British toys are getting a place of their own...

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HealeyBN7
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Steve Simmons wrote:Linda wants to hire you to build us one. I can't say I disagree with her! That is really beautiful work - something to be proud of.
I would be happy to build one for you, but as is documented above, I am painfully slow, very expensive, and while I promise to listen to ideas and bob my head up and down in agreement, no guarantees it will come out anything like you desired.

It would be fun to build another. You are welcome to all my "city approved" plans, construction tools, and unlimited access to my ideas that on the surface seem reasonable but are difficult and expensive to execute. Of' course I will lend a hand as needed, but can we get started after the Lotus and Peerless are finished?

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement!
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Thought a few updated photos were in order to close out this thread. There is a little more work to be done on the floor epoxy, and the tongue and groove wood needs to be stained, but it is close to done and almost ready for some real British car restoration action.

This shot shows the eventual work bench area. The lamps above are vintage gas station/barn lights in various shades of Texaco green. Air, water and electricity is now finished. Water doesn't leak and the smoke stays in the wires, so life is good.
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This next shot shows the front doors. I ended up putting door lights above each of the doors on the inside and outside as well. If you look closely you can see the overhead air.
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This last shot really should have been taken by someone who knows how to use a camera. I tried to show the front at night.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Steve Simmons »

Holy cow, now we're talkin'! Darn fine work, sir! :thumbs:
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by caliwagon »

So when, again, are you hosting the next vintage motoring BBQ in that drool-inducing structure?
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Jimmy »

Dean,
It looks so empty in there...
Can I please park some of my junk in your garage for a while?
In baseball, running into someone is apparently a "collision".
But doing the same thing in a car somehow makes it an "accident".
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by gorms68 »

VERY VERY nice! Great attention to detail. I love the look. :thumbs:
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Martin Keller »

WOW :eek: Garage looks great....or should I say your RECROOM is great. :D
So do you have a Lotus to fit under that sign if not I have a replica 7 for sale that would go nicely under it :wink:
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I just arrived home from business trip - Wow. Thanks for all the kind words.

This weekend I will be re-coating the epoxy floor - just too many tiny bubbles, so I rented a floor screen sander and knocked them down. It actually made for a nice smooth finish. My wife thinks I should leave it dull, and I think I agree, so after coating it again, I may sand again...
Jimmy wrote:Dean,
It looks so empty in there...
Can I please park some of my junk in your garage for a while?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........................NO :)

Don't let the pictures fool you. This is a closet compared to the huge space you have.
Martin Keller wrote:WOW :eek: Garage looks great....or should I say your RECROOM is great. :D
So do you have a Lotus to fit under that sign if not I have a replica 7 for sale that would go nicely under it :wink:
Once you see what gets pushed inside, WRECKROOM is an appropriate name.

A Europa will be occupy the work area. Don't sell the 7. What else could you buy to cause an ear to ear autocross grin?
caliwagon wrote:So when, again, are you hosting the next vintage motoring BBQ in that drool-inducing structure?
Working on that .:) I was hoping to finish up by early summer, but other real responsibilities got in the way, in addition to the fact that I always severely underestimate the time it takes to finish a project - always have. We now have to sort out back to school activities. Hope to float a couple dates in the near future.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Thought it would be OK to resurrect this old thread to show the barn now at full capacity.

Status as of Sunday morning.

Lotus is running just fine - yeah.
Healey is awaiting on a new bell housing to fix a serious misalignment.
Peerless is getting A/C vents installed.
and there is a visitor...
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Larry Kluss »

What a great photo. Thanks for the temporary shelter for the MG.
Time to add-on???
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Martin Keller »

Dean,
Your garage is not full yet.... :lol: ....still plenty of room.
Larry,
I was woundering where you were going to put the Vet and if the Nova or the Jag was going to have to sit outside but I see you have found another way around that issue.
Vet sure looks good even though it is still only a roller. Your Dads expression was neat as he was smilling from ear to ear when I met him yesterday.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Larry Kluss wrote:What a great photo. Thanks for the temporary shelter for the MG.
Time to add-on???
On Saturday we spilled a little concrete onto a hole on the left side of the barn...
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Steve Simmons »

See what you started, Larry? :lol:
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Larry Kluss »

It was all Dean's idea. Okay, maybe I encouraged him a bit. :pimp:
The MGB got squeezed out by the Warwick acquisition, so Dean needed to add-on anyway.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

We decided to cover up the concrete to keep it from getting wet in the rain.
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With the framing complete, this weekend I'll start making the doors. The two main doors at the front will match the existing pair. The side doors at the back and front will either get finished this weekend or next.

After the doors are finished and hung, I'll start nailing on the siding. Like the original structure everything gets painted before the roof is finished. Tar paper is good enough for now.

And , just like before the poor Peerless body is waiting to come in from the weather. At least this time it is protected by a nice silver tarp.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Larry Kluss »

I see the rails in the lower left corner of the photo. It's sure nice of you to make a covered space for Austin and his friends to skateboard in... :P
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

This weekend I finally moved a couple cars into the new space. The interior walls, doors and windows, electrical, bricking and epoxy floor is finally complete. This week we moved 25 tons of road base in front of the barn, tamped it down and sealed it to make a nice smooth driving area.

I am still waiting in the roof. Not sure why it is taking so long...oh yeah. I didn't order it until last week. Once that is installed, I can declare the barn addition complete.

For the new space I used vintage Halophane and gas station lights. Makes the space nice and bright. The back window was Steve's idea. All five panes open with a singe lever. Only took a month of weekends to weld up and install.

Here are a couple crummy photos that I shot today after Martin reminded me to show some life.

The biggest improvement is regaining the shop space to move things around. I've got the trans out of the Lotus fixing the pilot bearing and resealing the box. It is nice to have the space back.

Cheers - Dean
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Martin Keller »

Dean,

Your car barn is looking great. Notice I did not call it a garage as it is more of a second living quarters for autos than a garage. Heck if I had such a nice place to work on my want-to-be cars I would never be in the way of my wife because I would always be in the shop or should I say man cave... :thumbs: ....

:drive
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Steve Simmons »

Wow, the addition came out great! The wall treatments look especially good in that section of the garage.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Larry Kluss »

Yay! Back to the Peerless project...umm, after the Lotus trans is fixed.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Wow. :bow:

That is an awesome garage. Very nicely done.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I have a feeling that this old thread will need an update....
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by Larry Kluss »

New place equals new thread :)
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by daysineuropa »

Larry,
I still think we should start a petition.

As I said to Colin, "I am going to miss your garage"

Let's have a good turnout on Labor Day.
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Re: British toys are getting a place of their own...

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Selling the house was easy. Giving up the barn was another matter. But, now that we are settled in NoCal the British cars are getting a renovation place of their own...

This time we are starting with an existing structure, but time will tell if that is the fasted or least expensive way to build a garage.

Three Arabian horses occupied the stables and a family of caretakers lived in the living quarters. We were able to sell off most of the barn stables to neighbors and gently evict the caretakers...

There were four things that we failed to realize when we inspected the barn.
1. The walls are out of plumb - way out in the oldest areas.
2. The floors are are not level or even close. What we thought was concrete under some hard rubber mats was really just very hard packed decomposed granite.
3. The stalls are holding up the roof. This was the biggest surprise, and necessitated the greatest amount of work to truss (rafter tie the roof) so it would not fall in on us.
4. The electrical was so substandard that it was amazing that it didn't burn down or fry the occupants while they showered.

Here are a few photos of the initial disassembly and rough framing. Still a long way to go and the lift does not yet have a home...

Dean
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Horse stuff removed
Horse stuff removed
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New wood floor for car parking
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HOA plans approved
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Construction debate
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Wood floor in living space
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A day at the dump...actually three trips
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Neighbor let me borrow his dump truck
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Front porch is being enclosed
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Floor joists going in to level the space
Floor joists going in to level the space
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New living space - Shop will be through the far door and the door and window will be removed
New living space - Shop will be through the far door and the door and window will be removed
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Back of the barn - Framing the stable area
Back of the barn - Framing the stable area
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