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Thanks guys, I'll keep an eye out for some old school T8 fixtures

So far I've managed to (somewhat) seal up the back wall of the garage and fit a door.



Had to bust out the chisels because the doorframe I bought only just fit in the gap between the brick walls.



I decided to reuse the lattice frame on the right to save time, there's some pretty heavy rain expected over the next few days so I didn't want to remove it all and frame it up. Something I'll probably look at at a later date. For now I just nailed some FC sheeting to the lattice frame, threw on a lick of paint, installed the door handle and bob's your uncle.



Still some fairly major gaps to close up but at least the majority of the wall is enclosed now.



It even opens!

This afternoon I'll be moving the lathe and a few other bits and pieces into position to get a better idea of how I want the lights set out. I think I have a plan which will allow a car in the middle of the garage while still having enough space to work around it.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Well I've made some progress with the garage, I have most things that will live in there positioned in place. I still have to make a stand for the mill, CNC and power hacksaw, but yesterday I did manage to get some lights installed.



I also towed the Jeep Rod the ~150k's to my new place.



It has some surface rust from being stored near the ocean, but more worryingly it looks like my Dad didn't get a tarp on it before it got some rain on it. The spark plug wells are full of water so I'll have to check down the plug holes with a borescope to see what's going on. Fingers crossed the internals look alright!



I'll be booking an electrician shortly to come wire up the lights, add some 15a 240v single phase outlets and a couple of 415v 3-phase 32A ones. Finally the garage will be ready to start building stuff again!

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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The stars have finally aligned and yesterday the electrician came to do all the electrical work, what a saga trying to find someone over the Chrissy break.



Ignore the rubbish in the middle, just waiting on our bins to be emptied to throw it all out.





And the mighty Syncrowave powered up for the first time in 3 years; I can't wait to get back into my TIG welding!



I went with 4 x 15a double GPO's, with the 2 on each side sharing a circuit to save some $, then 4 x 10a double GPO's on another circuit, 1 x 32a 3-phase socket on its own circuit, and finally the 6 x 1200mm twin T8 LED fixtures without ballasts are on a switch next to the new fuse box.

I'm absolutely ecstatic it's ready, I have already done some MIG welding on the stand I'm making for the power hacksaw, so I'll finish that today, and then move on to making a new stand for the mill and mounting the TV/sound system before bringing down the hot rod.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Well my first projects have been completed in the new garage and I have to say, I'm having a blast.

First up was finishing the wheeled stand for my ancient power hacksaw





I just happened to have those top 4 pieces of scrap already cut to length which was nice.



A lick of paint and we're done!



Next up the all important TV mount. I've always wanted a TV and sound system in a garage so I'm putting one up.



A quick fabrication with scrap I found lying around and bob's your uncle.





Next up is to mount the 5.1 surround sound system I've had for ages, apparently the missus doesn't like how it looks so it's been banished to the garage... fine by me

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Excellent stuff, but where's the beer fridge?

Thanks haha, and it has crossed my mind! I just need to make sure I have enough floor space; 5.3m x 5.2m (17.4ft x 17.1ft) does not leave a lot of room for toys

However I now have the sound system installed!





The amp is mounted with a stainless hook above the TV (not ideal but seems to be fine) with the Raspberry Pi media centre, then the front left speaker is in the corner, the other 3 speakers are mounted into the roof and the sub is on top of the shelves.

I might move the corner speaker up onto the roof as well but at the moment I'm just enjoying it. Certainly the best sounding garage I've ever been in!

Next up is to trim and replace the fascia above the bench, make a stand for the mill, and then the hot rod can come down to be completed

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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The day has finally come where my old Volvo has migrated out of the new garage and the hot rod was brought down the hill.



Not as rusty as I'd imagined, except for the very front of the chassis which wasn't under a tarp.



Just seeing it back on the ground is motivating me to get it done.





Used my friends WRX's brakes to lower it down the driveway.



Success!



And finally home.



There seems to be enough room around it to work on it (just) and with some reorganisation of the garage it should be fine.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Well my motivation to get out into the garage has been low recently and I've been wondering why that's the case. I think it's because the CNC router I've been focusing my attention on is really just a means-to-an-end; I want the CNC so I can use it to do other projects. So, to help the situation, I've decided to move back into working on the hot-rod.

First up something simple to ease back into it - I removed most of the wiring from the engine and gearbox



Then I've removed the body and rear subframe to modify the rear upper suspension brackets.



The brackets don't provide enough clearance for the shocks and are just tacked on, so removing them is a snap



This really shows how rusty the chassis got while in storage, but it's all just surface rust



I think I'm going to remove rust from the chassis as-required to complete work, then I'll have it all sandblasted when it's ready for paint/galvanising/powder coating/POR15/whatever. I did start removing rust from the back of the chassis but it's just going to take forever and I'd rather leave it to the end than get bogged down and lose motivation again.

Next up I'm aiming to reattach the rear shock brackets and then make some tweaks to the front shock mounts for some extra clearance... then maybe swaybar mounts? I'm not sure, there's a long list of things left to do, I'll just tackle whichever one I feel like on any particular day. It's just a hobby, after all!

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Consider metal prep concentrate that you mix with water for application with a spray bottle. It can remove the rust and provide some protection between welding sessions. It's basically phosphorus. We get it at home improvement stores.

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Great idea! I'll try to grab some on my way home from work. Even if I do decide to get it sandblasted that will offer some protection in the meantime.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Another option is at your local Bunnings (home depot eqiv in OZ) sells CRC rust converter, it is a solution of tannic acid and an organic polymer and does a pretty good job of stopping corrosion and is easy to clean up.

Good idea! I hadn't thought of rust converter but that would be a very easy option.



Yesterday I had a few hours to work on the car so I drilled out the rear subframe spacers to line up better with the holes and then reattached the modified rear shock mounts.





Next up to get back into the swing of things I think I'll tackle the front swaybar mounts and make enquiries about having a roll hoop bent up.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Had a couple of hours today to reattach the rear subframe and start on shortening the driveshaft.







I'm keeping the front section standard and just shortening the rear half to ~350mm long, as well as making a mount for the center bearing.



In the future when I can justify the expense I plan on converting the car to manual and changing to a 1-piece driveshaft, but for now a shortened stock setup will work.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Center bearing mount finished



Front swaybar mounts





Next up I'll tackle the rear swaybar mounts and some very minor clearance issues the front shocks seem to have.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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Had an afternoon this weekend so I managed to trim up and temporarily Cleco the side panels on.







I'm thinking of trimming the back panel on the bottom edge to be level with where the frame cutouts are, what do you think?



I think it will make it look a bit sleeker that way; although with a spare wheel, licence plate, tail lights and rivets on the panel it won't look so much like a giant slab of emptiness... maybe it's better as-is? The body dimensions are the same as an original MB Jeep with the cockpit stretched ~300mm (12") if I recall correctly.

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Scratch built turbo V8 hot-rod in progress
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