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Triumph TR6 - Essential Garage / Shop Stuff...

Okay guys, take a break from the tech talk for a minute. I think we should build a thread on essential garage décor over and above tools, workbenches, parts washers, and beer fridges. A guy, and some gals, needs to have his garage look like it belongs on the Brit version of the Speed Channel… to be the best place to hang during boring house parties. The World Series is over, our 6’s are winterized or are works in progress, we don’t have plans to panic shop for the holidays until late December, so let’s have at it. Submit your recommendations for essential LBC garage décor; stuff that all us TR6'ers must have and, if you remember, tell us too where you got the stuff. Links to pictures would be great! This could be a pretty good little time waster and could help keep the spirit alive during the humdrum of November… or not. Ken.
K. T. Shaddock

Disclaimer- the comment below may be a downer and may not be in the spirit of Ken's objective but I like to complain about the types of homes they build in urban centers in Ontario. The choice is not great.

The garage in my house has always been a sore spot and was a compromise I had to make when we bought it. The size of it certainly made the TR6 rebuild I did a challenge.

The garages they build here in Ontario to fit the homes on the pea sized lots they make in urban centers are small. They call it a two car garage but I cannot fit a mid sized car on the RHS because the stairs from the door come down and interfere with the car pulling in all the way. My walls are covered with hangers for garden tools, brooms, folding chairs, snow shovels, etc. Fitting a beer fridge with my tool box, compressor and very small work bench and Spitfire and TR6 is not possible. A lot of people on my street don't even use the garages for cars since they are filled with garden tools and outdoor stuff.

Sorry for the diatribe but I feel better when I complain about it. So you are helping my Humdrum November Ken ;-)

In any case, I don't have anything of note in my garage worthy of your survey except perhaps my license plate collection from Ontario and Illinois (I spent a couple of years in the States). I would like a hoist, some nice posters of Brit cars, a stairway access to my basement and a beer fridge in my garage if I had the room.

Mike Petryschuk.
Michael S. Petryschuk

Mike

I lived in Pembroke and so I know your problems with Ontario garages.

For TR6 vintage posters I got one in the UK. It was published by "The Vintage Ad Gallery Ltd. Atwood House Claremont Gardens, Epsom, Surrey UK. I dont know if they have a website but the print I have is of a BRG TR6 1975-76(LHD).

Anyway one essential would be "Top Down Six Vol 1". Vol 2 should be out soon.

I lost your e-mail can you resend? Also the list of brit bits that you have on offer.

Cheers

Les
lw gilholme


A refridgerator stocked with beer!
HP Henry Patterson



.....a muffler
anon

Hey Mike, I know the small lot small garage drill but have finally ended up with (I'm in my last house before my wife puts me away) having a double car garage BUT, the PO built a bathroom / mudroom that takes half of one bay so there's +'s & -'s on that one.

Rick C knows this but although I have the double garage, the tools, the beer fridge (stocked Henry), some pics of an AH, a 55 T Bird, my 56 Chevy, a Nascar plaque and a trophy I won at Speedsport '74 with the Chevy, I'm missing the most important Brit Car Garage item... the car! At least until spring when the 6 arrives. I'll copy your license plate idea and get mine out of storage when I finish my woodworking projects... sawdust everywhere... not good. Thx for getting us started.
K. T. Shaddock

Winterized? Not for 2 more weeks.
Brent B


Brent,

Do you really need to winterize in Tennesee? Seems like you could get some good driving day's once in a while in the winter.
HP Henry Patterson

Hi Les

Can you tell me more about "Top Down Six Vol 1"?

Ken

K. T. Shaddock

Les, better...how can one get a copy.
Cheers
Pete
Pete Russell

What about a Union Jack, a picture of Winston Churchill, a pub & draught taps, pics from some of these websites... c'mon, work with me.

http://www.speedace.info/triumph.htm

http://www.club.triumph.org.uk/anniversary/historic.htm

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Triumph-TR6

Hey Brent... got stranded on I-65 south of Nashville one year in Franklin. Major snow storm, 15 inches down in Birmingham, AL and Interstate closed all the way back up to Nashville. Escaped after 3 days in a Franklin motel. Took I-40 Westbound which was untouched. I know you get some fun ice-storms / freezing rain so you might have some empathy for us shmucks up here in the Great White North. That's why we take flight after Christmas... honk! Ken ~
K. T. Shaddock

Hey Ken.
I remember that storm well (think it's the same) - my inlaws were stuck at my house for more days than planned... I think it was early 90's?

The top's up (winterization) and hit 75 today. And you're right - we get some really icy/snowy weather at times! Can't wait to move back to Florida in a few years.
Brent B

Ken & Pete

"Top Down Six" Vol 1 was a CD that I created with the help of some members of the BBS, the music chosen was so that it could be played loud with rag down. I only made 10 copies for worldwide distribution. I gave them to the good souls out there who are regular contributers and who have been supportive of "my rebuild and I" you can check the archives for the playlist.

Vol 2 will be ready soon and will be going out to the orginal 10. After that I may cut some more Vol 1. Who knows who will be on the extra Christmas list. Marcello says that he wants to do Vol 3, and that should be fun to hear.

Les

lw gilholme

What about getting the garage floor one of those epoxy coatings with sprinkled color or the checkerboard floor tile! Maybe I would keep it cleaner...or maybe not!

Mike
'73
Mike Calhoun

How about a big vise and a drill press.
Brent B

What is "winter"?

Is that when all the retired canadians and yankees come visit us?

John
JL Bryan

Rub it in, John.
Brent B

Thx Les... will look at the old threads, find your tunes and burn a few.

Brent... that's the one. Our two daughters were on Spring Break and we had 7 days to drive to-from Ontario and do the beaches at Panama City Beach. Didn't need to spend 3 of 'em in a TN motel... no offence to The Volunteer State.

Mike... I like it! A showroom floor in my garage... Oh look, here comes my wife with her flower buckets, peat moss, potting soil, bulbs, bone meal and fertilizer... alas. A nice idea though.
K. T. Shaddock

Les...

Found your post of April 2006 "Music To Drive By".

Some useless information for you: The bass player in Steppenwolf went to same high school as moi. I remember him but we weren't buddies. Carol Pope of Rough Trade was a year behind me but she's another story. I think she wrote High School Confidential from her memory of our school days.

Ken
K. T. Shaddock

Ken

No need to do that, the cd that I send out has a great looking TR6 laser cut on the disc. I shall send you vol 1 after I cut Vol 2. I can see that you will be a valued BBS contributer. So send your postal address to my e-mail.

Les
lw gilholme

Ken, I hear you about all the wifes gardening stuff that starts to fill up garage. I had to put my foot down about that and I'm a professional Horticulturist!
Watering cans, peatmoss,tera cotta pots, it's all great as long as it lives in the wood shed.
Unfortunately my garage doesn't look like a Brit pub but some of the nice things I have is two big old carpets on the concrete floor,( very nice on the back when your under the car in Feb.) When we are having a party the smokers need somewhere to go so I fire up the Propane radiant heater that hangs from the ceiling
in the garage (80,000 btu's) so everyone stays warm.
I also have 3-4 small reading lamps placed around the garage for "mood lighting" instead of the overhead work lights. Quite often the garage becomes the place
that everyone ends up in by the end of the night.
Also, instead of having a drawer full of photos of great cars I've seen at car shows I now have a the inside surface of the garage door (double) covered in those photos so I and everyone else can enjoy them.
Chris
Christopher Trace

Les

You should have mail with my list. I sent it Oct 25.
I will resend.

I look forward to volume 2 of Top Down.

A lot of great ideas being offered. I will have to try a few. I just have to kick the Spitfire out. I plan on wintering it in my parents apple orchard shed. TR6 goes where Spitfire is and then maybe I can get the Impala in for the winter. Still no room for a beer fridge.

Maybe I'll head down and winter in Florida with John. This work thing for a living is a real drag anyway. Cuts too much into my car tinkering time. But I'll stay away from Tennessee. I hear it snows there and you end up spending too much time with your in-laws.

Regards
Mike
Michael S. Petryschuk

Wow, lots of interesting ideas to add to our wish list, but the most interesting that I have read so far is Chris Trace and his "garage mood lighting"!! Chris, I must pop over to check out progress on your rebuild. I will email you. I guess I really don't have any neat stuff in my garage to "contribute" to this thread (except that I do have a '74 TR6 in fine running order!!) Well ok it does mark it spot wherever it goes, but thats another story. Guys how about the "Motofloor" in Costco...looks pretty spiffy, and is oils/petrol/antifreeze resistant. It also costs mucho peseos. A guy in Ballinafad down the road from me built a garage just for his Porche 911. He has a hydraulic hoist (high ceiling) and get this...where there used to be his wife's garden in back of the Porche garage is now a paved "washing pad" to keep his toy shinny clean!
Cheers
Pete
Pete Russell

Pete... now that's just not right. His own hoist, washing pad... he probably has clips on the wall for matt rinsing, a built-in shop-vac with outside hose & hose rack, towel dispenser. At least he details it himself! Errr... pls don't tell me his wife washes & waxes it.

Just got Victoria British's catalog and see they have a few tin service signs for Triumph cars. Perfect.

Chris... propane heat, pics on the insides of my insulated garage doors... done. Mood lighting... now I had not thought of that one. What about a lava lamp? Both son's in law up this weekend. I'll get some more ideas.
K. T. Shaddock

Ken
What Mr.TRace does not say is that the big old carpets under his 6 are actually Persian rugs...no wounder he needs "mood lighting".
Rick
Rick Crawford

CHRIS- what brand heater do you have. With my surgery on the horizon I'm going to have alot of down time and plan to finally install the heater. Toss up between the Modine blower unit and a radiant tube style. Is yours straight or "U" shaped?
Don
DON KELLY

Guys:

My garage is still my cousin's garage as I have not yet built a new home for my TR6. My new neighbor in his 4800 sq ft home has a 1300 sq ft "garage" with radiant in-floor heating, floor painted tan color! Has colonial moldings and baseboard, framed art on the walls, slate top pool table, a walnut wet bar, fridge, TV & stereo, closed circuit surveillance TV system, stainless steel tool chests, a silver 2005 Dodge Viper, 2003 Chevy SSR retractable-roof "pickup" and a '68 malibu SS 396. Can you believe the poor bugger doesn't have a TR6? Guess I'm just the lucky one in the neighborhood!
What about that 6 ft TR6 canvas TR6 poster from the TRF catalog. Would look nice in the garage - or the bedroom.
Cheers,
Bob
1976 - TR6
Bob Evans

Bob
My wife would definitely say I crossed the line with a 6' poster in the bedroom.
Rick Crawford

Rick... ditto. LOL. That was hilarious.
K. T. Shaddock

All,
What Mr. Crawford does not say is they are both cheap nylon knock offs from the 70's.(ugly)

Don, Mine is made by Midwest Radiant, they are located in southern Ontario. Great heater. Mine is a 6ft U shape, but they make them to fit any shop.
Mine burns about 2 litres of propane per hour which works out to $1.00 per hr. Pretty good I think, and it has to be a really cold day to have it on 50% of the time. But because it is infra red heat it doesn't heat the air, it heats up the objects in the shop and they warm up the air. It can roast my bald spot in ten seconds flat so I have to wear a mechanics beanie cap
while it is on.
However, one of the best things about it is being able to paint small parts. I hang a number of wires from the leading edge, attach the parts to be painted, once they have warmed up I give them a first coat that flashes off in 30 seconds, cures in 2 min. and then a second coat and let bake on. 30 min. later I bolt the piece back on the car.
Chris
Christopher Trace

Dream Garage decor?
(Firstly not all Ontario garages are small...)

1-My compressor off the floor on a stand above and noise exhausted outside.

2-A hot and cold water clean and degrease sink in corner.

3-A 2 pole lift (a 4 pole is restrictive for work)

4-A exhaust vent

5- 1 short single tube heater.

6- A sound system

7- Epoxy grey floor that runs 1/4 the way up the wall.

8- Lastly.....plasma screen over the work bench and a weekly visit from a French maid dresses in cover alls....
Marcello

Marcello,
is she from Montreal or Paris?
Washing or waxing?
Christopher Trace

Now you know that those caring, sharing, sensitive new age guy (SNAG) types among us will be offended by those last couple of posts.....

And speaking of SNAGgy stuff, with our eviction from our old shop/playpen to make way for condos and subsequent move into a new shop/playpen, with different people winding up in different places we did lose access to some of the shared equipment (sheet metal brake, plasma cutter, and both parts washers), I took it upon myself to pony up the brass for a decent parts washer, but the place was out of mineral spirits except small containers which would have cost a small fortune to use in filling the parts washer. No problem I thought, I'll go ahead and set it up, procure mineral spirits later and fill it the next time over. I was beat to the punch by our SNAGgiest guy.

He went on to say that in a fit of responsibility (the first SNAGgy sign) that he had purchased some environmentally friendly stuff for the parts washer, no need for the mineral spirits. Well, the stuff was pretty worthless when it came to cleaning, we would have been better off with dishwashing soap. To add insult to injury, the stuff was not inexpensive and was found to be a wonderful growth media for all manner of scummy fungi and bacteria. After a couple of months of little activity due to hot weather, we went to use it and there was this thick, wonderful layer of, well, I don't know exactly what it was other than digusting. There very well could have been diseases in there that they don't have names for. This was followed by a dumping of the parts washer and thorough cleaning then by the purchase of mineral spirits in sufficient quantity to get the freshly cleaned parts washer up and going.

No one has mentioned a parts washer and it should definitely be on the list. When you are working on these old crocks a parts washer is worth having. The moral of this story though is when you get it, forget the whole caring and sharing thing and use something real to fill it.
SteveP

Steve
SNAG (??) I have no idea what has happened to Georgia since my last visit, but your post has me a little dizzy.

Parts washer, I did mention it in mine, it's incognito as a "degrease and clean sink" sorry mispronounce.

Chris,
I wear my flag proudly and I want my cleaning maid from Quebec.
Marcello

Sorry Marcello, it's just that a "hot and cold water clean and degrease sink" doesn't make me think parts washer on screen, it just looks like a big sink with hot and cold water. A tub with a work tray, a reservior of solvent,low pressure pump and nozzle, that is what I think of when I think parts washer. For non-agitated dip type cleaning I go a different route, it's Berryman Chem-Dip. Check out the MSDS:

http://www.berrymanproducts.com/Portals/0/BPI%20MSDS/0901,%200905.pdf

It is one evil concoction, but it will get things squeeeeeeeky clean. I've been using that stuff for well over 30 years. They've already had to develop a different formula for use in California, I dread the day that they stop making this stuff and all you can get is the Californicated version.

As for the whole SNAG thing, it was tongue planted rather firmly in cheek stuff. Would it sound more like Georgia and the maid stuff was answered in NASCAR? If so, here goes "I heard that!"
SteveP

This thread was discussed between 29/10/2006 and 05/11/2006

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