neohic

I’ve considered replacing a whole roof on an XJ before. My plan was to pull the drip rail covers off abs split the factory seam. Good on ya for keeping a sentimental rig on the road. Unfortunately mine is probably pots and pans by now.

Very nice. Such a rad truck!

Today I got all of the conduit run for the 110v outlets. My parents came out for a visit a few weeks ago and my dad had 60’ of leftovers from when he was finishing their basement. That made a huge dent in the project as I used about 50’. All that’s left is about 30’ to run for the lighting. There’s two runs of outlets. One that runs the north wall. The other runs the west and south walls. Hoping to have electrical done before things really start getting cold here.

Done and done. So… you’re purchasing another truck?

Thanks, all! The OSB is the finished product. I’ve got a big bin of things labeled “Garage Art” that hasn’t made it on to walls since before my first shop. My intent was to tie together the walls to the cabinets with a common material and OSB is what I decided on. The cabinets are a stained/glazed cherry but the panels in the doors and drawer fronts are OSB. I like the idea of treating a relatively cheap material with the same respect that we do at work as a high end kitchen. Right now the walls are a big much… hang in there though.

… it’s tomorrow. I keep going back to prior shops for inspiration. Even PRIOR to being a prior shop was the thought behind the new countertop. See, our last house was built in the early ‘60s and the crappy single garage stall that eventually got turned into a good work space was nearly graffitied with little notes and measurements written all over the place by the original owner. When we first moved in, there was a work bench made of a rows of 2x4s and that’s where I started finding his handwriting. I have no idea what the measurements and notes were referring to, but it really stuck with me since then. I wanted to bring back the feel of that old work bench. To get that old, nostalgic feel I started with nine ten foot 2x4s, trimmed off the rounded edges, and made some random cuts. I wanted to give the impression that it was put together with leftovers from framing the shop but I’ve since used up all of the real leftovers in the trim. This was after a fair amount of sanding and a bit of bondo to fill the gaps. Then came some sealer… … and then a coat of dark glaze to give it that old timey feel I wanted. I love it! I didn’t get carried away with a bunch of clear coats, nor did I even bother to get all of the sanding or cutting marks out. Honestly, pine 2x4s probably aren’t the best decision for using as a countertop as they’re somewhat soft, but future scratches and gouges are only going to add to the charm. Yes, I have my truck home. No, I haven’t dropped the trans to fix the input seal. Out with the temporary counter!… is it temporary if I’ve been using these for the past couple years? Might as well finally finish my cabinets too. It goes without saying, but I’m a sucker for old things. When I either can’t find the right thing or I do and I can’t bring myself to pay for it, I like to try and fool the next guy into thinking it’s the real deal. My nosey neighbor from next door walked over to see what I’ve been up to and asked, “Did you get this from the reclaimed architectural store up north?” Ha!… nailed it. The reason I spent my time working on a countertop as opposed to wiring this weekend was because I wanted it in place for locating some outlets along the back wall. This turned into locating some other things. The next step will be connecting the dots with conduit and then pushing wire through. I’m excited to have a ceiling fan in a shop! Never had one and I figured that it’d be nice for mostly moving warm air down in the winter time. The lights I decided on are simple hanging shades but with modern LED panel bulbs. On to the next step!

Good to hear that you’re kicking @$$! Can’t agree more with the near stress less environment of structural welding. I miss the days of working in a bridge shop before moving from Minnesota to Colorado. Nobody bothers you when your helmet is down. Nobody questions your decisions as long as the parts match the print. You go home and whatever isn’t done can wait until the next day. Congratulations!

Countertop things happening. … more on that tomorrow.

So great to see an update!

So… obviously we need pictures!!

Let me check…

I’d consider a Liberty. My parents had one a little while back and every time I drove it I thought it was a comfortable driver.

Any updates?

Well done, sir! I’ll just go ahead and move this over…

For months until just recently I’ve been picking at my brother’s kitchen. He’s up in Minnesota while I’m in Colorado and work at a cabinet shop. This all started on a visit up there in February. My intent was to build it for as cheap as possible while still creating a quality custom kitchen. I started setting aside damaged sheet goods that were still useable and still looked fine on one side. Then I scrounged scraps and seconds from customer jobs that cleaned up to new condition. This went on through the end of July. Total cost in materials came to just under $800. Granted, this is a small kitchen but it would’ve been about $6000 at our full retail. 77 hours went into this between staying late at work and the install itself. Then came the drive and construction while my dad and brother did the prep and reframing on one wall. Three very long days later… … and after the floor went down… … and the cherry on top was surprising him with a monogrammed cheese board from the sink cut out leftovers. I love my family. It has definitely been the hardest part of moving away from them five years ago now. Sure makes the visits that much more special when they happen! Always do favors and always help other when you can. This was a ton of work but very well worth taking time away from my projects.

Love this build! Followed everything you posted over on Pirate4x4. Welcome aboard! Glad you’re here.

Anything is what you make of it. Unfortunately, this is the third shop space I’ve built for myself and each has been a learning experience for the next. Hopefully this is the last! I will never claim to be a carpenter (even though I work at a custom cabinet shop… sshhhh!) but I will take the title of cheap @$$. I can’t stand paying someone for something I feel I can do for myself at the same or higher quality. You definitely have a leg up if they’re telling you that it’ll take two days for construction! I’m over two years!

Thank you! I’m looking forward to seeing yours come together.

I think so? Moving slow today but better as the day went on. The plan is to put a rail up the stairs and along the edge of the loft. I’d like to figure something interesting but haven’t put much thought into it yet.

Looks like a good honest truck. Welcome!

Right… let’s finally get back to the shop. Today and some of yesterday was spent cleaning up, putting away tools, and making a plan for whatever is next. That all started with putting the truck out and taking quite the three way thread cross over picture… … so the saw could be put in the middle of the shop to cut up the little off cuts from making all of the trim. This felt horrible what with the price of materials these days but just what does one do with essentially eight foot long paint stirring sticks? It’s all going to a good home and will be used though. I’ve got a buddy that burns wood through the winter that has been taking my scraps since the beginning of the project. Now onto finishing the trim starting with the windows… …and then around the doors as well as a finishing touch to the carriage doors. It’s kind of subtle but I like that it matches the exterior. I really need to figure a good latch. Then came the part on Saturday where I fell off a ladder, hit each rung with the back of my head on the way down, somehow put a huge scrape all the way up my back, landed, and then woke up on the floor gasping for air. I’m still not completely sure how I slipped but it’s never a good feeling when you really have to think hard the next day about what happened. Anyhow, today was another day… albeit a slow one. Stairs where built. This was another project to clean up some off cuts. This time the left overs from the carport where finally used as the steps themselves. It’s kind of steep but that was the plan all along. Still comfortable to go up and down though. This is now a real game changer with keeping the shop clean. Super easy to bring up tools I don’t need for now to further declutter. On that note, I’ve got some materials I’d like to hold onto for another project down the road. At some point within the next few years, we’d like to pursue purchasing another property to used as a permanent camp spot. Think off grid cabin type deal. The remainder of the siding steel went under the carport along with the growing pile of large pallet stretchers that’ll eventually get used as framing studs. This all sits next to my free wood stove that still needs fixing. Stay tuned for a future thread on the (hopefully) $0 cabin. As for the current state of the shop, I’m confident that the next logical step is now electrical.

I dig it. Thanks for the update!

There’s rain coming this week off and on. While I’ve been thoroughly enjoying going top less around town, I’m also tired of throwing a tarp over it. There’s been an issue in the wintertime that I’m trying to address now… the top panel. The sun hits it, warms up, and then the air condensates and rains down while you’re in it. I’ve wanted to do this from the start also anyhow. I painted the windshield frame black too. Jeep stopped doing this in 1974 (I think) and switched to body color starting in 1975. This solidified my plans for making roll up safari sides for the top for next summer. Kind of a best of both worlds type of deal for a top, I think. Then it all went back together with new hardware. It definitely wears itself older than it is.

Yup… you caught me. Still need to pull the trans and replace the front seal too.