Cool garage makeover

I put both of my welders over here and it only takes a few seconds to roll the TIG unit over to the north wall to use it. It also acts like a small table when I work on the car too. Let's take a closer look at the signs that you see.

The two hot rods leaving the line was again a birthday present. It's an embossed steel sign and very cool looking. The Don Garlets picture has been autographed by "Big Daddy" himself so I thought it would look nice out here. The old looking "Drag Racing" sign is really new but is made to appear old. And it has fake bullet holes in it too (like you'd find if it were nailed to a telephone pole).

The one that says "Shifters" on it was given to me by Debbie, when her late husband and my best friend Gary, had passed away. It's made out of Denim and was once part of the original Shifters jackets that the car club members wore back then. Being that it was Gary's, I'll keep it forever. I placed it near the top and in the center of the wall so I can see it every time I drive my car into the garage. I sure do miss him but will always remember all the great times we had.

Here you can see the new look of my steel drawers that hold all my nuts, bolts, washers, etc. I made the stand that it's sitting on out of 2" angle iron and to make it match the rest of the theme, it's been painted red too. And under it was just enough room for my wheel dollies. On top of it is a small flat area that has room for my phone and a few other things.

I dry walled around my swamp cooler which looks decent, but I don't know how good of an idea it really was because if I ever have to remove the cooler, I'm not sure how much dry wall will get damaged in the process. Below the cooler is something I've had for a long time. It looks like a clock but it's really a device to see when I can go hunting. Every other spot on it says "going hunting" and it lands on them every time (with the help of some magnets placed in the arm and behind each spot that doesn't say anything about work).

The last section of the west wall has an all new look. I took down all the old peg-board that was above my workbench and replaced it (and added some to this area as well) with this stuff that had the silver color all ready on it. And it's nice and easy to clean too. The old school wooden creeper was decorated and given to me by my mom back in the 70's while I was building my Camaro. I didn't use it much back then but found it very handy while I was building my hot rod this time around. If I ever do another car project, I know right where it is so I can use it again.

I added a few things that I use frequently and it's been very handy so far (which is the stuff right below the creeper). It seems like their are always a few tools that you use more than others so this was a perfect place for them.

The tools that you see at the top right are things I made while I was in High School metal shop class. I took shop the whole time I was in High School and had a good time while learning how to work with my hands. Little did I know then I would do this for a living later in life.

Let's take a trip back in time and I'll tell you a little bit about them. The piece on top painted red is made out of aluminum and was casted by me. We had a foundry that we used to make aluminum and brass sand castings and this was a required project in your first year of shop. It says "Yamaha, it's a better machine" on it. Yeah, I use to ride dirt bikes back then and as you might have guessed, it was a Yamaha. Under that is a chisel that has been hammer forged and heat treated. I've used it many times and it works great. Next we have a C-clamp that is made up of many pieces of steel and I won an award with it. The small item under that is a center punch which has been knurled in the center and it's been heat treated too. It happens to be my favorite center punch out of all the ones I own and gets used frequently. To the right of that is a hammer that has brass on one end and plastic on the other. The handle has been knurled and is screwed into the head. The larger one in the middle is a one pound sledge. I didn't make the wooden handle for it though. The smaller hammer is a ball peen style and has a red and clear plastic handle. The handle is held on by an aluminum threaded cap and the head screws on to the handle. Last but not least is a flat blade screwdriver. The steel blade again has been hammer forged, heat treated and the handle is made out of aluminum. By using an indexing head, the handle has been fluted with a 1/4" ball end mill so you can grip it.

When I would come home from school with a finished project, I gave them all to my mom and being the supporting mother that she was, she told me how nice they looked. As the years had past between then and now, I had forgotten all about them. But as luck would have it, she had saved some of them and gave them back to me about five years ago, right before she passed away. I couldn't believe it when I first saw them and thanked her for saving those little bits of metal that I made for her back then.

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