12.8.2002

12.8.2002-A Tour of the Shop

As a DIY mechanic who does not enjoy the luxury of a separate workshop I have to use our two-car garage for most of the work I do. I've learned a lot about conservation of space and maximizing efficiency. When serving as Alfa Restoration HQ the garage must house:

1 Ducati 916-The Cowpoke Racing Ducati

1 Ducati Monster-My wife's primary motorcycle

1 Norton Commando-Restored years ago, rarely ridden, but too much of a sentimental attachment and mechanical mana to let go of.

1 Suzuki RG 250-Wife's secondary motorcycle, a rather unique little gem but it's For Sale as we need the space and would love to put the money in to the Alfa.

1 BMW Z3-My wife's car. Convertibles do not fare well in this climate and everyone deserves to have their car stored inside.

1 BMW 3.0 CS-My car, which I just finished restoring.

Believe it or not, I'm actually able to get all these vehicles in the garage and still be able to move around a little. It's hard to get to certain areas so when I'm doing serious work I move the cars outside. Motorcycles are fairly small and narrow, and easy to move around, so I store them up against the walls and in between the cars. They're a little harder to get out this way, but during the winter we don't ride that much anyway, so it's not a big deal. The real problems will start when I get to a point when the Alfa needs to be stored inside for paint, assembly etc. One of the two cars is going to need to move outside and neither are good examples of "weatherproof". Perhaps I'll build a carport someday.

For now I'm just happy to have space be my biggest problem. After years of suffering through less than adequate garages I'm very fortunate to have a decent space to work in. It's warm enough to work in during the winter. It's bigger than anything I've ever had, and it's clean and well-lit. Here's a picture of the garage fully loaded. As you can see, there's not much room available, but everything is safely inside. It's very satisfying to know that your babies are safe and warm and dry on a cold and rainy evening.

When we bought this house the first thing I did to the garage was to paint the floor. It was hard to not want to move everything in to the garage right away but I made sure that this was the first upgrade I made. The house was fairly new and the garage had never had a car stored in it so the concrete was in good condition to paint. Still, I followed the preparation procedure completely, etching the floor with Muriatic acid before painting. For paint, I used Griot's Garage Grey Floor Paint. After nearly 4 years of use and abuse it's holding up very well and continues to be easy to clean. It has been one of the best things I've ever done for the garage.

Another feature of the garage which has been invaluable is my solvent tank. Years ago I was driving through an area with a high concentration of automotive repair shops. I saw a "going out of business" sign and pulled in to see what they had. There I found a Snap-On solvent tank and I did not hesitate to make and offer on it. I didn't have a truck at the time so it took a little effort to get the thing home. Moving was always a drag because transporting it is not fun, but now that I'm settled in all those worries are a thing of the past. From the first time I ever hunched over a dirty part in a oil pan pouring solvent (or something worse) over it I dreamed of owning a proper solvent tank. Now I have one, and it makes cleaning parts fun because it's so easy to use. Here's a picture of one of the finest additions I've ever made to my garage. As you can see, it has two adjustable, flexible nozzles which deliver the solvent as well as an overhead light. The tank holds 25 gallons of solvent. I buy Stoddard Solvent at a local industrial oil supply house for about $5 a gallon.

Just to the left of the solvent tank is the oven with which I cure my powdercoated parts. I use the Eastwood home powdercoating system. It works very well for parts small enough to put in a standard oven. This happened to be one out of our kitchen as we upgraded our oven range last year, but you could easily get by with an older, used oven sourced from the classified section of your local paper.

The most important part of any garage is the workbench for it's where we spend most of our time. This one was made for me by my father for my 33rd birthday and I love it. It's sturdy, has a replaceable top (MDF or masonite) and has two sliding drawers with compartments for smaller tools. Best of all, it's the only one like it in the world. Thanks Dad!

It's taken a few years to get the workshop set up the way I want it, and now of course I'm wanting more space. For now I'm just happy to have a nice clean and well-lit environment in which to bring obsolete cars and motorcycles back to life.

Ciao!