Posted by Paul Cook on Thursday, February 19, 2004 at 2:37PM :
In Reply to: I would like everyone's opinion... posted by Steven Hood on Thursday, February 19, 2004 at 12:26PM :
Do a mock-up of floor space before anything else. Park your truck on a hard driveway. Then open both doors as you would when working inside the cab. See how much clearance you need to get around the open doors. Also, get on your mechanic's creeper and find out how much space you use swinging your legs as you reposition yourself to get the right grip on the larger, heavier tools you use to work under your POWER WAGON.
Consider that you will need space to set aside parts you have removed while working. Don't kid yourself into thinking you won't accumulate some other parts that need to be stored. Add the space for your tool chest and a work bench. And see how much space you need for the handle on your floor jack. Then mark out that space with chalk.
I think you will see that 24' width is enough for only one truck. You would need only one 12' door. By the way, you cannot install two 12' doors in a 24' wall. Two 11' doors, maybe.
My dad was a carpenter and cabinet maker. While I lived at home, I messed with my MOPARs in the garage. He did most of his work at the job site, but there were occasional projects that he did in the garage. I learned that oil and wood do not mix. Sawdust is good for soaking up oil, but it sucks when you have to clean it out of a mechanical project. It does not add to the appearance of a wooden cabinet to have an oil smudge where you want to varnish.
While you are doing the mock-up, lay out the space requirements for ripping a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood on your table saw.
Let's say you go with the 24' width as being right for working on one truck and use the side areas for storage, tools, and work bench. That brings us to the length. My workshop is 24' x 24' and I can only work on one truck at a time. I have a 2' wide work bench across the front of my shop that leaves me 22' of floor length. A POWER WAGON is 17' long. For me to be able to walk around the truck in any direction, I need 2' front and rear. That's 21'. The handle of a floor jack sticks out 3'. If I want to set the truck on jack-stands for a brake job, I have to park it farther back so the jack handle clears the work bench in front and work with the door open so I can use my floor jack at the back of the truck. It's predicted to hit 80 this afternoon so I can work with the door open. Factor in your weather.
You may be able to get by with using 22' of your 30' length for your POWER WAGON restoration shop.
This would let you enclose the "front" 8' x 24' for your wood shop. You could have a regular interior door in the new wall and a 6' overhead door onto the alley for your wood working projects.
You can never build a shop that is too large. When you are working with available space, you have to see what will fit and go with that.