Retired Guy's Shop

[TrifiveRichard]

Attached are a few pictures of my shop and secondary building, where I spend most of my time. My son is also into cars, and spends time as he can, given work and family priorities. The pictures were taken sometime back, but are still good. It's taken me a few years to get things in place, but I'm getting close (one can always use more space!)

The road is a private drive on the property. The building with the PURE oil sign is the main shop, with a machine shop room (CNC & manual mills and lathes), a work area (2 post lift and space to teardown/assemble cars), a paint booth (commercial car booth), a parts room, and a body shop room (for sanding, priming, etc). The second building is more for final assembly and storage (4 post lift and car parking, as well as racks with parts & bodies, 66/67 Chevy Its, 69 Camaro). There's also a building at another site with upcoming projects in it. I know I'll never complete all the projects I have set aside before I'm gone, but my son will have plenty of working stock!

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[bigblock]

Nice looking operation there. The building across from the main garage look's newer. Looks quiet back there also.

[TrifiveRichard]

You’re right BB. The second building went up about 5 years after the first. We needed space to park the completed 68 GTO and 66 Chevy II away from ones we were working on! The shop’s on about 5 acres in the county, not in the city limits, so it’s not too built up and is pretty quiet.

[BamaNomad]

Dick's shop: The envy of all other retired car guys... including ME.. :)

[TrifiveRichard]

You just put up a very nice one Gary!

[BamaNomad]

I have to say something more about Dick's shop (and Dick himself and his dedication to his hobby). His shop is a 'hobby shop', in that it's not a commercial shop, but he has more capability, shop facility and tools than most commercial restoration shops (so that is why I'm envious). That said I want to say some more about Dick and his dedication... No one 'gave' him his shop; he built it up over several years (10 or ?) doing a little at a time with some help mainly from his son. Even though Dick has been retired from Boeing for around 10 yrs or so, and he's about a year older than I... He is up and at his shop between 7 and 8 am each day and puts in from 6 to 10 hrs EACH day working on his car or shop (Seven days a week)... I do good to be in my shop on my feet for 4-5 hrs a day for 4-5 days a week! When I go to his shop to help him we generally put in 7-8 hrs of work and I essentially 'pass out' when I get home and hit my recliner (and I'm worthless the next day!)... :)

Consider this post a 'Hip Hip Hooray' for Dick and his dedication to the car restoration hobby!!

[55 Tony]

Looks good. I only have an oversized 2 car garage and half of it is for paying work and the other half is for spending work. Up in part of the attic is also my electronics shop which I need to finish so I can work up there on hot and cold days. I'm going to make the little attic shop the size of a bedroom in case I ever finish the rest and move up there and rent the house. Great view of the mountains from up there but I have to selectively cut down a tree or two now and then when they get in the way of the view. I'm also outside the city limits and can build anywhere on my almost 5 acres with no permit needed. Well, just one for electric to the panel and one for the septic system.

[chevynut]

Nice shop Dick! It sure is nice to have all the equipment and room you need to do anything on your cars.

My priorities have been a little different all my life. I've always wanted to own a large acreage in the mountains, so I've saved and invested for that, choosing to spend little elsewhere. I'm a pretty avid hunter so I wanted land I could hunt on. I'm pretty frugal and it's paid off.....we're shopping for land in Montana now.

I got into cars in the late 60's but the hobby got shut down for me when I got divorced in 1985. My Nomad went into storage for about 20 years while I bought some land (2.3 acres) just outside of town and built a house on it, and finally built my shop. I really didn't do anything on cars for about 20 years but the bug was always there. I built the first half (~1150 square feet) of my shop over a couple of years and "finished" it in around 2003 when I moved my Nomad into it. I never really did finish it the way I wanted to with work benches and shelves but it got filled up. When I realized that I couldn't finish my Nomad in it because of all the frame work we were doing I built an addition on it (~1300 square feet) as a "clean" shop where I could do the assembly. I took an early retirement from Hewlett-Packard in 2012 and it really slowed down my new shop because I was paying for it as I went, and I couldn't get into my retirement funds without a penalty. I had money invested in non-IRA accounts but didn't really want to sell out any assets at the time.

I epoxied the floor and painted it....then it too got filled up before I built benches and shelves :(. I have a lathe but no milling equipment. I didn't install a lift because I thought it took up too much space. I typically work with the least amount of equipment that I can get away with so I haven't bought a lot.....have both Miller MIG and TIG welders and plasma cutter. I have a JET horizontal band saw, JET 12" combo sander, JET 48" brake, a MB bead roller, and a JD2 hydraulic tube bender. That's about it for my equipment but it serves my purposes. I find that I need a lathe a lot more than I need a mill.

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[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

sweet man caves Dick, thanks for sharing.

[TrifiveRichard]

Thanks all for the encouraging comments, especially Gary. And Gary, I know you enjoy the hobby as much as I do, even though I get more satisfaction from modifying vehicles to my taste, and you from true restorations. And CN, you have a very nice shop, and from your description and posted pictures of your results, very effective capability, tools and equipment.

Like many of us, my interest in cars started early, fueled by my father and brother. I remember dad bought a new 56 Ford and put a Paxton blower on it, and my brother bought a 32 Ford 2dr sedan in 1959, flathead w/3 97s, dual coil Mallory, aluminum heads, Fenton headers, etc. it didn’t even have a key, it had toggle switches for power, start and lights. I was hooked. In mid years, cars took a back seat to work, family and other priorities. After the kids left home, I got back into cars and serious about facilities, equipment and tools, and set up for retirement.