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Thread: Ain't much of a garage to brag about...

  1. #1
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    Ain't much of a garage to brag about...

    We've lived in tract home in Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) for the past 24 years. It had an attached 2 car garage that was set up as best as possible for working on cars. But it had a washer/dryer and other shared stuff with the missus...

    Then we moved (after 24 years) across town to an older-more rural part of Santa Clarita (called Newhall) and I now have another 2 car garage. This one is detached, so no sharing . Our home/garage is on a half acre in an area where most properties have been subdivided into smaller lots. So it's kind of a premium to find this size lot in this area. Bought it 5 years ago (from the bank who was unloading it at the top of the real estate meltdown) and had been renting it out.

    So now we're here...and we have some room to spread out and some equity to (someday) build a new larger garage on the back quarter acre.

    This weekend, I retrofitted this empty shell of a 2 car garage and built a workbench with cabinets on one wall, and erected steel shelving for the other 2 walls. Found it all locally on Craigslist for cheap. it's a lifesaver, as there's not much room in an 18 x 20 garage structure with 1 car in build mode in it.

    But now I have the room to resume the Nomad build. Onward!

    Here's pics.
    Paul

    IMG_2892.jpg
    IMG_2893.jpg
    IMG_2894.jpg
    IMG_2895.jpg
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  2. #2
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    Looks like you're ready to start getting serious.
    Best wishes forward

  3. #3
    Registered Member Eds56's Avatar
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    Looks like you're off to a Good Start, keep moving forward and Good Luck!!

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    Looks good, Nice and neat, takes a lot of discipline to maintain!

  5. #5
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Congrats on the new shop. Nice to have a place to work on your car again.
    Brian

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    Its a lot more than I started with, I admire your organization.

  7. #7
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    Update:
    The house was originally built in 1947. Wood stud single story on concrete slab. Sometime in the late 60's, it got an addition, and the main electric service panel was put on the addition. That's 100 amp panel has been limping along serving the house and freestanding garage. Woefully underserved I might add, as the garage was just an extension off an existing 15 amp circuit that served both the kitchen plugs and lights. Anytime I ran a power tool out there, and my wife was using the microwave or had all the lights on....pop went the breaker.

    So job 1 on the resurrection of this property is a new 200 amp panel on the house with a new line out to a 60 amp subpanel on the garage. Now I have 240v out there and can run the compressor AND welder at the same time. And still have capacity for a 120v 30 amp RV plug too. Yee haw!

    Out with the old...

    IMG_3092.jpg

    And in with the new...

    IMG_3095.jpg

    IMG_3094.jpg

    We'll have this all buttoned up and stucco repaired by end of day tomorrow.

    Then I can get back to work with fabrication on the Nomad project.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  8. #8
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    And it's all properly grounded with new rods in the ground now. That makes me feel a little better...as the grounding on the old system was suspect.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  9. #9
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Paul, looks good and that's a big project to take on. Did you run a new service cable from the transformer? Seems like going from a 100 amp panel to a 200 amp would require a larger cable if you use a larger main breaker unless it was already large enough.

    When I built my house I told the electrician I wanted a 200 amp panel installed and found out when I built the shop that it's only a 150 amp service. I have added a 100 amp panel in the basement, a 125 amp panel in the old shop, and a 125 amp panel in the new shop all coming off of it. They don't have to add up to 150 amps.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  10. #10
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    Did you run a new service cable from the transformer?
    No.
    Seems like going from a 100 amp panel to a 200 amp would require a larger cable if you use a larger main breaker unless it was already large enough.
    The power company (So Cal Edison) came out and verified the drops from the transformer were plenty sized big enough for a 200 amp service. I did this prior to pullng the permit for this changeout. I've had an electrician buddy doing the install. I'm not proficient enough to tackle this, but picked his brain all the way thru the project so I can learn. All kinds of code shit to deal with. Had to add bonded grounds from plumbing pipes serving the water heater over to the gas line. Had to stuff 2 eight foot copper grounding rods into the ground 6 feet apart and then bond those to the new panel.

    Also a 3rd ground rod out by the garage subpanel, because the wires going to that panel (technically) don't contain a ground. Only 2 hots and a neutral (for 240v). So the box has a seperate ground bus bar that's bonded to that copper rod now.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

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