Hey fellow 88 drivers... Thought I would throw a question out at you, and hope for some feedback. My '68 Delmont convertible is stored away every winter at a friend's hotrod workshop/barn. I would like to store it at the house, but my current garage does not have the room, nor is it sfe enough with the kids sleds and bikes going in and out. So, my plan is to build a second attached garage to store the Olds over the winter, and have a safe place for it during the driving season. I only have room to build a single car attached garage, approximately 23 feet by 12 feet. And I am planning on keeping the car for a long time. So here's the question. Besides the basics (walls, floor, and roof), do you have any suggestions for the garage design that would serve the purposes I have described above? What would you be sure to include in the garage design if you were designing it? I would love to hear from you. Thanks!!

Jerry

 

If you're located anyplace that gets cold in the winter months, I'd recommend good insulation and floor heat. Also enough lighting (I've seen some very dark garages) and more electrical outlets than you think you're going to need, you can never have enough outlets

 

Make the floor thick enough for a lift so you can get two cars in there.

 

I was thinking about a lift to be able to work under the car, and to slide a 2nd classic underneath but... where do you get a lift? Nevertheless... it would be nice to plan for its installation in the future, so having generic specs might be worthwhile. Already the few suggestions have been great!! THANKS! I knew this was a good idea to put the question out there!

 

Make sure you dont end up using it for storage and end up having your car buried in there.

 

Storage... you can never have enough. Luckily, I have a plenty of storage space in a storage only dry cellar under my family room (accessible through an outside Bilco). This garage would only be for the car.

I am thinking about space for tools and spare parts.

What are the thoughts on natural lighting? I may want it, but I would think I would want to have shades so the car's vinyl top and seats wouldn't fade.

 

I have pvc lines run to 4 locations that are hooked up to the air compressor. Each line has a cut off above it, a female air hose connection, a drain below it [to drain any condensation] and a flexible hose for air tools. The air compressor is direct wired with a switch next to the light switch so you can easily turn it off when you leave[in case of a leak burning up your compressor.]

Also have

1 overhead air hose reel [used mostly for air in Gator tires]
2 overhead drop lights on reels
Jars to hold stuff so you can see what's where
1 wall mounted shop vac
pics of loverly women

We obviously use alot of shelves and up high storage.

A lift usually doesn't work with overhead doors. My mistake not using roll up doors

 

More pics
Hey I like mayonaise and pimento cheese sandwiches, What can I say?

Since I'm so far from a hardware/auto store, I tend to keep a few extras like fuses, bulbs, belts, hoses, etc

Oooooooops a first aide kit and a fire extinguisher are a MUST

 

You must not be looking very hard.

Just Google automotive lifts.

 

Jerry-

I have a 75 Delta Ragtop and a 67 Holiday Coupe. My 2 car garage is standard issue 22 feet square.

I highly recommend you go with the Gladiator Garage system by Whirlpool - Its a great system and is hung on a slat wall so its totally customizable.

I also did a plastic tile floor and it holds up nice. No epoxy here!

Good Luck!

GUY

 

Thanks Jamesbo for all the info and pictures. Your garage is SWEET! The PVC lines for the air tools is a great idea. Your work area is very clean and organized. I did search for the lifts using Google and I did find what looks like a nice example at http://www.asedeals.com/garage_lift_d-7.html. I will keep looking around. Any user comments on specific manufacturers would be great. Thanks also for the advice on the garage door opener. I was thinking of keeping the door manual so I would be able to match the current door on the house. It is a lightweight insulated door so opening shouldn't be a problem and then the car on the lift would not have the opener in the way. Keep the ideas coming...

 

Jerry, assuming you are going to drywall the ceiling, make sure the pitch of the roof will allow for enough height to deck the trusses with plywood for additional storage. Have a drop down stairway installed for access. Put your man door in the opposite end of the garage for cross ventilation. Have at least 1 window for an exhaust fan. Any shelves or cabinets should be higher than the top of your car doors so they don't hit when opened. Good insulation in the walls and ceiling is also a good ideal. I would even insulate the garage door as well. good luck with what ever you decide.

 

I wanted mobility work smarted not harder, that old iron is heavy

I went on craigslist checking out everything & anything found old warehouse carts

4 wheel flat carts made in the USA for $10 heavy duty steel they were used and banged up some with casters that could take the weight

I put 4 automatic transmissions on one, took the top off my work bench and mounted it on the handle made legs for the other end, parts on another one etc. motor's etc.

I store them along the wall when i need room i roll then outside or to another part of the garage, i can roll them outside and tarp them and forget them for a while, money well spent for me

 

If you are building it, a lift is mandatory! I would make sure there is space for a workbench (vice and grinder at least) and enough room to move around the car. I wish I had my own house and could build a garage.

 

One of my favorite things about my shop is the floor drain. But be sure to include a trap!
DW

 

You need at least 11 feet to the ceiling for a lift. 23 x 12 isn't very big and the car will take up most of the room, is that inside or outside? Just enough space to walk next to the car and open the doors, really not enough for a work bench unless it's on the back wall and that will even be tight with the car in there.

 

Thanks, I wish I could take credit for the idea but I stole the idea from my buddy who works at a golf course maintenace shop. He maintains over 300 different engines from tractors,mowers, gators, blower, weed whackers etc. and is unbelieveably organized.

I've got one pvc air line at a work bench on the east side, two lines on the west side. One of them goes to a blasting cabinet. We tried one outside but the thing kept freezing and breaking even with a pet **** drain at the bottom. I guess I didn't drain it often enough.

Oh yeah, ever garage needs a ole SSII [III if it's the same color as the garage] wheel as an outside hose reel and of course a totem pole

I am planning to build another one on my property with a lift. It's the same ole story. By the time you get it finished you'll wish it were bigger.

If I had my way, I'd have at least a 6 car garage with roll up doors with a paint booth on the end.

Maybe some day.

 

Make sure your family knows that this garage is for Oldsmobiles, not for stuff. You said you already have a garage but apparently there is too much stuff in it. My neighbors garages are all like that. The guy across the street opens his garage and all you see are boxes from floor to ceiling. I have enough room in my garage for my Olds, my VW, and all my work benches. Why don't you clean out your existing garage and tell the kids and the wife to stay out?

 

Backyard Buddy is said to make some very good lifts. I wanted to get one, but the standard garage door (and low ceiling heigh would not allow it.) One of those rolling-type doors would be best; it rolls into a roll of only about 2 feet. They are typical in commercial buildings.

Skylights would be nice but they may waste too much energy in extreme climates. Fluorecents would be a good alternative.

Geez... Hearing about all this "ideal garage" talk is really wanting to make me move so I can have my own 'dream garage'!

 

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=41345

A little info about PVC and compressed air
There are more Goggle "compressor air lines, PVC"

There is also talk of it in the January/February, 2009 Street Thunder (pg6)

IMHO
Be Careful with PVC, I would not use it.

If you want to save money you could just run the rubber air lines till you save up for the real deal. (Run them up and out of the way just like hard lines.)

 

OMG My garage is not OSHA approved
When I build my next one I will run a Union sprinkler system Pipe fitter to install black pipe while he's putting in the sprinkler system.

74 Omega, That's good information, and it's appreciated. I have not [and hope I don't] expereince the problems mentioned in those articles.

I do not know if it matters but as I mentioned earlier, I do not leave pressure on the system when I'm not using it. There is a switch by the light so lights off/compressor off.

I will tell you I keep a piece of PVC in the back of my Suburban and I've used it as an extention for a lug wrench to get off over tightened [Gorilla installed] lug nuts.

Thanks very much for the "Heads up" on PVC, I didn't know that [along with a bunch of other stuff]

 

There is a house down the street from me that has an earlier 70's Cutlass sitting in his garage with tons of stuff on top of it. I am pretty sure it is all original also. In the ten years I have lived here I have seen him take it out and drive it one time, I had goose bumps! I need to convince him to let me clean his garage one day if he lets me drive the car. I hate when people do that to their cars, but at least its in a garage.

 

Great advice from everyone... THANKS! A couple of key things for me are.

1) I need a seperate space for the classic. I do have a 500 sq ft garage/cellar already that has the bikes, garden tools, etc, that is not car accessible, but good for all the STUFF. And the existing 1 car garage has the wife's daily driver during the winter, and my Olds during the summer. The new garage would just be for the Olds.

2) I am hearing that space is a premium. I am going to build the biggest garage I can. I think the max dimensions will be 26' deep, 15' wide, and 11' min to the lowest portion of ceiling.

3) I should plan for the installation of a rack (or put one in as I build)

4) I should plan space for a work area around the car. That depends on number (1).

Any more ideas?? Keep them coming. I am drawing up the plans and setting up an appt. to get a builder's permit. THIS HAS BEEN GREAT - THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE IDEAS SO FAR AND ANY MORE THAT FOLLOW!!!!!

 

epoxy floor, drain, lift, neon, beer frig, tool girl poster and most important a lock on the door.

 

Since it sounds like floor space will be a premium, I'd suggest mounting your compressor, if you have one, on the decking of the rafters with your storage space. Just remember to run at least one power source up there. Then mount a hose reel on the side, under the rafters. All of this will be off the floor and avoid tripping on the hose.

 

That is a wide car, I would use at least an eight foot wide door. The ceiling height for the lift is determined by the maximum height of the cars going on it or under it too. If you have two tall cars or a tall SUV or truck you have to measure first. I have a '68 GTO convertible and a '71 Vista Cruiser and have about 8 inches for drive under and ceiling clearance combined with a 10-1/2 foot ceiling. The ramps are about 4 inches thick and they recommend at least 2 inches to drive under and at least that much to the lowest point above, but they need to go up a little beyond the locks so I would say 4 inches on top. The opened overhead door is usually the lowest point, most people use a hi-lift door with car lifts. Just a regular door with extended side track and special top curved tracks and top door rollers that let it pivot close to the ceiling, mine is about 4-5 inches down when open. You can get the electric openers that mount to the torsion bar for them if want. The standard lifts just need the standard 3000 PSI wired concrete 4 inch thick floor, pretty much what most normal driveways and garage floors are. I went with a harder mix with and a steel hand trowel finish at my other house so the floor was shiny and smooth. I also put in trench drains just inside the door and pitched the floor to them, couple of inches front to back. Every gas station around used to have them across the driveways. Those round floor drains just eat nuts and bolts when you drop them and are a real pain. My lift is a Bend Pack HD-9, I like it, very safe and strong like bull. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/...aa4c98c23b.jpg

 

Prewire it for telephone and alarm sensors. This is cheap and easy to do during construction. Underground conduit with sprinkler wire run through it will work. I did this with my small workshop in the back yard...

If you have a home alarm system, wire your new garage sensors into it (your alarm co. can do this if you use a service.)
Aside from typical door & window magnetic sensors, DSC has the BV501 ceiling mount PIR sensors that have built in glass break sensors. Two of those will cover well. I have used only DSC stuff for 10 years and reliability is supurb.

If you have no alarm system, your garage will be wired for when you get one and I recommend it. Detached garages are often victims for breakins.

 

Some great ideas all the way around here!
amh555 brings up some critical points regarding lift clearances. And yes, an 8 ft door should be minimum.
Yes, you will need the biggest size you can afford to do, both width and length. What may seem like enough usually isn't! For instance, you can figure on using wall space on both sides of the garage. So you can figure on "losing" 3 ft per side. So the width you'll be working with is 6 feet less to start with!
*Important*- Make sure the dimensions you decide on become your inside dimensions. Like if you want 15 ft wide, make sure that it is built 15 ft wide *inside*. For instance, an 8 ft door has less than an 8 ft opening!

 

You should decide if you'll ever want to heat it, or keep heat cool in it. A major consideration. If so, most insulation should be done initially. Walls and ceilings.
And be sure the roof has proper ventilation. I suggest a full ridge vent with plenty of soffit vents.

 

1] When you dig your trench for your conduit or pipe leave several strings inside from end to end. This will allow you to pull additional wires/cables as needed in the future.

2] I have one garage with pull down steps and I hate them.What goes up, never comes down. Anyone want an electric system for a 1955 M38A1 Jeep

3] I would use plywood and not drywall and cover the seams with lattice strips.

4] On any water or air lines, the more cut offs, the more better.

5] One of my garages has 4' peg board on top of the wainscot and shelves above the peg board. Upper shelves will block light so install additional light fixture below the shelves to light the work bench at roughly wainscot height.

5] We chose to build our own benches out of 2x4's with plywood tops and run electrical service under the benches behind the 2x4's so you can easily add an electric receptacle at any location.

 

Here's what I did.....

DSC_3638.jpg

DSC_3641.jpg

DSC_3639.jpg

DSC_3629.jpg

DSC_3626.jpg

DSC_3671.jpg

 

to neat, you don't really work in there do you? If my wife saw your shop she would be on me about my mess

 

The only problem with this garage is I don't see any BOSTON BRUINS memorabilia in it

 

Go here and study .........
http://www.garagejournal.com/
Lots of fun stuff and lots to learn . Pretty good group .
There are great threads there about almost anything you can think of and then some

 

I was thinking of putting a bear head on the wall, but there wasn't any room. LOL. Those two teams are great rivals aren't they? They asked Montreal fans who was the better rivals, the Maple Leafs or the Bruins. The Bruins got the nod. For the Canadiens Centennial the Habs are supposed to honour the Bruins sometime this year in Montreal (if I haven't missed it already), for the history and great rivalry between the two teams.

 

When I cleaned out the garage, my wife said "Great! I can park the van inside this winter." LOL. Ahhhhhh...... NO! A man's home may be his castle....but his garage, is his sanctuary.