independent suspension.

I have a Bend-Pak SP- 7X full scissor lift. Also serves as parking space for my 190E. The lift pickups the 190E on the lift pads. I have also had a 450 SEL on it. Lift capacity is 6000lbs. I do not see the 7X offered any more. The SP-7 looks like a night mare of limit switches.

I like this one because with the protective pan installed you can park another vehicle under it.

Neighbor down the street has the 4 post lift. I don't really like it for working on the car. It great for a 2 car storage setup. That is how he stores his 64.5 Mustang and 72 Vette. To work on the suspension you need the crossbar, think extra $, and a small jack to jack the car up from the lift. Isn't the lift supposed to "lift' the car to be able to work on it????

My ideal set up woud have a 2 post lift. When you lift the car everything is exposed and can be worked on. As long as you have the room around the garage then you don't ahve to worry about the posts being in the way. Design this into the garage. Allow space around the "lift" bay for a 4 or 2 or even scissor lift.

The links I look at.

http://www.e-autolifts.com/
http://liftusa.com/
http://www.eagleequip.com/
http://order.harborfreight.com:9100/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp
http://www.superlifts.com/html/lifts/Default.htm

Because Of my garage/shop set up I will probably go with a mid rise scissor lift. that the SL will park over. I will attach a pic of the lift.

Dave

PS Let me add something I just remembered. About every 3-4 years places like Super Walmart and Pepboys, replace all their lifts due to liability concerns. Contact the local walmart and ask them WHO does the replacing. A copilot I flew with has a 2 post lift that he got for $1000. It was an old Walmart unit and he said it works fine.

Here is the scissors I bought, The SF7000, it is a Bend-Pak SP-7X, lays flat on the floor ( 4" high ), no posts to deal with. Stable enough to do steering work and reassemble off of reference marks without going to the alignment shop afterward. Driveshaft is fully exposed. Lift pads donot mate with all lift points of some cars, but you can find some spot to place a rubber block.

American Automotive Equipment

http://www.americanautomotiveequipment.com/pages/831668/index.htm

I am currently looking at building a new shop, but I will do a steel building since I live in the country with plenty of room and don't have to make it "match" the house.

Since I office at home now, I will build an office in the building to help justify the project. I want an office a room behind the office for reloading and various small item bench work. In addition to that, three good size stalls, a carwash/paintbooth stall and a small wood shop.

I have thought about a lift, but thought that they were more expensive than this. One of the links in dmorrisons links was a two post "Gemini" for $2295. I thought that a two post was more like $8,000. That was a pleasant surprise. Thanks for posting the links.

Both of the shops Cap'n Couragesous showed look great, but probably expensive per square foot.

Enjoy,

I know it's so much fun, but with garage plans like that I wish he would quit whining about all the money he is spending on playing with cars.

I would personally repair all his cars for life for what that garage costs. I could build a car fixing anuity with the money to carrry on even after I died (bg).

I figure if I have to spend all my spare time trying to make a ragged ole W124 run, I might as well do it in a nice place!!:D Either of these structures can be built for less than the cost of a new MB or BMW.
Fact is I have other interests as well. I intend to completely restore my 65 Falcon with all new weatherstrip and glass. I have recently inherited a 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup from my Dad who inherited it from his Dad who bought it new. It has 39,400 actual miles but needs a complete frame off restore. I addition In have several peices of antique furniture that need restoration. If I live long enough I intend to buy a mid sixties convertible and restore it. I'm too old to waterski anymore and don't watch TV, so why not put my money into something I can use then leave it to my sons?
As far as whining about the Mercedes, I wouldn't complain if I could get some return on the investment. It just hasn't worked for me.

I have nothing against spending money on one's hobbies. I got into cars wasting my college money (as my dad used to say) on hotrods.

My problem is when you characterize the car with your learning failures. The car is not costly because of its character. It is costly because you choose to play with it instead of having a profession simply put it back on the road.

I see my participation in these DIY projects as the supreme conquest of my art: to get those lost in the forrest to see the light. All without the aid of standard industry tooling and face to face contact. The biggest problem I have always seen from young techs (and I suppose it also happens in other sophisticated endeavers) is that when the light bulb first lights they think that they personally have aquired the "Holy Grail".

I see it all the time here! Should I enter each such post and tell them they ain't got a clue; it wouldn't improve my stock. My comments were addressed to the question: what would a professional do. The answer can only hurt those who have strengthened their egos by accomplishing something that would professionally cost MONEY. With the accomplished job comes their concept that they are on a par with those who would have taken their money. They have fallen into that young tech trap.

As it turns out with the young tech, the industry swallows him if he doesn't quickly learn his foolishness. With a DIYer they can spend their whole life in such a cloud. At times its my job to poke holes in that cloud and try and put some context to our condition.

Lots of good work has been done on these forums by some very unskilled labor. Maybe the worse thing that can come of it is when that DIYer starts thinking they are just as good as a professional. How else can I answer the question: what would a professional do. We would do our job and go on to the next!

Couldn't agree more with Steve.

I tinker with my car because I enjoy it and want to learn, I make mistakes which cost money and time a professional couldn't afford.

When the job looks too difficult or I really need the car next day, guess what, it goes straight down to my local independant. If I don't feed him with work occasionally, he might not be there when I REALLY need him !

Don't fight the car, enjoy it. Sure I hate it when it beats me and I have to call in the pro's, but then I move onto the next easier job and feel good again.

Saying all that, Cap'n I feel for you, it sucks when the problem resists all attempts to fix it.

Best of luck.

Richard

What's all this got to do with how I lay out my shop? I just want to hear some ideas about where to place the air compressor, parts washer etc.:rolleyes:

As always Steve offers the practical viewpoint that should be kept in mind. In the case of my shop, I'm 54 and expect to "retire" in 10 or 12 years. I fully expect that I will be doing some various things in the shop at that point to make a living since I really don't expect to have a Million bucks in the retirement funds by then, so I expect I will have to do a few things to supplement my retirement income.

I have watched my Dad since he retired 20 years ago say every year that he is going to build a shop. He buys Hondas at the auction, gets them in shape and sells them. He farms out most of the body work, but still does quite a bit in his garage. I don't want to look up after 20 years and wish I had built a more adequate facility when I could have.

Okay Cap'n. It looks we will need to all have a copy of AutoCad to get into this.:D

I would make a few comments about the shop. I put a walking beam down the middle of my shop. It's handy as a pocket on a shirt. I can easily pull an engine and move the chain hoist forward to lower the engine and mount it on an engine stand. It also is handy for supporting an engine while pulling a transmission. It also is useful for unloading heavy equipment from the back of your pickup. Just lift the equipment and drive the truck out from under it.

Also I have my compressor in an out of the way place with pipe running up and teed off to put a pigtail hose in three places in the shop from up above. I also have a long hose I can reach about fifty feet out into the driveway.

It's probably obvious, but put the parts washer next to the work bench. Make sure the workbench is plenty stout enough for a good sized vise. Mount the vise on the opposite end of the bench from the parts washer.

Have a great day,
PS: I wish I were close enough to Gainsville for Steve to keep my buggies going. LB

OK here is my two cents about the garage.

It is probably not practical but the absolute best overall lift is a twin post inground lift. Depending on how your building codes are a used standard air over hydraulic is the way to go.

For professional shops they won't allow such lifts to be installed because of the secondary containment issue. A lot are being pulled during new construction and I have seen them cheap used.

Probably the best aspect is the lack of two big posts in your way whether a car is on it or not. Once in a bunch of concrete they have absolutely no maintenance.

If money is no issue and the containment is an issue they make dry in groung hydraulic lifts to meet the current code. With professional installtion they are the most expensive way to go.

If astetics, safety, and usefullness are paramount in-ground is the way to go. If you can get the air over hydraulic used, it can be as cheap as an electric lift; even with the install costs.

Thanks for the comments. I would love to have a two post inground lift I think it would be impractical in my case. I want to keep as much as possible mobile to maintain flexibility.
I don't weld but there are times that I need to, so I will probably buy a used MIG just to have around. I'm still inthe market for storage solutions, so if you know any links for those I'd like to see them.

"restore my 65 Falcon with all new weatherstrip and glass. I have recently inherited a 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup"

With these 2 cars you will definately need a Mig welder. Go with namebrand. Miller, Lincoln-Electric or Hobart. I have the LE $309 special from Home Depot converted to gas. The cart and all the requierd tools for welding.
Do yourself a favor when starting. BUY A AUTO DIMMING HELMET. My welds improved 300% when I got mine. Harbor Freight sells them cheap.
I was going to buy the $650 LE welder but when I talked to the sales rep for LE he talked me down to the model at Home Depot. And he was right. The 9 welds that we had to do on the 65 Mustang were done easily with the unit I bought.


Dave

I'll definitely Roger that auto darkening helmet. All I have is a stick welder and finally learned to weld good enough to keep my farm machinery mud daubed together. Once I got an auto darkening helmet I turned into a pretty fair welder. When my daughter and I were racing Karts I welded together some carts for the Karts using thin wall square tubing and 5/32 rod. I did pretty good. Once I did the thinwall I considered myself a pretty good country boy welder.

Some day I might get a wire welder of some sort, but the crackle box is there and I can use it. If I get to a point where I need to do alot more welding, I'll invest in an up to date welder.

With all the wire welders and such taking over, you would expect that a crackle box would be a $25 garage sale item.

Have a great day,

My Brother's Retirement Shop...
 

Hi there,
My brother is about to retire, probably next summer, and has bought 5 acres from a part of the family farm, and so far has erected his "barn", which in our county can be built without a permit! (A "Shop" needs a permit here, but if it has a tractor in it, it can be a "Barn", and no permit is needed!) It's 56' x 62', with a second story on most of it, I forget the total square footage, but the second floor alone has 2700 ft. The bay on the right side has a 12' door, and no second floor, so the backhoe and motorhome both fit in there just fine. The rest of the barn has 10 ft ceilings. There is a hole in the floor above the 4 post hydraulic lift. It has a heated cement floor (hydronic heating) It has a bathroom, shower, and connections for washer/dryer, also has full inside hookups for the motorhome (A GMC, in this case) The roof has a 4 foot overhang in front, and a 20 foot cement pad in front. The 5 hp air compressor is located on the second floor, and is piped throughout the barn. There is a 400 amp Tig welder with watercooling located under the stairway, right next to the left front door. So far he has collected some tools: Valve Grinding machine, seat grinder, 12" metal lathe, distributor tester, computerized air conditioning tester/charger for R12, Air conditioning reclaiming/recycling machine, 4 gas exhaust gas analyzer, (all tools except the cabinets from the Oregon Surplus web site, most look like new!) and some other tools and a heavy metal worktable. He has also started hauling cars up, and so far has the following, as near as I can recall: Mercedes 380SL, 1980 Corvette, 2000 Corvette, 1965 Jag Mk II, 1982 Jag Vandenplas, 1965 Buick Skylark convertible, 196? Studebaker Avanti, 1954 Studebaker, '40's Military Jeep, TR6, Also I am parking a couple of my vehicles there for safe storage - 1977 Jag XJ6 and 1977 280Z. He has 4 tractors parked in it so far - a Kubota L225, Kubota L305DT, Ford 8N, and Ford 841D industrial Backhoe. The second floor is pretty empty right now, but when they move I expect it will fill up for awhile, until they build the house to go along with the shop!! Here's a picture taken right after it was completed.
Larry, I'll bet this one is somewhat like what you'd like.
Hope it gives someone a few ideas - by the way, it cost just a little over 80K.
Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3L V6
Etc...

Great www site bro

Cap`n

Can I come over?

John

Richard, is there room to walk in there with all those vehicles??:D

John, sure come on over. Bring your hammer and circular saw!!;) And some beer!!:p

Brother's Shop....
 

Hi Cap'n,
Sure, there's still room to navigate around the area, although the Merc is parked on the car lift. There won't be when he brings the rest of the vehicles up, though!! He still has 4 cars and 2 tractors in CA - the house will have a 3 car garage, however. His present plans are to build another parking shed for most of the tractors. Oh, I forgot to mention the 3 three-wheeler Hondas and the Club Car golf cart and the old Honda Trail 90..., also the half-dozen or so engines and transmissions. The car lift has a hole above it, and right now we have two electric winches to hoist equipment upstairs, a fast one and a slow one that lifts more weight. The plan is to make a box that will sit on the car lift that we can raise items to the second floor on. The hoist arrangement isn't done yet, we are going to install a walking beam so we can mount one of the winches on it to lift heavy items and move them onto the second floor more easily also. He has been saving some of the cars for retirement projects - the jeep is slated for a ford small block transplant, the TR6 is getting a 215 inch aluminum block V8, and the Studebaker Avanti is slated for a T700R4 transmission. He hopes to be able to do a little head work on the side when he retires, and has always wanted a nice place to work in. The car lift is certainly a great thing to have, I recently replaced the flex plate in my '88 Astrovan, and with the carlift and the transmission jack it turned it into a 2.5 hr sweat-free job with no bending at all.
Regards,
Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3L V6
Etc...

Re: Brother's Shop....
 

I just removed the entire exhaust system from my W124 lifted with floor jacks. Lying on your back is for people younger than me!!:rolleyes: ;)