Where have I been lately?

[halfafish]

I'm knee deep in swapping the trans in my wagon. Project set aside for a bit. The Dart is about a third done, project set aside for a bit. Got the 66 Valiant and 82 D150 up and running, but still set aside for a bit. Updates have been sparse, so what's going on at Chez Halfafish?

Well first, there's this. A couple of years ago I had a pad poured behind my shop to push out the back wall 12'. I finally decided to pull the trigger on this and get the workroom and 4-car carport completed before I leave this mortal coil. It's been an awesome journey. I'm really looking forward to getting the compressor, 20-ton press, parts blaster, parts washer, generator, pressure washer, Harley, and herds of other stuff into the workroom so I can actually use my shop for a shop. I'm three weeks into this with another week or two to go.

Kinda funny, I figured my participation in this would be sitting on my *** signing the checks. Hahaha, it's like I un-retired and have a new job. Up every day at 0630 to get ready for the crew to arrive and stay ahead of them for what I'm doing - wiring, insulation, lights, moving a ton of crap so the walk-through door to the workroom can happen, and so forth. Here are some time-lapse pics for the project so far.

The start. Pouring additional support under the pad for the posts.

The carport area half rafters and full rafters.

The workroom, 12x30 with lots of room. I pinky-swear to myself I will NOT allow this space to be crapped up like the rest of my shop. There will be a hardcore Come-To-Jesus session for the stuff in the shop that gets moved to the new digs. There will be a lot of items getting sold as I really don't need to rathole parts that I will never use. There is some kind of mental imbalance at work here...

 

[RustyRatRod]

Looks really nice, bud. I have "what's left" of a lean to on the side of my shop that I need to repair and complete.

 

[Righty Tighty]

Busy man! Sounds like you're making good progress.

 

[abdywgn]

The workroom, 12x30 with lots of room. I pinky-swear to myself I will NOT allow this space to be crapped up like the rest of my shop. There will be a hardcore Come-To-Jesus session for the stuff in the shop that gets moved to the new digs. There will be a lot of items getting sold as I really don't need to rathole parts that I will never use. There is some kind of mental imbalance at work here...

let me know how this works out and what "meditation" was needed to clean out. I've got a garage, basement and junk room that need this type of thinning of the herd. when the light shines on how to do this, please pass it on!

 

[Righty Tighty]

Go to the white trash part of town and find someone to sell you a couple little "baggies." You'll be up for days organizing your stuff!

Seriously though, I'm in a similar situation. I'm organizing all my machine tooling and have literally thousands of end mills, lathe cutters, twist drills, etc. It's a daunting task, so I am also open to methods of motivation.

 

[jeff alder]

Nice work Halfafish...at least it's for you and not someone else this time. That looks like a perfect spot for a Harley!

 

[halfafish]

Huzzah! After six weeks of labor - much of it mine - this project is down to a tiny punch list. The exterior roll-up door won't be here for another week or so, and we're not going to knock out the wall separating the shop from the workroom till the outside door is there to secure the place. Otherwise this is done. The carport is 20x40 and will easily house four cars. The workroom is 12x30 and fully insulated with OSB walls to avoid getting clunked into. I'm a happy camper for sure. Now I need to get some shelving installed for storage and figure out where I'm going to put everything. I have a week to get all the crap out of the way so we can knock out the back wall to make that connection between the shop and workroom. Soon enough I'll be moving stuff to the new room and sorting through things to organize parts and clear some space in my ****-show of a shop. This has been a LOT of work but it's going to be sooooooooooooo nice when I get moved in.

Carport:

Workroom:

 

[Dartsun]

Awesome looking good Zach

 

[Dartswinger70]

isnt it great when a garage isn't big enough...?

 

[oldkimmer]

Wry nice job Zach! When all is said and done u will be a very happy camper. Kim

 

[4spdragtop]

Nice work Zach! Im thinking something similar. I have 500 sq ft and looking to move back wall back to add 300 sq ft. Not sure if its worth all the permit hassle and $$. 1st step was a survey.....$4k...

 

[CFD244]

Looking good Zach.....Keep up the good work.

 

[barbee6043]

Love it!!! Good thing I know some $$$ guys! Can I borrow a few bucks!??????

 

[halfafish]

Time for an update! First, let's answer some questions:

let me know how this works out and what "meditation" was needed to clean out. I've got a garage, basement and junk room that need this type of thinning of the herd. when the light shines on how to do this, please pass it on!

I have nine Mopars plus my DD. Three of those are parts cars so they will go away soon enough. The other six will have to go through a winnowing. Keeping up with that many cars, batteries, driving them, tires, insurance, and so forth is becoming a deal killer. I need to thin the herd to maybe three or so. That means that all the parts I've ratholed over the years (almost always picked up as a "good deal") not contributing to the three I'll keep, need to go. The other guideline is if I haven't touched it in a year, and have no firm plan to touch it in the next year, out it goes. Sell it, donate it, whatever. Begone, evil spirits!

That looks like a perfect spot for a Harley!

Sad to say since I've owned my Harley for over 40 years but I'm going to sell it. I had an incident a few years ago where some ****-for-brains lady pulled out in front of me. I had the through street, she had a stop sign, and just plain pulled out. I hit the brakes and steered off so I wouldn't t-bone her car and hurt her badly. I still totaled her Prius - and was able to drive my Explorer home a half mile. All I could think of was if I'd been on the bike I'd be dead. The deal scared the crap out of me. Especially as stupid/distracted/braindead driving is the norm around here. I'm just now at a really good spot in life. I'm not ready to check out to keep riding the bike even though I really, really like it. I'll take some solid steel around me now and do my driving in a car.

All that said, I've made some real progress on the shop. This is a MASSIVE re-organization process so it won't be wrapped up quickly. Right now I'm transferring stuff to the workroom that will be storage, then clearing out the stuff under the lift so I can (A) use it again, and (B) get ready to move it forward deeper into the shop. I need to get the new transmission, springs, and pumpkin into the wagon so it's back in action. Then I can pick and choose what to do next - however, I'm not over the hump yet.

Some chronology. One of the issues I face is what to do with everything that needs to move for the new configuration. Case in point:

The back of the shop needed a pass-through so access the workroom. That corner was completely full of "stuff". It had to move, making way for the new door.

This may not appear to be much, but it was a major undertaking.

Next was thinking my way through setting up the workroom. I seriously don't want to do this twice or wind up doing something then having to do it again because I didn't think it through. Thus I spend a lot of time looking and thinking about how to proceed. So far I have shelving down each side and some stuff installed on the shelves.

More info to come on the next news blast. It's painfully slow but I'm charting forward progress, albeit at a snail's pace.

 

[abdywgn]

looks great! a little progress is better than none at all...or putting more "stuff" in there.

 

[barbee6043]

Fact is an man can never has too much *** and room for that c***!!! That being said.... persevere!!!!
Nice work!

 

[Dne007]

This is just a work of art! All the boards perfectly laid out, just amazing Zach!!

View attachment 1716444203

 

[j par]

All this work talk makes me want to go fishing...

 

[halfafish]

This is just a work of art! All the boards perfectly laid out, just amazing Zach!!

Ummm, that's what happens when you hire a pole barn builder with 40 years of experience. Trust me, if I tried that it would like a game of pick-up sticks

 

[Dne007]

Ummm, that's what happens when you hire a pole barn builder with 40 years of experience. Trust me, if I tried that it would like a game of pick-up sticks

 

[barbee6043]

Ummm, that's what happens when you hire a pole barn builder with 40 years of experience. Trust me, if I tried that it would like a game of pick-up sticks

Thats why the last two homes I built for myself back in Mo. were framed up by....pole barn builders!!!!! Meninite guys at that!

 

[Dne007]

I believe if I had any suggestions for your awesome addition, have No FLAT SURFACE(tables, work benches)where things would pile up. I have two work benches and they are both out of control!

 

[JDMopar]

I'm expecting the FAA to investigate my work bench any day now. It looks like somewhere an airplane crashed!

 

[halfafish]

I believe if I had any suggestions for your awesome addition, have No FLAT SURFACE(tables, work benches)where things would pile up. I have two work benches and they are both out of control!

You are absolutely correct. In the shop before I got going on this project there was NO horizontal surface with less than a foot of stuff piled on it. And I had to slither sideways between crap to get around. It was just ridiculous. The new additions will mean a new world. I will have a shop that I can actually do.........you know...........shop stuff in.

A couple of pics of the ****-show before I got going. And these were before I made it worse by adding huge rolling racks of stuff to further clutter up the mess. Luckily I can't find the horrid photos of this mess at its worse but it was gawdawful.

 

[Kern Dog]

Oh, yeah....you bought a wagon awhile back!