Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[BB767]

Originally Posted by tinbender 66

Hey Tom & Chris..............I ended up here via the Car Craft article. I thought I would take a "peek" at what was here and now here I am 132 pages later. What an incredible journey! It's like a treasure hunt. Since I'm here, I thought I might as will hitch a ride to the end (If there is one). My garage is done on the outside and all utilities are in and now it's time for the interior. You've inspired me to rethink that part and do a little more as far as ambiance goes. Thanks for the beating my bank account is going to take lol. Thankfully, I have a wife (30 years) that's similar to your girl. I just retired after 30+ years in the sheet metal biz so now I have time to play. Once I'm done with the building I've got one of those '66 Chevy II 100 series 2dr post that's gonna get some lovin'!! I want that Catalina. I'm a fool for "post" cars. Sorry for the longwindedness. I gotta go out now and check if I clocked the screws correctly.

Thanks for everything you've done,

Paul P from the evergreen state

A warm welcome here Paul and congratulations on making it to retirement. Ambiance may not be important to everyone but it is to me as you can tell. I guess you could say it adds an intangible quality that enhances my time in the shop. All the small details that are present I just find silently very satisfying. No question the shop reflects me as I'm sure yours will you. I consider them an investment in me and I have absolutely no regrets expending the effort that I did out there and I bet you won't either (but don't let your wife hear about that, it's just between us guys, right? ) Thanks for taking a moment to check in and for your kind comments.

BTW, post cars rule don't they?

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by airbornrover

First time posting, just got done reading it all. Really nice work.

Thank you airbornrover for that. I see you are a long time lurker so you'll fit right in here. You still haven't read it all however, so if you can stand checking back, we'll be working our way toward that goal.

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by smrflng

It has taken me quite some time to read the entire post. The restoration of the lift was incredible. It brought back alot of memories of my dad's auto repair shop. He had a 2 post lift of similar vintage, which I believe is still in use to this day. You have inspired me to finally get out and straighten up my own garage. Keep up the great work.

Russ.

Hi Russ. I honest and truly felt the lift was the heart of the shop, my personal "crown jewel". 20 years ago it would have been a fantasy to me to own a work space with one. So I was determined to give the restoration of it my best effort. I'm glad to hear your dad's is still in operation. You'll love your garage organized. It takes effort to get it and keep it that way but it is a worthy goal I believe. Stick with it!

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by Chetter

I have been reading this thread for some time and saw the story in Car Craft magazine about your restoration and I had to chime in and say very nice job for sure. Makes me think of my grandfathers garage back when I was a kid visiting them in PA back in the 60's. His garage had the pit instead of the lift and just like the previous owner of your garage, kept everything, since like you said, those who lived during the great depression, didn't throw anything away. There was always someone who may be able to use it. My fathers garage though built during the 70's ended up the same way, my dad would not get rid of anything from all the old cars he worked on. His garage looks much like your pics, stuff everywhere, in the rafters, on the walls, in every nook and cranny. My dad died back in 1992 and was only 57 at the time but your post and pics have taken me back in time to my grandfathers and fathers garages during my childhood. Thanks for bringing back some cool memories.

Hello Chetter, thank you for sharing those memories and I appreciate you taking the effort of replying. I completely understand why people of that generation did hoard so much, though some managed it better than others. My own father had a tendency toward it having experienced the depression in his early teens. Every time I walk through that shop door I have some cool memories myself, every time. From my own childhood being out there to working with my son and friend on the restoration 40 years later. Please stick with us here, I've got more on the way.

Thomas

[DZL JIM]

Ok, another new guy here.
I stumbled on this site somehow last weekend and spent 5 evenings last week hearing my wife say "You're STILL reading about that old shop?"
I love what you've done and can't wait to read more.
and
I built my shop here 7 years ago and ended up setting up half of it to run my business at home. Years ago I never would have imagined I'd be fortunate and have what I do today. Amazing how things work out.
Anyway, I'm hooked and I'll be checking in everyday.

[BB767]

As mentioned here before there were 7 and 1/2 "vehicles" found on the property that needed new homes. The following photographs are mostly from the first week of my ownership and before I had really begun to do the outside clean up.



This is the one I thought held the most promise...



...but upon closer...



...examination...



...it was apparent that it was just good for scrape. Not that I didn't try to give it away... no takers even with a clean title.



Not really sure what year...



..Chevrolet this was...



I'm sure everyone remembers this picture



Another scrap piece just waiting to happen.





If anyone wants to venture a guess...



I can't really remember what this was, a Chevrolet I think.



There wasn't a whole lot left of it, but I did have a title for it. I consider this just 1/2 a car, don't you think? This was just outside the barn seen below.



It was sited behind the large locust, about where the tree has a crook in the trunk. Hmmmm. I wonder what would have caused that crook??



Then there was the '63 Ford pickup...



...and the Toyota Land Cruiser.



Nasty with rust.





Of course the Monte Carlo which you've seen before. That's a small horse barn hidden beyond it.





A family member came by to claim this about 5 months after I bought the property. He wanted some of the running gear for a demolition derby car. Who was I to deny him that pleasure.



Closer to the shop was this Chevy pickup. It had sunk to the axles.





Here's where that truck was parked, in front of the left side overhead door.

And of course everyone's favorite...



The '37 Hudson Terraplane.



That piece of branch hanging off the shift lever had completely grown around the lever and was attached to it, but was pretty rotted by the time I bought the shop and it fell off the first time I touched it. That's why is not in any newer pictures.



Look closely and you can see where that limb grew out of the trunk and then around the lever. These are the only pictures I have of it.



It's the only vehicle I kept out of the 7. Who could not want that for their very own?

Thomas

[HOTFR8]

The last two photos are just classic. Nature at its best.

[haffij]

I check here for updates every few weeks. Really admire your work and your story. Please keep updating

[ToyMeKaNeK]

...makes you wonder, what IF Mr Johnson never happened like in 'It's a wonderful life'?
Maybe just a farm field sitting there today?
That's an incredible amount of one mans junk on 5 acres of land in the center of the universe. An entire lifetime wrapped up into a time capsule.
Then comes Thomas to open it up for all of us to see. Truly inspiring! It's a book you just can't put down. (with awesome pics) Keep 'em coming like I've read here hundreds of times already.

John.

[3bay]

1948 Chevrolet Fleetline Sedan

[realvc]

Check out the Port a Wall on the 48 Chevy 3Bay posted. We sold those at an auto parts store where I worked during high school in the 60's. We had quarter walls and the wide white walls. This was just before red line, green line and blue line tires. Latter the wide white walls were called gangster walls. Some skill was required to get them centered and to lay tight against the side of the tire. Now days you see mostly black walls on everything.

In 1968 I had a 63 vette roadster with the quarter white wall Tiger Paw tires on Keystone mags and my brother had a 65 vette roadster with redline tires. We thought they were cool back then.

Thomas, your 62 and 64 SS cars are very nice as is your Chevy II. I have always been a fan of the 327 engine.

I'm still following and enjoying your updates.
Vince

[rlwhitetr3b]

Originally Posted by ToyMeKaNeK

...makes you wonder, what IF Mr Johnson never happened like in 'It's a wonderful life'?
Maybe just a farm field sitting there today?

And if it weren’t for Thomas and Chris there would be a subdivision of new homes there now.

[Motown 454]

I love Landcruisers. Some interesting stuff you had there.

[OldMechanik]

Thomas and Chris, I don't even know where to begin. I can't believe what you found and what you've done with it. Great job! Although I will say it took me quite a few nights and just a little ribbing from my wife about the time spent reading 130+ pages of posts here, I did enjoy every page.
I grew up in a small shop, not far away from you, in western Il. in the 60s and 70s. I spent a good bit of time working, repairing cars and learning the lessons of business life from my dad, the proprieter of a family owned Standard Oil service station. As I paged through the thread I saw quite a few items I used then and still sit in his shop. He has unfortunatly passed, but I still remember. His shop was started somewhere in the late 190?s as evidenced by an old gas receipt we found along with a pair of pump globes in the attic of the shop, by his dad. I enjoyed the section about the lift and it's restoration as I can remember the twin post lift we had that was installed in the 30s. That poor lift was just about worn out and had a scary spot at the top where it would push one post up higher than the other. We had a car chained on one after noon....I thought the old man was going to have a stroke right there, but he got it down scratch free. We had an old fuel oil heater in the basement (the shop used to be a pit style before the lift) and the office. Both of them were as cantankerous as the one in Ralphies home, and my dad would fiddle with them just as much. Though he never cussed to where I could hear him.
We did tires too...we used a bubble balancer and patched tubes, the tire spreader table and the tube stretcher are still there along with the all and the sticher.We also had the "axle housing jack stands". I have heard the old shop is for sale....maybe I'll make a trip to Il soon.
Thank you for all the pics, for the attention to detail and most of all for not being a person of the "throw it out" society. I'm sure Mr. Johnson would love his new shop.

And I will continue to follow your thread.....

[BEAVO]

new to site and i love the build i think its great to see this old shop being saved and oh love the nova and incase you havnt heard of it go check out stevesnovasite.com................you even got to keep some tools and they work thats got to be a plus

[BB767]

Originally Posted by CRTDI

Thomas,

I've been following along with your jack rebuild and I must say the attention you give to the small details is quite amazing. Very nice work!!!

Thank you CRTDI, you have a very enthusiastic supporter for a long time. I appreciate it. Regarding small details, I just really don't know how to do it any other way. It can be a curse or a blessing. Depends on your point of view I guess.

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by Scuderia-F1

Great pics of that walker coming apart Thomas, I also enjoyed the little story about your grandfathers wrenches, what a great way to let the memory of him live.

Anders

Thanks Anders for the note. Part of who I am is because of my grandfather, a man I never got to meet but who I feel a kinship to. Actually I never met either of my grandfathers. Many of his pictures were around our house because as I was growing up, my grandmother came to live with us the last 20 years or so of her life. She and Mom both spoke often of him and encouraged my mechanical interests. Grandma shared a letter she received from the head of Allis Chalmers shortly after Granddad passed, while still employed by A C. He related how frequently my grandfather was requested by name when a customer hired A C to build a new power plant. In one instance the customer was told Granddad was unavailable for 2 years before he was done with the plant he was building at present. The reply to that was............"then we'll wait". He's one guy I really wish I could have met.

So I got this mechanical bug from both sides of my family and told repeatedly to "always do your best and never be satisfied with good enough" etc, etc. Maybe that will help explain my attention to detail....or maybe I'm just neurotic. After all, I have convinced myself that if I pull back on this thing called a yoke I can single handily lift 450,000 lbs (204,116 kg) into the air. Is that nuts or what??

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by DZL JIM

Ok, another new guy here.
I stumbled on this site somehow last weekend and spent 5 evenings last week hearing my wife say "You're STILL reading about that old shop?"
I love what you've done and can't wait to read more.
and
I built my shop here 7 years ago and ended up setting up half of it to run my business at home. Years ago I never would have imagined I'd be fortunate and have what I do today. Amazing how things work out.
Anyway, I'm hooked and I'll be checking in everyday.

Another household I've disrupted . When your wife calls it "that old shop" that's your opportunity to reply, 'it's not "JUST A SHOP" It's a work of art'............or something to that effect.

Checking in everyday huh, boy have I got my work cut out for me! Anyway, welcome to our world here.

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by haffij

I check here for updates every few weeks. Really admire your work and your story. Please keep updating

Ya know with encouragement like that, I'll just have to keep updating.

Thanks so much.

Thomas

[BB767]

Originally Posted by ToyMeKaNeK

...makes you wonder, what IF Mr Johnson never happened like in 'It's a wonderful life'?
Maybe just a farm field sitting there today?
That's an incredible amount of one mans junk on 5 acres of land in the center of the universe. An entire lifetime wrapped up into a time capsule.
Then comes Thomas to open it up for all of us to see. Truly inspiring! It's a book you just can't put down. (with awesome pics) Keep 'em coming like I've read here hundreds of times already.

John.

Originally Posted by rlwhitetr3b

And if it weren’t for Thomas and Chris there would be a subdivision of new homes there now.

That is an interesting thought John. To the south and west are all farm fields and to the north and east are subdivisions. rlwhitetr3b I think had it, probably homes. Time capsule it was. The deeper I went into piles of "treasure" generally the older the "treasure" became.

Of course if none of this had happened look how much more sleep everyone would have gotten.

Thomas