The Shop of Good Intentions

It all started with finding my old race car and buying it back. Our house has an attached two-car garage, but I'd always wanted a real shop for my projects. This was the first step:

building a 12x24 storage building to get everything out of the garage that wasn't a car.

We already had a 24x30 carport, and I got approval to turn it into a shop. The starting point:

Here is where we are today:

I hope the Capri will be happy in her new home.

When we decided to build the shop, I decided it needed a cool name. Without hesitation my wife said we should call it the Shop of Unfinished Projects. She knows me all too well. A friend suggested the Shop of Good Intentions had a better ring to it. (Forget about the path to you-know-where being paved with you-know-what)

LOTS of lighting. My electrician halved the lights on two switches so if I don't need all of the lights on, I have the option to use half of them. Separate fixture over the workbench area to eliminate shadows. Outlet and TV cable boxes over the workbench area. Lots of power in the garage. Wired for future compressor, welder, powder-coating oven, etc. I ran a water line to the shop and picked up a nice stainless steel single sink.

New concrete this week, and we start putting the vinyl siding on this week as well. I will have a single 20x10 garage door. Plenty of room and height for a lift if I can ever justify one.

More to come...

I didn't realize quite how big that space was until the last pic. I R Jelly.

LOL! I don't think we did either! Plenty of room for the Capri and the Triumph.

<==jealous!!!

That is a gorgeous shop with lots of space. Run the 220 and you are good to go.

Great space, I think 24'X30' is an ideal size for the shop. Hoping to do something similar (but it will have to be detached) in a few years!

good lighting plan

looks great

Sweet! Need build thread on that motorcycle!

sethmeister4 wrote: Sweet! Need build thread on that motorcycle!

I will get my son to do that...

sounds like a great start.

Man that last picture makes it look massive

mightymike wrote: . . . TV cable boxes over the workbench area.

Wait, what? Why would you want TV in a workshop?

I don't even want TV anywhere in my house!

I love it. Every car guys dream.

You pretty much HAVE to put a lift of some sort in there. What a great looking space.

EvanR wrote:

mightymike wrote: . . . TV cable boxes over the workbench area.

Wait, what? Why would you want TV in a workshop? I don't even want TV anywhere in my house!

I'd never really thought of a TV in the shop until...I came home from work one day and the aforementioned son had the Holley off of the race car was was halfway through a rebuild. This son (#2) wasn't even born when I initially built the race car.

He is very mechanically inclined (see the motorcycle in the earlier pics), but I had to ask him if he knew how to rebuild a carb. He pointed at the laptop on the work bench. "Youtube, Dad."

I'll put Apple TV on a large flat screen so I can stream how-to videos, etc. from my iPad. (If I can get my kids to set it up and write down step-by-step instructions). Lots of good online references that would be nice to have up on a wide screen if I am looking for a specific part number or an assembly process. Maybe run Top Gear or Long Way Down while I am wrenching? The in-car footage I have from my long ago and too short racing career might be too depressing to watch.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Thanks! I'd really like to have a lift. My brother just put a four-post lift in his garage, primarily for storage. I was surprised by how much room it took up. I'll likely go with MaxJax if I ever do a lift. I need insulation, a compressor, welder, blast cabinet, etc. first.

I've been working on the shop for about three weeks now in my spare time, but took a day off last week. It was well worth it!

Damn, I'm seriously jealous of that space. Also love the Shasta Compact hiding in the back, even has its wings!

I would love to have a PC in the garage for looking stuff up. I have an old PC but it needs help.

In reply to ian @ Jewel Or Jalopy:

Awesome space, and Nice Red!

That was one hell of a car port! 24 x 30 is a great size, that's what I built at the old house. Oriented so the door was on the short end I could put big vehicles in and still have room to work on them and have shallow stuff on the sides. My new house is 22 x 30 oriented so the door is on the wide end and I can't even close the door with my pickup in there much less work on it. d'oh! Hopefully I get this new house we're looking at, it's got a 24 x 48 attached garage. Oh heck yarrrr.

In reply to mightymike:

I see no problem having a TV in the Garage/Shop. Especially if you spend a lot of time out there.

My plan is to have 2 TVs hooked up to cable before the winter. Both of them will run off the same cable box.

I'm the type of person that always needs background noise.

I call mine "The Dog House" cause, well, you know

Nice red. Is that Queens Creek? I think I recognize it.

The shop is freaking great. I'm also very jealous.

The TV in the shop is definitely a good idea. When I get mine cleared out I'm gonna dedicate an old laptop to the workbench, and I'm also gonna make one of my obsolete cameras the shop camera, for build thread pics and documenting how stuff comes apart so I can put it back together again.

In reply to Brett_Murphy: A secret spot off of the Newport River, not far from Beaufort, NC. Absolutely beautiful down there.

Some more progress:

And The Boss decided to get matching doors on the attached garage. They replaced the originals which were now 20 years old.

More to come!