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Building a K5 Shop

Dirsuper

Dirsuper

1/2 ton status
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Ramona, CA
Finally, after months of bs, I (well, my builder) is about to begin the construction of my shop. It will be 30x50 with 12' ceilings, one 18' wide/10' tall roll-up door. Life-long dream, and I am thankful it is coming together.

I have an '88 K5 I have had for years and will never part with. Hell, I drive that to work more often than I drive my 'new' truck. I might let the kid drive it in a few years......we'll see.

Recently picked up a '72 K5 which will be torn apart and rebuilt (using much of the great information available on this site). That build will start as soon as the shop is done.

So, I picked up the plans on Monday, have someone running permits (too busy at work to get away during the day), and my builder is working on the final #s. I have saved up more than I should need for the build, so it's getting built one way or another.

My question to the collective wisdom is this - What would you make damn sure you had/did not have in a shop geared towards rebuilding (first) a K5 and (later) various Chevy trucks. I have read just about every single page of GarageJournal, and took a lot of great info from there. Hell, just the month I was sweating one vs. two 'garage' doors I read every single thread about that subject.

I can tweak stuff very easily now, once it's done, it's done, so any insight, lessons learned, etc. is greatly appreciated.
 
Budget in a lift. If you can't afford on now, then be sure to have the slab reinforced for adding one later.

How tall is your truck ON A TRAILER? Mine is about 9' so I went with a 12' door instead of 10', it only cost a little over $100 more. It's not likely I'll put my truck in the shop on the trailer but if I need/want to, I can.

I put in twice as many lights as I thought I needed. I wish I had done this with plug outlets.
 
Definitely the lift, 220V outlets for good compressor/welder/etc. Ditto on lights. Also, a beam down the middle with a 1/2 or 1 ton chainfall/hoist on a manual trolley. Makes pulling engines or taking the top off one handed a breeze.
 
Bathroom and heat. By bathroom I mean a toilet and a large sink.

Lift air compressor plumbing all that is after the fact.

I would also pour a small pad outside the shop and build an air compressor shed. Garage journal has good info on it.

I would consider some anchor pots. A couple along the back wall and some where you will be able to position something to use them
 
Yep, toilet and sink would be nice.
 
in floor heat, killer electric for all the machines along the walls, slab for a lift, awesome lighting, decent exhaust fan, a loft in one area for parts storage..


personally, for a decent shop, I like a "clean" room, and a dirtier area.. when we built the one at the one marina, we had the clean room for my snappy box, motor assembly, etc, it was a sectioned off area from the main shop under the loft area's lower ceiling... with those clear, plastic, 6" wide, hanging slats you part and walk thru separating it from the main section...
 
ryoken said:
personally, for a decent shop, I like a "clean" room, and a dirtier area.. when we built the one at the one marina, we had the clean room for my snappy box, motor assembly, etc, it was a sectioned off area from the main shop under the loft area's lower ceiling... with those clear, plastic, 6" wide, hanging slats you part and walk thru separating it from the main section...
Click to expand...

it's really the best way of doing it. Something about saw dust and grinders/welders that don't mix well.

One day........:rolleyes:
 
First off awesome. Having a real building is the first start of being able to do big projects full scale and have the appropriate room to do them in.

My personal garage is a 30x50 building and is 10' tall, my doors are a pair of 20x8's. I set this building up with garage space in mind, not as a mechanical shop, but I do have an air compressor, back up generator system, good lighting, and plenty of 120/240v outlets. You can see my layout of how I set it up to maximize vehicle storage. It's nice actually having enough room for two big Dodges with flip out mirrors, and being able to walk all the way around them easily.

I would advise either a second door or a full 20' door, but this all depends on your layout. Next thing, is to have a lift inside, you are going to need a bigger building than a 12 footer. I would say a 16' roof line at least. Your K5 is probably 6' tall or better, you are probably 6' tall, and you still need room for your red iron and lighting. Just like shop floor space, roof space gets gobbled up quick too. Plenty of height is nice for the forklift too, being able to get around your project with the forklift is essential with the heavy/bulky stuff. Oh and don't forget good lighting! Have your lights on two systems, system 1 for normal/average brightness for when you are just in there for whatever reason, and a system 2 that you can flip on to make the shop really bright.

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For reference, here is my 40x60x16 mechanic shop. I do all my projects here, and you can see the roof line and how short it actually looks, even for being 16' tall. My doors are 18x14 and 16x14.
14_zpsd0w45dj1.jpg

IMAG0387_zpsa75lvdmo.jpg

Forklift friendly setup in and around your shop is a huge plus and what I would do.
IMAG0293_zps7khse5o6.jpg
 
Another thing is the garage doors. I would do roll up doors not conventional doors
 
When you wore it up,put outlets everywhere,that way you never have to go to far for power,and if you can do it in floor heat is great,and when the slab is poured ,putt rebar in it ,it is cheap and will keep your floor from cracking and moving around
 
Dirsuper said:
Finally, after months of bs, I (well, my builder) is about to begin the construction of my shop. It will be 30x50 with 12' ceilings, one 18' wide/10' tall roll-up door. Life-long dream, and I am thankful it is coming together.

I can tweak stuff very easily now, once it's done, it's done, so any insight, lessons learned, etc. is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Surprised no one has suggested the most common wish once everything is done and built: a bigger shop.

Yep, go bigger. You'll wish you did sooner or later after you're settled in it. I built the same size as your plans but with 10' walls and wish it was at least 40x60. The numbers 30x50 sounds big on paper but when you're standing in there is tiny. You will run out of room very quickly when you start putting stuff in there.
 
snowdriver said:
When you wore it up,put outlets everywhere,that way you never have to go to far for power,and if you can do it in floor heat is great,and when the slab is poured ,putt rebar in it ,it is cheap and will keep your floor from cracking and moving around
Click to expand...
A full rebar structure including a footing all the way around the pad should be in the blue prints for his building.
 
It's not only lots of outlets but higher than average breakers. At least 20 amps on every circuit.

Obviously you need to use the proper gauge of wire but if I can afford it I will be doing 25 or 30 amp breakers on every outlet circuit.

there will be a dedicated breaker where I am putting my bench
 
I have a "tool room" built into mine and love it. It's basically a storage room lined with shelves and pegboard to store all of my power tools, supplies and parts. Keeps from getting them covered in dust or overspray and I can always find what I need. Of course my hand tools are in a roll around tool chest that I can roll in and out of the room.
 
Put a door on the back side for airflow. My 30x40 has two 10x10 doors on the 30' side and one walk through on the 40' side. Needs at least a walk through on the other two sides.
 
did anyone mention lots of light? lol
You can't have too much light. I thought I went overkill on mine and now I find myself wishing I'd have done even more.

Someone mentioned a roll up door vs a regular garage door and I think that's a good idea too. It frees up a whole lot of ceiling space. I wanted to hang my hardtop from the ceiling but I can't because of the door.

and of course more outlets than you think you'll ever need.
 
Backside doors for air flow. Working in a hot shop with no airflow sucks. Bad.

Martin
 
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