How would you setup your garage now, with all your past experience?

I haven't had a project car in a number of years. And as my desire for another toy car/track rat grows, I look at my garage/tools, and how I'd like to upgrade/replace/organize my garage. 

Remember those Craftsman plastic box, 255 piece (or however many) sets? I basically have one of those plus some other random wrenches, extensions, jack and stands, etc. I built my S52 swapped E30 with them, and also my track rat Miata. So I don't need some $50k Snap-On setup. 

What would you buy to keep everything organized at home and easily able to throw in the bed of a pickup or on a trailer to take to the track with you?

You're favorite stuff to get wall storage/organization (that aren't leftover kitchen cabinets, I like to be able to see things) would also be appreciated!

I have most everything I use in 3/8's just for simplicity, even tho I have plenty "duplicates" in 1/4 and 1/2. I have almost everything I need in a tool bag to work on my crapboxes. I only carry what I may need in the other sizes due to the socket size. I sure don't expect to use  1/4" 13mm or a 1/2" 10mm much if at all.

Make it 2000 sq ft. 500 for fab. 500 for body and paint and 1000 for assembly/storage of cars and parts. Also 12 ft ceilings.

NOHOME said:

Make it 2000 sq ft. 500 for fab. 500 for body and paint and 1000 for assembly/storage of cars and parts. Also 12 ft ceilings.

We are talking about trying to buy a piece of land outside of town in a few years and building a home with an awesome garage on it.

But for now, I need to work with what I have. 

I've been daydreaming lately of building a one car garage behind my house.  15' wide, 25' deep with a two post lift and 12' ceiling.  I'm tired of squeezing past my car in the two single car garages I have, elbow room is what I crave.

edit: with enough lighting in it that I could get a tan.  There is never enough lighting when working on cars.

Friend recently expanded his workshop with a 30x30 addition with 12 foot ceiling.    World of difference having the elbow room available.   My problem is it’s not in my backyard, and I have to ask to use the hoist....  (3rd world issues, I know)

Lighting is 10 led lights with adjustable panels...  really brightens the area especially with white walls...

couple of pictures

I'm in the planning stages of this exact thing right now for my attached 2 car garage. I'll be using the 2 car garage as a single car with a vehicle parked in the middle which will give more room for storage on each side.

The left side wall will be for storage, and I built a wall mounted wood storage rack to get misc lumper off the floor. I also secured some pallet rack to serve as store for bulker items.

The right wall is planned to be the "parking spot for larger tools (drill press, welder, table saw, etc.)

The back wall will be getting a French cleat system built on it about my rolling tool box, and eventual new workbench. French cleats will provide a place for cabinet mountings and other tool holder to keep them off the pallet rack.

For portability i'm a big fan of the blowmold socket sets, and building out tool bags based on the project need. Example have a electrical diag/repair bag, grinder supplies/tools, etc. That way everything can be grabbed quickly.

Last but not least, outlets... My house was built in 1958, and is severely lacking in outlets. I plan on running 3 banks of outlets (one along each wall) with as many outlets as possible, and 220v on the backwall.

*all of my "ideas" we're take from the garage journal forum. One could lose days worth of time scrolling through the design ideas there.

Good luck!

And to answer the OP question.... I've acquired over the past 30+ years pretty much duplicates of every hand tool needed in both 3/8 and 1/2 drive sizes.  I have a small (20”) box that has most tools to do small repairs in both SAE and metric that goes pretty much everywhere I travel... I also have one of the 200 piece sets you describe that I’ll take to the local pick and pull with a bag of other items I think I need.

Part of the fun working on our toys is finding new tools to add to the collection....

Gordon

Storage for things not car related should not be in the garage. I am fighting with so much other stuff in there.

And make it bigger. 

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

I've been daydreaming lately of building a one car garage behind my house.  15' wide, 25' deep with a two post lift and 12' ceiling.  I'm tired of squeezing past my car in the two single car garages I have, elbow room is what I crave.

 

edit: with enough lighting in it that I could get a tan.  There is never enough lighting when working on cars.

The same idea has been floating around my head. I want a building specifically for projects. Not storage, not lawnmowers, not parking, but a dedicated work space. Or better, a dedicated long term project building and a dedicated short term building connected by a breezeway containing a bathroom with shower and a small kitchenette. I'm not sure I want a house at all. 

What I've learned;

Keep anything that is not on a shelf on wheels.

Lighting, if you can't easily install lighting then portable lights are you friend. I've got hooks in the ceiling that allow me drape lights where I need.

I keep cheap tools in the camper van for use trackside. I'm not changing a transmission at the track much less bring an extra. I don't find that fun.

Keep spares to a minimum; it took me years to figure out I didn't need 7 sets of brake drums.

On big tools only by what you need and will use all the time. I've finally realized that it's quicker, faster and cheaper to drive 30 minutes over to my buddies fab shop for the occasional heavy job then trying to make space for all the big metal forming tools.

I would have done things sooner. 
 

I bought my house 18 years ago and almost immediately put 220 in for the compressor and lift. I had both of those installed within two years. However, I still have not wired the shop properly. I'm using extension cords everywhere. My walls need insulated and covered especially the ceiling which is 13-14' up so running any type of heater is useless.

I don't know where the time has gone or why I haven't got this done yet. I guess long hours at work and 6-7 days a week didn't help the first 10 years but dogone it I need to get this done.

The best thing I ever did to organize my shop was to build a (separate) tool shed for garden tools. 

The second best thing was to have completely separate spaces for auto projects and woodworking projects (I’m doing that now). 

...the third best thing I ever did is to have smaller spaces. 

I know. That’s counter intuitive. 

But the truth is I am FAR more organized now in small but well designed spaces than I ever was in a great big shop.

The big shop just let me accumulate more and more stuff. Eventually, it got small. Too small.  So small it was unusable.

The small shops force me to be organized, and to get rid of crap I don’t need. 

SVreX said:

...the third best thing I ever did is to have smaller spaces. 

I know. That’s counter intuitive. 

But the truth is I am FAR more organized now in small but well designed spaces than I ever was in a great big shop.

The big shop just let me accumulate more and more stuff. Eventually, it got small. Too small.  So small it was unusable.

The small shops force me to be organized, and to get rid of crap I don’t need. 

Agreed.  My ideal garage would have a big open space for cars and nothing but cars.  Ideally with 3 bays for cars, at least 2 being double-deep (to allow putting stored or project cars in back with cars that move more often up front).  And then separate space for storing tools, parts, tires, etc.  And another space for welding or any other work being done to anything not currently attached to a car.  Oh, and 1 more space for garage utility items (electrical distribution, air compressor, furnace, etc.).  

Having divided spaces would also allow for air conditioning the non-car workspace if desired without having to cool the whole garage.  Everything needs humidity control, of course.  

Currently my garage is 23x31 (width x depth), but only has 8.5 foot ceilings and no division of space.  So with tires stacked in the corner, tools and parts on shelves along the back wall and part way down 1 side, plus a few other items and then 3 cars in there (1 placed in sideways), there's not much space left.  The only open space is between the 2 cars up front and part of that is occupied by the snowblower that doesn't fit in the shed.  Having this space dedicated only to cars and nothing else would make it a lot less tight (and getting the 3rd car in and out would be much easier).  

Wire it for speakers and Ethernet.  

Plenty of shelving

i have some rolling shelves that come in handy too. 

Outlets on the lift

plumb for air everywhere just in case

plenty of water hose bibs and outlets outside too

it would be great to have a drain in the middle or on the side away from the lift if you want to hose it out. 

jfryjfry said:

Wire it for speakers and Ethernet.  

Plenty of shelving

i have some rolling shelves that come in handy too. 

Outlets on the lift

plumb for air everywhere just in case

plenty of water hose bibs and outlets outside too

it would be great to have a drain in the middle or on the side away from the lift if you want to hose it out. 

Good point on the ethernet wiring.  Whoever ran an ethernet run out to my current garage was a genius, as having an access point in there means my wifi coverage is good in the garage and also covers 80% of the yard as well (between the APs in the house and the garage).  

Water in the garage and good drainage would be very nice as well.  

My current garage has ceiling fans which serve 2 important purposes: airflow when working in hot weather and also more airflow to dry wet cars faster (combined with heat in the winter and a big dehumidifier all the time).  

Tall by Wide for the door. Forget 2 smaller doors, it's very limiting to how you arrange things in a small shop.  IF i was building something I would also build it long enough to fit the largest common thing (4dr full size pickup, basically) because regardless of what you THINK you're gonna put in there to work in, it turns out it sucks when you're wrong and you can't close the door on Generic Large Vehicle because it's too long and it's 100+ or <40f outside which is now inside because the door is open. 

I've been in the situation of building cool projects with tools that could be packed into the back of a car/truck. Now I can't even fit my toolboxes in 1 truck unless it has a 12' bed on it and I am not planning to go back. I agree with prioritizing it into your life. Build the space, get the tools. The supply of project cars will outlive your youth and energy! Everyone knows someone who has plenty of money to buy the tools, cars, and shop and doesn't do E36 M3 with it because getting old sucks. Sometimes I feel like im already there, but my shop isn't cool enough to feel good about stopping here. 

I like the separate doors (given a wide enough garage), but that's mostly to reduce heat loss when opening them in the winter.  However, I agree that the standard 8 foot by 7 foot doors are too small.  8x8 should be the bare minimum, 9x9 would be better.  And maybe give one of the bays a 10x10 or 12x10 for fitting oversize stuff.  

For depth, when I mentioned double-deep bays above, I meant that as 40 or 45 feet deep.  40 would be enough for medium car and medium pickup to fit comfortably end to end.  45 will get you crew cab long bed 1 ton and a fairly large car without requiring uncomfortably tight parking (figuring that the giant pickup is a little over 22 feet, a P71 is a bit under 18 feet, so that leaves 5 extra feet to distribute).  

As it looks like I'll be getting a new shop within the year, this thread is very relevant.

I like the idea of sectioning big spaces down some to separate my wood and metal activities and quit screwing up my wood projects with oil. 

More lights, never enough lights.

I'm beginning to think about work benches. I like my current tables because they can go out of the way when not in use, but they're not very sturdy or fire proof. 

The best thing I've done so far is label the drawers on my tool boxes though, game changer when I remember to put stuff where it belongs. 

No matter how big you make it, it will be too small.  Mine is 36' x 48' with 15 foot ceilings and I have a lift, but I also have a motorhome that takes up nearly half of the floor space.  Build as big of a building as you have money and real estate.

I wish I would have finished the drywall and painted it white.

i wish I would have added more electrical outlets and circuit breakers. Now if i run the compressor for my sand blast cabinet and a small shop vac for the dust, it pops the breaker in the basement.

I wish I would have had the garage door hug the ceiling so I could fit a lift. i have tall ceilings but before i get a lift I will have to modify what I have.

I wish I would have opted to insulate the garage walls. I have 5 big windows and two garage doors (nice for natural light) but I thought it would be a waste of $$ to insulate the walls. I was wrong. 

I am glad i ran hot and cold water to the garage. it is SO nice to wash a car with a bucket of warm water.

Before buying the house, I should've counted how many outlets were in the garage and not just assumed.

There's two. One by the door in to the house and one on the ceiling.

After that, I should've worked on getting cabinets and other actual storage for everything. Building a large shelf and using whatever plastic "cabinets" I come across for free is cool 'n' all, but good storage they do not make. Edit: Someone actually just posted a HON 5 shelf metal cabinet for $40. Pretty damn tempting.

I'd also like to find out if the walls that aren't concrete are actually insulated or not; a PO had the foresight to install insulated garage doors, so I'm hoping he would've done the same for the garage walls. But that requires removing drywall, air sealing, and then throwing up R30 in a house I know for a fact I don't want to live in for the rest of my life.