Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT I'd love to have a shop that looked like this.

[roger55]

I have just bought a 4 acre place that I'm going to move to when I retire.
I am going to build a nice shop there in the next couple of years.

I saw this drawing of an old style gas station that I thought would make a cool looking shop.
It would be kind of like having a museum and a usable workshop.

Has anyone here built anything like this?

 

[Flathead Youngin']

yes that would be VERY cool........

some of the old ones were kind of a "kit".....there was one for sale somewhere......

 

[BoCRon]

Here's a garage belonging to one of the members of the Atlanta MINIs club.
I PMd him and told him to come here and show off his garage, but haven't seen him here yet. I'll be seeing him this weekend (I think) for a MINI drive, so I'll bug him again .

Annette

 

[rocco]

wow, what a neat garage

 

[KingPerformance]

really cool.

 

[Kevin54]

That is just too cool Roger...start planning now!!!!

If I had the other one shown, I'd be hanging in there 24/7. Take one bay of that and add the pool table / bar area the divorce rate in town would be going up!! "Just going to the gas station Honey, I'll be back shortly"

Kevin

 

[C_F]

That's really cool! Everything in there is so immaculate, too.

 

[TNToy]

You guys are ridiculous...

In order for me to have a garage that clean, I'd have to build a second garage so I could actually wrench, grind, cut, weld, and spill fluids in it.

 

[amishman]

Anyone ever see Jay Leno's shop. He has like a billion cars. I guess when you are rich and all.

tj

 

[scoutkid]

I have just bought a 4 acre place that I'm going to move to when I retire.
I am going to build a nice shop there in the next couple of years.

I saw this drawing of an old style gas station that I thought would make a cool looking shop.
It would be kind of like having a museum and a usable workshop.

Has anyone here built anything like this?

My great grandpa designed and drew that pegasus

 

[maa139]

If you're looking for a showroom type garage - or at least a section of a working shop as a showroom - Look for the book 'Ultimate Garages'. Lots of big money garage/car collections in there. They profile I think two dozen or so really really nice garages with car collections to match...

It's a good read.

 

[roger55]

Here's a garage belonging to one of the members of the Atlanta MINIs club.
I PMd him and told him to come here and show off his garage, but haven't seen him here yet. I'll be seeing him this weekend (I think) for a MINI drive, so I'll bug him again .
Annette

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Get him on here to show that place off. I'd like to see much more!

Roger

 

[roger55]

My great grandpa designed and drew that pegasus

Really? That is fantastic! The pegasus is what makes those old Mobil stations so cool!

 

[wilbilt]

You guys are ridiculous...

In order for me to have a garage that clean, I'd have to build a second garage so I could actually wrench, grind, cut, weld, and spill fluids in it.

Same here. One building would have to be a working shop, another could be the museum. Having worked in a few commercial service facilities (including a Texaco station), I can say that the illusion presented is far from the grimy truth.

 

[MAD]

Having worked in a few commercial service facilities (including a Texaco station), I can say that the illusion presented is far from the grimy truth.

Perhaps the inside of the mens room is period authentic with the original Patina still intact.

 

[wilbilt]

Perhaps the inside of the mens room is period authentic with the original Patina still intact.

Actually, keeping the rest rooms clean was always a priority, but it's a relative thing. They were "clean", compared to the rest of the place...

 

[HatTrick]

Same here. One building would have to be a working shop, another could be the museum...

Sounds like a good idea to me! Now I have to convince the wife and the city. ... Well, here's dreaming anyway.

 

[roger55]

Sounds like a good idea to me! Now I have to convince the wife and the city. ... Well, here's dreaming anyway.

My contractor thinks we can pull it off even tho I am in the city. Our zoning is "ranch and estates" and we are on a 4 acre lot. My wife actually thinks this is a cool idea too.

I would separate the end bay off with a wall for the "working bay".

We also already have an attached 2 car garage on the house for parking the every-day cars.

I'll keep you posted on what I actually do. It will be well into next year before I start this project.

 

[Grim Reaper]

I have just bought a 4 acre place that I'm going to move to when I retire.
I am going to build a nice shop there in the next couple of years.

I saw this drawing of an old style gas station that I thought would make a cool looking shop.
It would be kind of like having a museum and a usable workshop.

Has anyone here built anything like this?

There is a old station like that one in North GA. I am racking my brain to remember what town its in. No longer a gas station but it is still in use and they keep the place up and have memorabilia from the time on it. I want to say its in Adairsville.

 

[comp]

i say go for it

 

[HOTFR8]

I've just been to a place set up very similar to this but as a Mack Truck dealers. this guy Restorers Mack Trucks for a living. He had a 1950's ( I do not know my Mack trucks ) Restored Heavy Salvage Tow truck in the Shop.

He named his Garage Wait-A-While Motors. Sure looked good with all the signs out front.

His own project is a 1959 Dimond T Truck set up with a Kenworth Sleeper cabin and Modern Electronic Cummins Diesel engine.

 

[roger55]

There is a old station like that one in North GA. I am racking my brain to remember what town its in. No longer a gas station but it is still in use and they keep the place up and have memorabilia from the time on it. I want to say its in Adairsville.

This is a drawing of an actual station that is located in Gonzales, TX.
It is no longer an operating station but has been restored.

Gonzales Mobil on George Boutwell Site

I want to make a trip there sometime this fall and take some pictures and take the dimensions.

The time is getting closer for me to get my design decided on.

Roger

 

[Steve in Mi]

Ask the artist for a full set of prints and see what he paints for you. The place has real character.

 

[roger55]

Well, I visited with my contractor last week and we are shooting for a ground breaking on my new shop come June 1st of next year.
So, I am going to finalize my plans over the next couple of months.

I've already decided to go with a 24' X 48' building with either a 10' or 11' ceiling. I will also have the covered drive through area to keep with the 50's style gas station theme.
I came across another picture of an old gas station that I may use for many of the features I a going to go for. I have decided that I don't want a flat roof that the first callendar picture I posted has.

 

[Maxfli500]

The Mobil look is great. My dad was a Mobil Executive for 44 years. We had Flying red horse (pegasus) stuff all over when I was a kid. If I knew then what I know now I would collected the stuff to set up a great looking shop.

 

[jimvannoy]

When I was a kid back in the 60's and early 70's my Grandpa had a Texaco station in Centerville Iowa. I spent many summer days hanging out there. I remember big metal Texaco signs and pumps he had behind the station from whenever they replaced stuff. We use to walk on signs out back that were laying on the ground over mud holes. I sure wish I had some of those signs and pumps now. I do have the Coke machine that sat in his station from the 40's to the 70's though.

 

[jamm]

Check this site. http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org, they have a replica of a shell station

 

[Kevin54]

Check some of these old stations for ideas. http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/gas/gas.html

 

[WolverineCoatings]

i can't wait to see this one... I love seeing people build things that are unique! It just seems like the almighty dollar is the only consideration these days when new building are built. I'm hoping that the pendulum will swing back like the old days when the character of a building was the most important thing!

Good luck with your planning and build!

 

[roger55]

Here are my preliminary plans:

Floor Plan:

The stall on the right will be used as a clean room. I will occasionally paint a car and will use this room to do that kind of work.
The bathroom will be in the back left corner. The next small room to the right will be for my compressor and for the bead blaster dust collector and the next small room will be for the bead blaster and parts washer.
The rest will be for the main work and display area. I figure I'll put a LCD HDTV on the wall between the doors to the bathroom and bead blast room.

Here is a couple of aerial shots from the design program I am using. (These will not be the colors I will choose. Just shown to get an idea what the buliding will look like.)

Comments or suggestions will be appreciated. I'm still 6 months from breaking ground.

 

[Steve in Mi]

compressor and for the bead blaster dust collector

I wouldn't want my air compressor breathing the output of the dust collector. You can duct the compressor for intake of outside air but then that leaves you with all the fine dust discharge inside. Real world, if you want to stay reasonably clean - the output from the dust collector almost certainly will require a water impinging mini scrubber.

Another personal opinion, worth just what you're paying for it. I'd loose 6 windows starting on the East wall and around the North to the before mentioned compressor room. A/C load, window washing and low-e glass block are terms floating thru the gray matter. Carry on.

 

[PAToyota]

You can duct the compressor for intake of outside air but then that leaves you with all the fine dust discharge inside.

Just duct the exhaust from the dust collector outside - that's how I did mine and it works beautifully!

 

[Steve in Mi]

Just duct the exhaust from the dust collector outside - that's how I did mine and it works beautifully!

I admit that is an option but I also think it makes our problem someone else's problem. The super fine dust coming from the dust collector is (can be) a health hazard. Particles on the order of one micron and less, if breathed in, stay in the lungs and scar-over reducing lung capacity. If others, your children or neighbors, are subject to breathing this discharge ... well ... I don't want to preach about the possible consequences of that happening.

 

[roger55]

I admit that is an option but I also think it makes our problem someone else's problem. The super fine dust coming from the dust collector is (can be) a health hazard. Particles on the order of one micron and less, if breathed in, stay in the lungs and scar-over reducing lung capacity. If others, your children or neighbors, are subject to breathing this discharge ... well ... I don't want to preach about the possible consequences of that happening.

It is probably an option for me. I live on 4 acres and neighbors are a long ways off. And it would vent from a wall on the opposite side of our own yard.

 

[roger55]

Another personal opinion, worth just what you're paying for it. I'd loose 6 windows starting on the East wall and around the North to the before mentioned compressor room. A/C load, window washing and low-e glass block are terms floating thru the gray matter. Carry on.

Good point. I'll give more thought to those windows.

And btw, north on the diagram in reality will be west on my property. (The front of the building will face east.)

 

[PAToyota]

I admit that is an option but I also think it makes our problem someone else's problem.

Mine exhausts out the back side of my garage, basically into a pine tree... There is a difference in being next to the exhaust from a dust collector inside a building where it can become concentrated and being outside and having it filter out over the space. Granted, I would not exhaust it directly out over the neighbors' kids' sandbox, but by the time it travels through the tree, across my yard, into the neighbor's yard, and halfway across their yard to where they happen to be standing I really doubt that there is much to worry about. By that time it is mixed in with the auto exhaust, pollen, and forty-million other types of dust that are mixed into the air.

On that note, though, we once did a retro-fit design for a hospital because the previous design had the exhaust from the contagions lab spewing out right next to the fresh air intake for the building... And I can't count the number of times I've seen the fresh air intakes for buildings located right next to either a loading dock or a traffic circle where they can **** in all those exhaust fumes!

 

[roger55]

Revisions:

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/data/3435/LatestShop.jpg

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/data/3435/LatestFloorPlan.jpg

 

[DynoDave]

Revisions:

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/data/3435/LatestShop.jpg

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/data/3435/LatestFloorPlan.jpg

They even show it in Sinclair green and White. Thanks Roger55!

 

[roger55]

Time for an update. I am finally getting going with this project. I am in the process of clearing the site and will be getting bids for the foundation and gas pump island starting next week. Got the permit from the city week before last and it was not a problem at all. I am also picking out windows and doors.
I was at a loss on the style of door for a while but have decided on these from Overhead Door. It's the Courtyard Collection door and they will be 9' wide and 8' high. They will use rails with a 20" radius that will get them up tight to the 10 foot ceiling but still be able to use standard type operators instead of the expensive side mount units.

Also, I think I have decided to go with the silver Galvalume roof. But, I will stick with the white siding and green trim.
I will use Hardieplank in 8 inch width for siding.
I already had a 400 amp main service panel put on the main house and it is set up to feed 100 amp service to the shop.

I will post pictures as things start to get moving on the project.

 

[roger55]

I am getting to the ground breaking earlier than expected.
Trenching for the foundation is happening this week.
Here are some pics to bring the project up-to-date:

Here is the old garage on the site that had to go:


Here it is knocked down. My wife helped every step of the way.


I rented this backhoe to tear up the old foundation.
It had been a while since I had run one of these, so I felt a little uncoordinated. Also, I was used to the controls on a Case and not on a John Deere.


Here is the site with the paint laid down for trenching. You can see the outline of the building and the gas pump island. This was Sunday. Up to this point, My wife and I had done all the work. Now it's time to do some subbing out. A foundation guy is trenching it this week and laying out the forms, beams and rebar. Got to get 2 city inspections, one for the foundation form-up and one for the plumbing, before pouring the concrete.