A clean slate - the New Shop!

Don’t expect updates to be in sequential order for the time being.

Over the last year I have completely rebuilt the car into a purpose built track/racecar. It currently has a full cage, no interior, and is lighter and better handling than I thought possible for a SW20. There’s a lot to unpack here!

We also bought a bigger home about a year ago. Luckily this one came with a shop vs building my own. (https://www.apex-attack.com/blog/2018/11/2/a-bigger-toybox-part-1)

Once the track season sputtered out here in the PNW this fall I took the time to really clean up the shop and get it to where I originally imagined it. So I thought it was a good time to give you guys the full tour.

The shop itself isn’t huge, but definitely big enough for what I need for the car. It’s approxinately 25’x30’, so 750sq ft. Plenty of space, but you need to be thoughtful about how you use it. Here it was the day I moved in, with a car that had just been on fire.

I was fortunate enough to get the cabinets from the previous owner of the home in the sale. I liked the storage rack on the right side but it wasn’t enough. Below is how it is now. I was going to need a lot of storage solutions.

The first thing I did once I had the car rebuilt last year was a fresh coat of paint. 5 gallons of cheap Home Depot interior paint and two coats cleaned up the primered walls immensely.

The shop is deeper than it is wide. So I moved the cabinets to the back wall. The previous owners of the home also sold us a gigantic 65” smart tv when we bought the house. We had no need for it in the home, so into the shop it went! The cabinets are mostly full of tools, parts, liquids, and random odds and ends. It could definitely be better optimized, but for now works well. You also see the huge garage sale speakers I had in the last shop.

Over to the right corner is my fab table from my last garage. I modified it so both welder carts fit underneath, saving floor space. I have two cheap hobby welders, which have been enough to build this car and other home projects. One TIG, and one MIG, both are simple 120v machines. The carts are from Harbor freight and are super handy to hold everything associated with each welder, from grinders to argon bottles.

Remember that dinky 4’x4’ storage rack? Yeah, its gone. I built a 4’x8’ shelf out of uni-strut. It can easily hold 500-600 pounds. It’s mostly full of extra parts and tools/junk I rarely need. I have to grab a ladder to get up there. Below it is the shop heat. Just a simple electric heater, running a gas line to the shop was going to be very cost prohibitive.

Below the storage rack, my main tool boxes. Also my tube bender (remember, cage?) and some other tools.

Over in the other corner I have stashed my alignment stands. I put the entire car on these wheel stands so I can get underneath and adjust the suspension to my spec. The other side has one of the most important parts of the shop, the fridge! You caught me on a bad day, it’s usually full of cheap beer. Also, I have a couple extinguishers in the shop.

I brought over my big workbench from the last shop as well. It’s ugly, but works so well. Underneath it are spare parts, stuff I need to sell, and consumables like work gloves. On top, my handy drill press and grinder.

Moving down the wall, we have my shop cart. Very handy when moving around the car on projects like brakes where I want my tools traveling with me. Shop vac near the drill press because it always makes a mess. Harbor freight press has worked for everything I’ve thrown at it. And the parts cleaner, which was a necessity after the fire to scrub everything as I reassembled.

Above that corner is one of my newest additions, a SIM loft! I’ve been trying to get on the SIM more often, but hated having it on the floor. It took up valuable floor space and was walways covered in dust and grime. Moving it upwards helped immensely. It’s made out of 2'“ tube steel and 1/2” plywood. It could be a storage if I ever move the SIM elsewhere.

The view from the SIM is pretty rad!

American flag because I love this country and the opportunities it has given me despite the never-ending political turmoil.

Over in the other corner, I recently built a closet to house my 60 gallon air compressor. This helps quiet it down considerably (It’s vented for heat). You see the copper plumbing coming out to a regulator. There’s three air drops throughout the shop.

Next to that, more parts on a free shelf I got from work. See a pattern here? You can build shops like this cheaper than you think if you don’t mind re-purposing, repairing, and cleaning up stuff. Next to that, the Maxjax hydraulic pump.

Above that, my tire rack. Built out of uni-strut leftover from work. It can hold 8 wheels if need be. You can also see the hydraulic lines I ran up to the ceiling for the lift. I was sick of always tripping over the hoses on the ground when the Maxjax was set up. So I got longer hoses and ran them vertically. Now I have clear pathways around the lift. If I tear down the lift I can tie the hoses out of the way.

A very clean shop! And another project on the engine stand, but that’s for another post.

Thanks for taking the shop tour!

Hope it gives you some motivation to get out into yours and hang out, wrench, or just play video games and drink beer!