When I first moved into Rusty Keep the plan was to put a two-post lift into the shop. Finally, 12 years later, I spotted a used one I could afford on craigslist which just so happened to coincide with the sale of the Suzuki–so I even had cash to complete the sale. This is the story of installing this beast, no easy task since everything is heavy and needs to go far up into the air.
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My dream shop…maybe it’ll be built one day
Despite being in the midst of a slow-motion bankruptcy (or so it seems, someone send me a Morgan to work on!), I’ve been looking to buy a welder. The last welding job I farmed out was both expensive and the work so bad the piece is unusable (sadly, it’s the right front wing on the ’55 Morgan). After just a few weeks (ahem) of looking, Craigslist has coughed up a used example for me to burn holes in metal with. Fixing that awful fender work will be the first thing tackled when I have figured out how to use the thing.
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I finally retrieved the c.1885 FE Reed lathe from storage and have it assembled in the shop, though I don’t plan on powering it anytime soon–it will act as a dust collector and something to knock my hip against.
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Here’s the inside of the shop, as you can see I haven’t done a whole lot with the organization of the space. (You can click for a larger image.)
I hope to build in some cabinets and what-not this winter, mainly on the wall where I have a couple of ancient Ferrari posters tacked up (I found a stash from ages ago…anyone for a 1980’s Testarossa poster? I managed to put that one back in the tube). I did get casters onto the metal work tables, they’re now handy for moving close to the action or allowing access to all sides of an unwieldy project.
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I bought a new rear exhaust hanger kit (from Moss Motors) for the GT not long ago. I moved the car today to facilitate the unloading of my new used compressor (see below), and came outside afterward to find the muffler laying on the ground, the cause being the failed rubber mount that you can see in the photo. (In case you’re not familiar with how these hangers are constructed, there is supposed to be another piece of metal bonded to the rubber where you see the rusty stains…that piece of metal is still on the car!)
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I’ve never lived in a house with anything more capacious than a single-car garage; for the past five years we’ve lived in a house with a damp one-car carport. You can imagine how excited I am about the new Garage Mahal, as my friend Chuck would label it.
The building is 48′ x 36′ (split into two spaces, workshop side and storage side). The roof is entirely supported by the perimeter walls, so the interior is clear of supporting posts. Just think, I can store at least 16 rusty old British cars of the type I gravitate towards inside. That’s progress!
We get the keys Tuesday, if everything goes according to Hoyle. (My wife tells me there’s a house somewhere else on the property but I can’t remember much about it.)
This is probably more like it.
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I’m not sure how realistic this version is–need to do a cost guesstimate and then recoil in horror, I imagine. It’s “smaller” and more “zoned” than the prior effort, but with the complication that my office and Allie’s darkroom need to be housed out here, due to a smaller house. That means the cut floor space is added back in more expensive form. Sigh.
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When we build our modest little house, it’s my dream to build a shop. I’ve sketched a couple of designs, which you can find here:
The 60 x 28 isn’t so close, but the 60 x 36 is pretty close to what I’d like. However, I think I’m going to have to scale back my plans quite a bit. We’ll see.