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My Retro 1930's BUICK SALES and SERVICE GARAGE


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and the French windows. Some $75 French doors from Lowes. I built them thinking I would have them hinged at the to and could be opened to help air flow but as of right now they are fixed and will likely stay that way.

Gawd, I'm gonna hate to stick air conditioners in those walls. But a split system to serve the office area separate of the garage area is not in the budget.

 

 

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I worked on a farm one summer with Heckle and Jeckle, very large Black Rat snakes.  They kept the rodents out of the barn.  You just had to be careful not to trip over them.  There must have been a lot of rodents; they were large snakes.  Took a while to get used to them but once you realized they were harmless, they were just part of the farm. 

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On 2018-02-07 at 9:49 AM, RivNut said:

When I was in the mortgage loan business, I made a construction loan to a local builder.  I didn't see him for a while but he finally came limping in one day.  He told me that his cicular saw guard didn't close and the saw hit the ground, jumped and landed on his foot. He lost two toes.  

 

Listen to the wisdom of Mr. Earl!

 

Thats what steel-toed boots are for. 

 

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51 minutes ago, Thriller said:

 

Thats what steel-toed boots are for. 

 

The steel toes in this guys boots are what kept him from losing all of his toes.  I guess you're saying it's okay to ignore safety just because you're "properly outfitted."  ?  He lost the two smaller toes - starting in the middle of the foot.  Everybody listen up, it's official,  you can now ignore Mr. Earl's advice as long as you wear steel toed boots. 

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6 hours ago, RivNut said:

The steel toes in this guys boots are what kept him from losing all of his toes.  I guess you're saying it's okay to ignore safety just because you're "properly outfitted."  ?  He lost the two smaller toes - starting in the middle of the foot.  Everybody listen up, it's official,  you can now ignore Mr. Earl's advice as long as you wear steel toed boots. 

We have jobs at my plant that now require steel metatarsal guards in addition to steel toes for this reason. Talk about a heavy,  hot boot! 

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2 hours ago, wndsofchng06 said:

We have jobs at my plant that now require steel metatarsal guards in addition to steel toes for this reason. Talk about a heavy,  hot boot! 

If they are required who is responsible for buying them? Where I worked if the company required a safety item the company had to buy it.

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51 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

If they are required who is responsible for buying them? Where I worked if the company required a safety item the company had to buy it.

OSHA require us to provide an specialty PPE. So we buy the metatarsal guard shoes. Steel toes are not considered specialty,  but we do offer employees $100 annually towards their purchase.

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another CL score. 16 for $200. Will see what kind of LED bulbs will work in them. They were in a church gym and had been painted with a spray gun at some point in the past. I'll have to sand down and paint either Cobalt Blue or Green.

 

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Temporarily hung one just to get a feel of what they would look like. Remember, there will be a tin ceiling hung on that lowest truss member.

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Ha, as a matter of fact I had a couple of folks in the neighborhood ask if I was building a saloon. Tha's not a bad job on the barbecue building. I like the amount of overhang and what looks like small corbels used under it. I considered the same as I have some small ones from the house I pulled the big ones from. I may use them on the inside.  

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On 2/8/2018 at 8:55 PM, Terry Wiegand said:

Lamar, your workmanship is great, the doors turned out fantastic, HOWEVER, the question that is in everyone's mind who is following this is - How ya gonna keep critters out?  And you got things down there that we don't have out here in Doo Dah.

 

Terry Wiegand

Out Doo Dah Way

 

Terry, I hope that after the ceiling is installed and with how I am securing and sealing the doors and windows that most "critters" as well as cold air will find the level of difficulty of entering to be pretty high. I have yet to install the door sweeps but have them ready and waiting.

 

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I would be more worried about keeping the cold air in,  if I was in GA.   Up here I built fully insulated covers to go over my insulated garage doors.  Made a world of  difference.  6 inches of Roxul insulation in the walls and 10 inches in the ceiling then 1 inch foil faced foam inside.  Now the heater will atleast  shut off.  It actually does pretty good and I don't have all the foam up.  I used about 200 gallons of kerosene to heat my 28 by 50 foot garage with a 10 foot ceiling for the entire winter.  Should cut it down more once the foam is all up and taped. 

The new shop has 8 inch walls,  so I will Beable to put 8 inches of Roxul in the walls.  It will have a heated floor as well.  I already insulated the foundation for it.  I've been planning on 2 inch foil faced foam in that.  Lots of windows on the southern facing side,  so I should get some heat from the sun as well.  

Of course the shell is up,  but I ran out of money.  I have been saving to buy the windows.  I think I'm just about there.  

Edited by auburnseeker (see edit history)
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For the last 3 days I have been moving building materials and junk around in and out of the garage preparing to start construction of the walls for the office area. Most of it including the cabinets, lights, a refrigerator, old tool boxes and the GMAP letters (somebody needs to buy them things, I'm tired of moving them) was moved into the pole barn stall vacated by the BlueBird. I'm pulling Southern Belle in and and out every day (and taking her around the block and to the beer store while she's out) and Tugalo Gas will be put up on wheel dollies so he can be moved around more easily. 

Took the opportunity to select the old heart pine doors that will be used for paneling in he office. I have been collecting these things for years and they are several different widths and thicknesses. I could not believe I was able to match up enough of a certain size and thickness to do the three walls. Thank you Jesus, thank you Lawerd....

 

 

 

I will be turning these upside down from the way they were originally hung and cutting off the bottom short half. These will go along the long back wall

 

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and these and 4 more just like them will go along the shorter end walls. The short ends will be used for under windows and possibly a seat box.

 

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I uncovered these heavy things I'd almost forgot I had. They are sections of flooring from an old sewing plant. Will likely use for work bench tops.

 

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Lamar,

 

What you are creating here is truly awesome.  Reusing old doors, wood, and such.    Truthfully, I'm astonished as to the thought and time you have put into this building with Rita's touch here and there.   I have half a mind to drive the 54 there just for a shot of it outside  the building!   My other half of mind keeps saying.."You crazy?" 

 

Keep posting!   Love the ambition behind this project!     

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On 2/15/2018 at 1:14 PM, avgwarhawk said:

I have half a mind to drive the 54 there just for a shot of it outside  the building!   My other half of mind keeps saying.."You crazy?" 

 

Keep posting!   Love the ambition behind this project!     

 

Listen to the first half and come on. Or you could just wait til the Grand Opening...

You keep watching, I'll keep posting...

 

 

On 2/15/2018 at 4:27 PM, old-tank said:

Yep, stay away from there.  He'll either put you to work or sell you something. ;)

 

or both!!! Actually I like the idea of "I work for parts"

 

On 2/17/2018 at 12:23 AM, Daves1940Buick56S said:

I want to see this! Hopefully later this summer...I can bring really good whiskey!

 

Cheers, Dave

 

get in that Super or even the lil TR-3 and come on down Dave!!!

 

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Time to get some signs or something up that will keep all the neighbors from asking when is the saloon going to be finished. 

 

After considering a large 20's 30's script lettered BUICK painted sign and getting some estimates from some sign painters I decided on another route and am glad I did. I ordered some large MDF (medium density fiber) letters from Woodland Manufacturing. Took quite a bit of sanding and ended up laying on 4 coats of paint (and sanding between each coat) on the front and 3 on the back. Each coat had to completely dry for several days in the sun before sanding and applying the next coat, so it too a couple of weeks total.  I drilled the mounting holes before painting so the MDF would be completely sealed off from water.

 

B-U-I-C-K

 

 

 

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Always under my feet...

 

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and Kowpi too...

 

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The letter inspector keeping me straight

 

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Glued and screwed

 

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Looking good.  I only wish I was anywhere near that point on my shop.  I think I finally have the funds to order windows for mine this week.  I would love to go the salvage route,  but up here Thermopane windows are a necessity.  I think I am going to step up to  divided light I believe.  I've decided to try not to settle too much.  Settling on something as visual as windows will make you grumble every time you look at the building and think that the saving wasn't worth it.  I have been searching craigslist like mad,  but I need 12 matched windows roughly 3 by 5 foot.  That's a tall order for something that also looks good.  

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I did get a price the other day.  Pella Proline Windows.  Simulated divided light with wood grilles,  raw wood interior Green aluminum clad exterior 3 foot by 5 foot double hung windows with screens for 504 each.  That seems pretty reasonable.  For my half windows I tried ordering just sashes but they were more expensive than ordering complete windows and taking the sashes out.  I looked into fixed windows but they are 404 each and the lights won't match height wise.  I decided to buy 6 extra double hungs and take one sash out of each.  I can cut the jambs down and fix one sash in each,  then I will only need to build 6 jambs from scratch.  Since there are 6 to a side I can put the metal clad jambs on the sun exposure side and the ones I have to build out of wood,  on the northern side that will get very little if any exposure. You also won't be able to see them side by side to compare them so I won't have to get the jambs to match exactly.  That will save me almost 2 Grand doing it that way.  I'll probably go up the week and get them ordered.  Now I think I will check into the same Pella doors to see what kind of price I can get so they match the windows.  

After all it is just a garage right. ;)

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Yes sir, it is... just a garage.How many times have I said that.... ;):D   But sounds like you have it all figured out with building some of the jams yourself. If all that is saving you 2 Grand I can't imagine what the total cost will be.  But man those should look really nice.  Why don't you start a thread here on your garage build. After all you will be storing a Buick or two in it won't you. Would love to follow it. 

 

Here is a set of double pane windows I bought at the local Habitat Store for $100 thinking I could make them work to look like old store front windows but just couldn't be satisfied with them. Turned around and sold them on CL for $400.

 

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Then was driving down the road and saw these out in front of an antique shop. Turned around went back and was happy to find there was 3 in pretty good shape, all the same size for $25 each, got all 3 for $60.

 

 

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I was hoping for more style in my garage,  but size was the first factor to consider.  When you get up to the 4300 square foot size with a 16 foot ceiling,  You really start getting expensive,  just for the shell.  I'll have at least 100 grand in mine,  just for the shell, shingled roof stick framing 2 by 8 construction all plywood no OSB with a frost wall.  I have $5000 just in gravel.  My floor is going o be another 20G just for the concrete and I imagine at least another 10G for the infloor insulation and tubing for radiant heat.  I've got the board and batten siding already pre stained and stacked inside, stickered.  I just need to get the  windows in before I can side it. 

I imagine electrical will run me another 10 to 15 G and that's with me doing a lot of it.  

Those numbers really add up fast.  As it was,  I ran out of money getting the shell up before winter and had to put some materials on my credit card and earn the last payment (only about a grand) on the labor to get the guy I hired to build it paid off. Only took about a  week fortunately.    I had paid him by the week so I could keep a handle on expenses.  It was a lot better than getting one huge bill at the end.   Of course the size kept me from doing a lot of it myself.  You really needed a crew.  I think the roof had 160 sheets of plywood.  Just the thought of that makes me want to grab a tube of muscle rub.  LOL

I did have a thread going,  but haven't posted much as not a lot has happened lately.  I wanted to post it with costs so a guy building something similar at least had an idea of how big that much money could build you as well as how much real 3 dimensional space that would give you inside.  I'll try to post a link here to that thread incase anyone is interested.  

I really like what you are doing with yours.  Looks great.  Keep up the good work.  

ironically my wife has a degree in historic preservation for architecture.  She loves old buildings.  Yours really looks the part.  It's kind of like the difference between the guy who builds a kit Cobra with a 350 chevy and pinto suspension and the guy who puts a real side oiler in it.  One you really have to look to tell it isn't real.  The other screams it. 

Yours really looks like it was built in the day. 

Oh by the way no Buicks at the moment,  but I'm sure atleast one if not a few will go through it.  I did have an all original 39 Special Convertible coupe a couple of years ago.  My Dad has a 39 Special sedan that I hope he gets on the road one of these days.  I'll take a 41 Convertible any day.  I've looked at a few,  but none came at the right time or price. 

Lots of other great Buicks I wouldn't turn down either.  A 64 Riviera is on the bucket list.  Of course the 57 and 58's. are nice ,but the price is getting out of reach on those as I really like convertibles.  Second choice would be a Caballero.  But those are in Convertible price range.  We'll see.  I'll let you know when the right one comes around.  With the kind of square footage I have.  Not enough room in the garage,  won't be the excuse.  

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and some signs...

 

Given the prices that old signs are selling for these days, I decided to go with having a few painted. The ones below were painted by a 85 year old sign painter from pictures and or smaller signs.

 

 

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An early 48" Sinclair HC sign. In 1926, Sinclair leapt ahead of most of its competitors with H-C, the industry's original high-octane premium gasoline for motorcars. The 72-octane auto fuel, developed at its Houston refinery, was better than anything then marketed (Lindbergh's flight to Paris the following year was on 73-octane gasoline). H-C stood for "Houston Concentrate," though some advertising men called it "High Compression."

 

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And one of my most favorite early script BUICK signs in 48" 

 

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He also painted this NO PARKING

 

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and this BUICK AUTHORIZED SERVICE STATION signs

Both of these are super rare and impossible to find in originals

 

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My friend Brad and I fabricated the sign stand from an old fan stand. Wrapped the flat iron around a barrel and clamped it, then welded it. Then cut a piece of flat plate in to a shape to hold the rim and welded it to the old stand.

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All of the others here below are store bought repros, a couple are getting hard to find though.

 

 

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And Elvis

 

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Here is a link to that thread for anyone interested.   It's intertwined with the thread.  I didn't start a separate one. 

As well as a few photos of the stage I'm at. 

I'm also thinking of building nice custom wood sliding doors for the garage door.  Has anyone had any experience good or bad?  I am thinking of a 2 inch foam core in them for energy efficiency.   It's a 14 foot tall by 16 foot wide opening. 

 

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Whew...it had been a week and I was getting a bit of the shakes from a lack of updates. 

 

I put over $100k Canadian into a 40'x60' steel building plumbed for in floor heating with insulated roof and doors. I think it was completed to it's current state in 2010 (or 2011...would need to double check records). There's no electrical, wall insulation nor active floor heating yet. 

 

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23 hours ago, JoelsBuicks said:

I’ve been waiting for the link to that early 70’s song, Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign.  I just knew it was coming but I guessed wrong.

 

Stay unpredictable Lamar.  There’s not many on this forum that makes rust look good but you do it well!

 

 

 

 

Rita always said the only thing predictable about me is my unpredictability.....  

 

I like rust, it's here to stay, but contrar' to Neil I think it's it better to rust out than to burn.    But one thing we do agree on is "once you're gone you never come back"     

 

As always, thanks for stoppin in Joel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 2/27/2018 at 6:32 PM, Pluto said:

Mr. Earl, that project is a testament to your ingenuity, resourcefulness and abilities in many differing fields. Well done!

BTW, is Elvis a Ridgeback? Reminds of our too-earl;y departed Moses. He was a real gentleman.

 

Wow, Pluto , them are some pretty big words for such a simple man, but thank ya.  and sorry to hear about your loss of Mr Moses, I can empathize.

 

And to answer your question, nah, contrar to what you and everybody else who has ever met him including myself that thinks he has Rhodesian Ridgeback in his blood, there is not a drop. He can sure run like one and can be pretty ferocious when he gets something treed or cornered, and can catch more fish out of my pond than I can, but here is what he is.

 

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Just an old hound dog...

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He literally goes diving for the bream.  Pretty quick to set a catfish back free though

 

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and ain’t sceared a nuthin 

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and whilst we're totally off topic here may as well play another song

 

He calls his dog King in this song, but who knows what Neils dog's name really was?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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