Mazdeuce fixes the grosh

If you ever get a chance to choose in-laws, choose ones like mine. They're down for a visit. I have to drop the kids off at school, get the Cadillac inspected, run to the store, normal stuff for a morning. They ask if there is anything they can do as I'm headed out the door. My response is basically "stumps, you know where the chainsaw is, needs to be sharpened, bye!" and I come home to this. You can't see my mother in law because she's out of the frame mowing the yard with the push mower. Do I mind when my in-laws visit? No, no I not.

In reply to mazdeuce: and you made them what for lunch???

When my in-laws were here they finished moving the rest of the concrete in front of the house. That leaves me with this lovely eye sore.
All of that concrete is going to form the base for the apron around the lean-to side of the Grosh, so if only makes sense to take the sod (and I use that term very loosely​) from over here. And put it down over here. Things are looking better, I'm making room for the concrete, and I've crossed sod cutting/laying off my list of future dream jobs. And I fully admit that although this is actual work that needs to be done, I'm mostly killing time with this and a ton of yard work right now in an effort to delay other projects that cost money and are much more emotionally taxing. The upside of that is Mrs. Deuce finally admitted that I've made the yard look nice like I promised I was going to all those years ago.

Last year was like this for me. newborn and working 20 to 30 hours a week max. (i'm in the industry that supports refinery's with engineering drawings etc for construction...)

Grass is a mess this year because I refused to spend money we might need on groceries on it. Now i've been working 70's for a month and I kind of miss the quiet times... Funny how that is.

FYI, you can rent a sod cutter from sunbelt, friday rentals after noon count as one day rental if you return it before 8 am on monday... (I'd verify with your store though).

I'm saving the rental money for the stump grinder. I think I'm still limited to six hours of machine time before I'm charged more, but it's easier to spread that over two days with the interruptions around here. I'm mostly waiting for the weather to cooperate on a weekend that is free.
Life would be about perfect if your could support yourself long term 20-30 hours a week. Plenty of time to de-stress and get things done.

mazdeuce wrote: I'm saving the rental money for the stump grinder. I think I'm still limited to six hours of machine time before I'm charged more, but it's easier to spread that over two days with the interruptions around here. I'm mostly waiting for the weather to cooperate on a weekend that is free. Life would be about perfect if your could support yourself long term 20-30 hours a week. Plenty of time to de-stress and get things done.

Honestly on stump grinding, find a company that has real equipment, it was going to cost me $50 difference for one stump to rent and do myself over 4 hours vs company with a monster, self propelled beast that carved it out in 10 minutes.

How did the garage deck flooring work out?

I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it looks kind of cool for a living room floor and iI don't think the kids could wreck it if they tried. On the other hand, the white tiles get dirty and there isn't a good way to mop them. Any significant liquid you use will flow between the tiles. Not a huge deal is a garage, not great in your house. It only seems to be an issue on the white tiles and in the high traffic areas, so I just spray them with cleaner and wipe them down occasionally. It is nice to know that the floor is flood proof. One less thing to worry about.

Whew. Took me three days to get to here.

The Grosh looks great! I'm afraid I'll have to live vicariously through this one, as mine is attached to the house, on one end of the 1/4 acre I occupy, with no room or allowance to expand it. Right now, it contains my freezer, spare fridge, tools, and barely has room for the generator and motorcycle. I guess you could call it a 1/2 car garage?

Sorry to thread-jack but it wouldn't let me send you a message. Just finished reading this whole thread after reading the R63 thread from start to finish.

your R63 thread is making me want to do the Hemi SRT swap on my 08 JKU. (down side is I'm 20 in school and I don't have the extra 15k lying around. )

Anyway, LOVE your threads and projects!!!!

In reply to Recon1342:

Honestly, no matter how but your garage is, you always want more. There is a bunch of stuff on Garage Journal dealing with one car garages and there are a bunch of pretty neat solutions for dealing with the space constraints.
I'm glad you enjoyed reading enough to get this far, and I promise I'm not done yet.

In reply to ca_sharp:

The Hemi/JKU swap is one that just makes sense. Jeep should have done it from the factory. It probably fits better than the M156 fits in the R63. The really good thing is that it's such a well known swap that all of the knowledge is sitting out there. You still have to put in the hours, but you're not breaking any new ground. Just keep your eyes peeled for a donor. As the donors age and end up in yards the cost of a swap will start to fall. If I could do what I did with $200 in hand tools and a lift, so can you.

Have been spending my evenings lately, reading this thread a few pages at a time to wind down at the end of the day. Thanks for all the fun over the years, you've done well for yourself and the awesome family. A few observations:

-Your wife indeed possesses the patience of a statue.

-We have oddly similar garages, as far as layout goes. Yours is much taller though, single story here.

-A lift does indeed change the game. We wanted what would have essentially been a garage with a house attached, not all that unlike what The Grosh turned out to be. Turns out, banks aren't really all that GRM-minded, so, some jerk attached a garage to our house, and not the other way around haha. For those in the planning stages of a house, build it with the intent to make your garage / shop / workspace what YOU want. Had I known I was going to have a lift, I'd have planned things a bit differently...

-Have noticed the mazdeuce name come up in the magazine a time or two, as well as lurking the occasional build thread, but it was THIS thread that finally got me to sign up on here, so thanks for that Mr Deuce. You're an inspiration.

-Speaking of inspiration, you inspired me to clean up the clutter in my garage a bit. Wired up a battery to the windows on the Supra shell that has been sitting in the garage for a few years now. Those windows have been down for about four or five years now, it was time... You've also sparked the creative part of my brain, and I've designs of making a floating loft on half of the back half of the garage. I figure it is just wasted space above a couple cars that could be more useful as a storage / hangout area. Also, in the spirit of working with family, gonna fly my mom back home (she and the rest of my family live down there in the Tatum area of east Texas) so we can hang out for a week or so and paint the garage finally.

Apologies for the thread jack, just wanted to say thanks for all the sharing over the years, keep up the good work!

P.S. - Did you need or want a Wyoming plate or two for the bathroom?

-Brad

While you bask in the R63 afterglow, have we given thought to the next real project? The kitchen cabinets perhaps? Mrs. MazD would love you even more than she already does.

Today is really the first day I've had a chance to sit and be bored and think about that question. Kids are done with school. R63 is fixed. Too rainy for yard work. Just a day to sit and think.
I'm less than a week out from heading about straight north to scope out and pay for this beautiful beast. It will make it to Houston later in the summer so I can start in the fall.
After that I'm headed a wee bit further north to pick up a shiny can of awesome.
There will be build threads for both of them, slightly overlapping at the beginning. My intention, at least with the COE, is to use the project to develop myself as a writer. I'm going to work harder at the photography part of my threads as well as the organization of general storytelling. The Grosh will receive updates to lighting, wall covering, flooring to make this easier. I'm not sure where this is going to lead me in life, but if I'm doing it anyway, I might as well try to do it better. My storytelling​ is the only thing that makes me as happy as my family, time to nurture it.
Of course the kitchen cabinets still need get built and the kitchen walls and flooring done. The Porsche still needs a valve adjustment and a new CV boot and I'm sure the truck will need something fixed by the time I get home with the trailer.

What vintage is that 'Stream'? And yes young man you have a very full plate. Me thinks a SxS would be a great stress reliever for hoonin' the yard under the guise of new flowerbeds/veggie garden.

Both of the new projects come from the end of the golden era. College was cheap. Unions were strong. Growth was everywhere and nobody even knew there was political trouble in SE Asia.
I can always run over to the rally school to blow off steam if I need to. Deucekid#1 and I also need to start autocrossing again in the fall. The One Lap Civic needs to get more tire and brake before next year. On top of that, people are starting to think I know what I'm doing (which is clearly wrong) and I have a lift, so staying reclusive is taking more effort. I think next year is going to be fun.

As a lurker of the this thread and the R63 thread, I am rather excited about more projects coming out of the Grosh. Looking forward to the write ups.

Don't sell yourself short....you have the skills (written/physical/mental) to entertain the hive with what ever you embark on next. Take time with those you love and be careful...always.

In reply to mazdeuce:

"18 X 10, maybe I should buy a dump truck "

Or maybe a COE? Perhaps you have ESP?

I didn't make the door that big on accident, that's for sure.

Will the COE be used to pull the shiny can of awesome? Or is that Fergus' job?

In reply to mazdeuce:

Did you know that you can't even sell an empty Lawn Darts box on ebay? They'll temporarily suspend your account! Don't ask how I know. Heck you can't even sell the target rings that they came with!

Just something to be aware of, working on medium and heavy duty trucks is a whole new ball game. Eveything is 3x the weight and price, and the tools to work on it are just as expensive. Your garage standard engine hoist and stand aren't gonna cut it.

Wow. Just wow. Like many another reader, I started with your R63 build (via Car & Driver) and got sucked into this one. What can I say? It's been awesome living vicariously watching the Grosh and all the other ancillary projects come to life here, and can't wait to see what happens next! (Want any Alabama plates for the bathroom? I've got two or three laying around here somewhere! :) )

Now I'm off to finish the R63 thread...