School me on the best feature of your Bronco shop/garage

[Scoop]

You may have seen my garage thread already? You've hit on a lot of the features I'm including. In addition to what you list I included a bathroom, fridge (for beer!), and washer and dryer (for oily rags my wife won't let me put in her machines!).

One thing I would do different (actually 2), is make both doors a little wider. Mine's a 3-car design and I spec'd a 7 ft wide single door. Should have gone next size wider. The EBs fit through ok, but I have to fold the mirrors to get my full sizes in the single bay. It works but too close for comfort.

15 foot ceiling is more than enough, 12 foot should work with most lifts. Not sure what the extra 3 feet will cost you. Also look at your electrical service. I went with 125 amp. 200 would have been better but to get more than 125 I would have had to install a completely separate service. So I opted to live with 125. I just can't run everything at the same time! Install plenty of outlets, both 120 and 240 and put some up front near the doors so you can run extension cords easily to the driveway when you're working outside.

And, yes, I still need to add more lights!

 

[Jeff76]

My "garage shop" has now been moved to the corner of my friends "farm equipment shop". A man could put a lot of broncos in there, this is only the east 1/4 of the shop. He likes to tinker just as much as I do, and yet is still not an EB owner.........I'm working on him though.

I've got a buddy with a shop like that...metal 40x70 building and a lift. He's willing to let me use it anytime, but it's pretty far away. I need something where I can leave my project in process and work on it whenever I am home and get the chance. No illusions this is a good investment, but a man's got to have a hobby, right?

Jeff

 

[dvsmith]

Lift

Be careful about using a two post lift as early Broncos are notoriously ill designed for lifting in this manner. I have a two post, but after nearly dumping my Bronco I had to fabricate a bolt on attachments to the frame for use whenever I have it on the lift. It works well now, but without them it was never a comfortable or safe experience.

 

[okie4570]

Be careful about using a two post lift as early Broncos are notoriously ill designed for lifting in this manner. I have a two post, but after nearly dumping my Bronco I had to fabricate a bolt on attachments to the frame for use whenever I have it on the lift. It works well now, but without them it was never a comfortable or safe experience.

I hear you on that, it took a while for us to get it where we were comfortable with it.

 

[pcf_mark]

Lighting is important as someone mentioned. But a crap ton of outlets always save me from running an extension cord. I have outlets every 4 feet on the walls and on the ceiling between bays.

Also run the air lines along the wall versus using a hose. That is my winter project. You can use an easy-to-use almost clip together system.

 

[gray gables]

My "garage shop" has now been moved to the corner of my friends "farm equipment shop". A man could put a lot of broncos in there, this is only the east 1/4 of the shop. He likes to tinker just as much as I do, and yet is still not an EB owner.........I'm working on him though.

I hate you, ;D

 

[gray gables]

normal garage door openings are 9 wide by 8 tall. My dream garage if it was seperate from my house would be 40x40, radiant heat in the floor, insulated with foam, 200 amp service although a 100 would be fine I bet, bathroom, cable, have to have cable to watch tv, inside hose to wash my cars, compressor in different room, radio, uh that should do it.

 

[ScanmanSteven]

I would make the garage 12-14' tall to accommodate a lift if you ever want. A 12x12 overhead door is nice. I have a 12' where I usually park the Bronco, to the right, so a 14' would have been nice. If you're in town that height might be an issue. The thing is this, the extra height doesn't cost that much extra and could allow you to store your hardtops above the Broncos if needed. As a temporary fix I could take that extra Bronco off your hands to give you more room. Insulate good, AC is a luxury, just use fans and open doors. Extra man doors are handy and necessary in case of a fire.

I am extremely lucky as my wife wanted a barn large enough to put everything inside, so it's 70x125x16, way to much crap on the floor, but I'd rather work on the Bronco than clean and organize. Someday though I will.

 

[Jeff76]

The fridge is the most important part. With that said bigger is better. Then the problem is you keep buying more shop tools and need more space. I'm about to get a big shed for the yard because all the tools and parts have taken over the man cave.

Ha! I think I missed comment this first pass. If you look at my picture above, there is a fridge in my shop now just to the left of the yellow lawn mower. The problem is that I have to move the lawn mower to be able to open the door and grab a beer!

There's also a 3pt hitch post hole digger strung up from the rafter in the very back of the shop, and in order to get to it, I have to move two broncos, a tractor, 3 lawn mowers, a bronco hardtop, a tiller, a bench grinder etc.

Needless to say, my fence needs work!

Jeff

 

[americanhorses]

Ha! I think I missed comment this first pass. If you look at my picture above, there is a fridge in my shop now just to the left of the yellow lawn mower. The problem is that I have to move the lawn mower to be able to open the door and grab a beer!

There's also a 3pt hitch post hole digger strung up from the rafter in the very back of the shop, and in order to get to it, I have to move two broncos, a tractor, 3 lawn mowers, a bronco hardtop, a tiller, a bench grinder etc.

Needless to say, my fence needs work!

Jeff

I know you feeling Jeff. Now that I've got 95% of my Bronco put back together I do have some room. I tend to 'stuff' when winter is coming and unpack in the spring. My 20x40 stand alone would be wonderful if it wasn't for all my crap. So the best item would be....2 Shops!!

 

[tbrend]

When my neighbor mechanic comes by.

 

[croft75]

Heat is nice

 

[1971BroncoSport]

I put in an exhaust fan to pull any fumes.

 

[Monster Mike]

best part of my garage....

 

[Kyle.malone]

My bronco resides in my garage.
2 double doors that are 8' tall
Fridge
Big maxx heater
Tv with satellite
Receiver with 4 speakers
1100 sq ft
Urinal
Sink
Parts washer
A 30' row of lights at the front and 15' row of lights above the doors so when the door is down I have light at the rear of the bronco

And tornado shelter

I really enjoy parking my ram 2500 in the garage too.

 

[PlaneDrvr99]

I have a waste oil heater and that thing is wonderful. Free heat is never a bad thing.

 

[americanhorses]

best part of my garage....

I like that!

 

[TN1776]

Build it bigger than you think you will need. Clear floor space is a good thing and the wider the area the more chance you have at clear floors to work on stuff on.

My parents originally retired to a house on a 5 acre plot of land with an oversized attached 3-car garage, detatched 2 car shop (with just a one-car garage door). My dad got into the car hobby in a big way and it did not take long to require more space to actually work on stuff. They were in cold/snow country so it was nice to keep all cars inside. He built a 30x40 shop and it was just about perfect, but the ceiling was not quite tall enough to fit a big enough two post lift.

They later downsized a bit to a large lot in a subdivision. 3-car attached garage and large side yard. I helped him build a 20x40 shop there, about as big as the space would permit. This time he ran modified trusses for a higher ceiling and I found him a huge 2-post lift at a Ford dealer that went out of business. 20x40 is a little tight with the lift in the back. Biggest limitation there is his lack of organization. Again, clear floor space is what lacks. We've talked about adding an "L" shaped extension on it but I think he's pretty set as-is.

I have a large 2-car garage in a small subdivision. I took organization to the extreme such that I could fit my EB and my daily driver car inside. Still have a sizable workbench and lots of cabinets. I have to take the daily driver out first to get the Bronco out, but I have to live with what I currently have. Will eventually move to somewhere with a larger garage and/or room for a shop. One day.

 

[LTL4life]

Heat is nice

X2, the Modine Hot Dawg was the best money spent

 

[Jeff76]

My second favorite forum is garagejournal.com and you can read until your heart is content on this topic over there. I too have a basement shop seperate from my main garage. Some of my favorite features include the air compressor in a seperate room, dedicated bathroom, lots of air drops and outlets, refrigerator, liftmaster jack shaft garage door opener. I struggle with the lift question for the same reasons gyrhed mentioned. If you really want a lift also consider the max jacks portable lift system or a recessed scissor lift. Both options allow the lift the be out of the way when not in use.

Just checked it out. Thanks for the tip!

Jeff