JoelsBuicks

Yes, this is something that I planned from the start. I wanted paint booth that I could also use as a wash room. The drain that you see on the floor has an 8” pipe in there. I placed a vertical Tee in this drain line and at the end of the drain pipe is a removable cap. The vertical pipe outside the building will connect into the suction of a 5hp centrifugal blower. When the blower is in use, the drain pipe must be capped. For any water to drain, the cap must be off. I’ll do a better job of explaining this. There’s a picture that’s worth a thousand words, I just need the picture. Here is a picture of the slab and pipe.

I’ve been on this forum for many years and can attest that there are many talented people here and most of them with far more guts and raw experience than I. I’ve learned to lean on those folks for priceless advice along this Buick journey. The paint booth lights are in and wired. I’m just about ready for the wall and ceiling metal. It’s very bright already but once the white walls and ceiling are in you might get a sunburn in there. I mentioned that this is a downdraft booth. You can see the floor pit where the air will leave. There will be two rows of filters in the ceiling. I will likely put a filter over the grating on the pit to keep from painting up my blower and piping. There is a lot of caulking up there in those joists. I’m trying to ensure that the final filters will only see air that goes through the prefilter. It will be easy to change the prefilter; not so for the final filters. I need this booth working now. Ive got a backlog of all kinds of parts and bodies needing primer and paint. Just noticed I can’t post my pics. I’ll try again. Looks like I got one to load.

What a treasured find and it sounds like it came just in time. The old circle saws are dying with the old men who ran them. Band mills are fast and automated and waste less but they can’t leave that kind of signature. That close grain look is amazing and perfectly suited to adorn the show side. Divine intervention indeed! Cypress, called wood of the Pharaohs for its incredible longevity and use in ancient coffins, will age to a timeless silver and could last a Buick century with no topical attention - ever. Very nice!

Oh wow! You need to be my neighbor. The damage I could do with that thing. I’d even use it to set trusses. Seriously speaking, an ambulance ride with an emergency room visit and a couple days in traction would pay for that thing these days.

It does look great! I don’t know how one goes about creating perspectives and details that are pleasing to the eye but you do it very well and the textures of both old and new give a harmonizing and welcoming feel. Parity in form and function; elusive to me but recognized and admired nonetheless. By the way, we both would struggle without our scaffolds but I would have a very difficult time standing atop a three jack scaffold with nothing to hold on to. And, I wouldn’t be able to take my mind off those scaffold boards “full of knots”. That’s why I went to the mill and sawed some that were over 2” thick. When you get a chance, show us how to you tied the front into the roof (the backside of the facade). Or, maybe I missed it already.

The paint booth will be a downdraft operation utilizing two, 24” wide rows of filters in the ceiling and the air being pulled through the booth using a 5 hp centrifugal blower located outside the building. The 8” suction pipe is located in a floor basin that also doubles as a drain. I’ll show this in more detail later. This room will be tight for dust management and can also be used as a car washing area as the floor in there slopes 2” to the floor drain. I’m framing up for the eight 24”x48” T5 6-bulb fluorescent light fixtures. There will be clear plastic (a diffuser), silicone sealed cover over each light to seal out vapors and dust. Most of the walls and ceiling will be the white low rib sheet metal but there will also be quite a bit of flat metal, especially around the lights. The entry doors will be a challenge; I haven’t got all that figured out yet.

Mentioned earlier I’m doing what I can to prepare for the Amish crew returning for a few days to do some internal framing and ceiling sheet metal work. The ceilings in my internal rooms will be white sheet metal (low-rib R panel). I will also use some of this same metal in my paint booth. It won’t be the most interesting ceiling but it will work. The longest metal is 24’-9” and so how do you haul that on a 16 ft trailer? I built a 2x6 frame using 20 ft lumber and nailed it to the trailer floor. Tie a red flag on the end and it’s good for the 80 mile round trip.

Those little overhangs on the steps weren’t on the building in the photo you showed earlier. I’m glad you put them there. They were a feature on another building photo that you showed much earlier in your thread. There are other such example features from those old photos. You just pick the things you like and make them part of your building. I was just wondering how many folks would notice that you bought new lumber for the places it wouldn’t be seen. It’s a lot like the old Buick’s, save the old for the show! Those old ford tractors will do a lot of work and run forever. I now have Dad’s 1961 Ford 601 that he bought at an auction 44 yrs ago when I was 10. When you mentioned the fire ants, I had flashbacks from my 3 very long years in Houston. Just really glad they haven’t made it this high up in OK. Very nice Lamar!

That must have been tough to have to walk away from boards and beams like that. That old house looks to be a couple steps up from most old places around here. I’d say that it was built during a prosperous time for someone. When I see houses like that I wonder, in my melancholy sort of way, how many warm Christmas mornings were celebrated there. So much of what you show is reusable and if you wanted a fresher look, just a pass or two through a planer would renew a rich and original look. It would have fit for you but I understand and respect that voice of reason. So what do you do with the original nail holes in the tin? Probably almost no water would get in. Also, does the weight of the wall tin sit on that rodent guard at the bottom or do you hold it off of that a bit? I like the ideal of using it, it may close up things enough to keep the bugs or lizards out. I wish I had a place like the welding shop to do my sandblasting. It’s another messy but necessary activity. Elvis is requesting you post that song, “All I want for Christmas is my two nuts back” enjoying your progress!

Got a confession, I bought more power poles. Just another deal I couldn’t pass up. I got 31 never used Oregon Doug Fir poles that are 80 and 90 feet long - 2013 vintage. The deal also included cleaning up a bunch of very sound poles that weren’t so new but large diameter. I probably have have enough to build two or three shops like my last one. They are in far better shape than the ones I used. I split them with a friend who wants to build a shop. I have no plans for my half. the pics show the long poles that were hauled in and the pile of poles we cut to 16’-4” in order to saw out full 16 ft. I think I need counseling.

Im really impressed with how much reused material is going into this and how good it looks. That old yellow pine lumber is far better than what you can buy these days and that insulation board is saving you gobs of money and your design makes it work. There’s also a lot of details that may seem minor but I think they make a big difference; like wrapping the sheet metal around the corner and the metal trim around your windows. I know there’s much left to be done (at this point in your thread) but I’m wondering how much planning you did to this point. Did you already know electrical requirements? Gas? Communication lines? Compressed air? There are a few do-overs I wish I had before pouring that floor. Last night I was in the lumber aisle and saw 16ft 2x6’s were $14.83. I couldn’t believe it. One large pole I milled made 22 of them. Well, it’s looking great. Everything so straight and square and I don’t give a lot of credit to that 8-ft level; it won’t run itself.

Oh that’s no problem Mark. When I went back and read what I wrote I was really talking about an exception rather than a rule because I had my mind on these internal rooms. They are holding very little load. Several years ago I would hammer drill a 3/16” hole and stuff a couple bare copper wires in it and drive in a 16 penny nail. Thing I like about that rotary hammer drill is that I have a hole in a fraction of a minute. Thanks for the well wishes, thumb was used a lot today and it’s pretty sore right now.

Mark’s comments made me see a need to clarify what I had said. On the walls at the perimeter of my building, I have a thickened edge, 12” deep and 10” wide with three 1/2” rebar in there. These anchors did not go all the way through but did go in about 5”. The internal walls did penetrate through the 4” slab in order to minimize the possibility of cracking. If you only drilled to say, 3-1/2” then the expansion of the anchor would be occurring in the top 2-1/2” and breakout is a possibility.

The base plates are attached using 1/2” anchor bolts approximately every 4ft. I use a big heavy duty hammer drill and drill through plate and all of the concrete. Then I hammer in the bolt with a nut and washer and tighten.

Interesting thing, X-rays showed it through the bone just behind the joint. But, the nail blocks a lot of the X-rays compared to bone and it wasn’t easy to see it clearly. A post extraction X-ray did not show evidence of bone damage and the doc declared that it didn’t strike the bone. I’m sure that is the case because today it is almost back to normal. I sort of recreated the crime scene showing what I was doing when this happened. Basically it was an angle shot into a door header and the nail glanced away instead of going into the wood. The lesson here is that unless it’s a direct shot, you’d better be extra careful and keep things out of the line of fire. Here, I’m holding the header in place with the target hand. Next, the nail gun is used at an angle. The last pic is the actual scar created by the errant nail.

Hey, for a little while on Wednesday my thumb had two nails! Dang! A toenailing job gone wrong. The point of the nail was pushing out the other side but didn’t break the skin. A 15 mile drive to the Indian Clinic took care of it. Very sore right now but much better than yesterday. Hurt the old ego too.

I’ve been trying to get my internal rooms finished. There are two rooms downstairs and two rooms up - yet to be framed-in. They will be climate controlled and right now, I wish they were done! I want to get my Amish friends back here for about three days work. Then, it will be time for sheet rock and taping. The pics show the two downstairs rooms; together they are 25 x 39.

I think those 2x6’s are going to make a great looking wall. It will be interesting to see how you run them. I’m amazed at how straight they are. I’m curious about the wall height of 12 feet. I think it will give you that “voluminous” look and feel. Is that what you are after or do you need that for displaying old signs, etc? I noticed that most of the building will have a vaulted ceiling (the show room) and the upfront office ceiling is flat. I’m guessing maybe an 8-ft ceiling there and storage above that? It has a very solid look to it.

You saved a bundle reusing that insulation. I’ve been pricing it at the local big boxes and it isn’t cheap. It’s too bad about the roof running out of square. It takes very little effort to make some measurements and check point marks and make that come out right. You spend all that time to get the structure square only to have the roofers do that. Maybe they know that these sort of things are really easy to forget about in short time. I bet bet you thought long and hard trying save the crane bill. You want to save where you can but some things are just out of reach and the older we get the more out of reach they get. The pics show that you’re on a pretty good slope - I didn’t realize that from the previous pics although you did have to bring in a lot of fill. lookin’ good and thanks again for sharing.

Excepting malathion, I figured out how to make most of my pesticides and fungicides for peaches- still costs a mint and still have some worms. Dad always had me hold the “dumb end of the tape” but he taught me so much about this work, like the value of batter boards and how to set up a level to minimize error. He frequently repeats that it’s easy to build a building plumb level and square but it takes a real craftsman to build one that isn’t. He has a few other sayings but are not suitable for this forum. Maybe most of all, I learned to not fear any of it. I’m looking forward to the coming installments. Be warned that they do, in a way, expose some of the softer underbelly. Why I learned a little about you by just looking at the tapered legs on your sawhorses! I also want to echo the comments made by others and say thanks for what you do for the forum and the hobby. Have a great Christmas!

Wow Lamar, I thought I had the most labor intensive way to get lumber but demo takes the cake. That’s young men’s work but there’s not many other options to get the look you’re looking to get. I have heard that the treated wood poles last longer when not encased in concrete; you must have heard the same thing. I have to ask about what kind of help you have? It’s tough to run a rod and transit by yourself but you could probably do it. I really enjoy seeing the useful materials get a new lease on life. That we’ll-patina’d tin probably has nearly a century left in it and that old wood will face a much less severe service. It’s easy to see that the same spirit that commits time and labor to repurpose materials also gives a cedar tree a second chance and makes room for old donor Buicks to continue their roles. One last thing, I swear I see a Georgia peach tree in the foreground of a pic. Thanks for sharing this.

Bought this Evans king pin reamer set on EBay several years ago. It has served me and my old Buick’s very well. There is something missing from this box but I don’t know what it would be unless it’s a wrench to turn these reamers.

Can’t wait for the next posting! I’m glad you took the time to show the inspirational pics. I wonder how many people that go through this process take the time and make the effort to search their soul for a personal design. I fear that what we really want hardly or poorly competes with economics and “standard packages”. It takes lot of courage to start a project like this. You didn’t mention utilities yet but it’s something you had to figure out early. I had a Woody Guthrie moment or two reading and listening. It’s real stuff!

My old Buicks demand a lot of woodwork. So, I think this qualifies for this thread. It’s a 6” jointer and is close to 60 years old. For that matter, most all of my large power tools are about that same vintage. This “old iron” is hard to beat. Joel

Once again I say thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, my artistic, right-brain atrophied during 5 years of engineering school indoctrination. It’s not been an easy recovery but I try. Retirement is helping; I’m amazed at just how much ‘off hours thinking time’ I was spending for my job-but not anymore. Pics below show some more stair progress. The walnut was sawed on my mill many years ago. It’s plentiful around here and I have enough for about 8 lifetimes. More yet to do but getting closer. Handrail will probably be walnut but supporting structure - I have some thoughts but that’s all.