Another Speedster project

@wrkinprogress posted:

Black makes me worry that around dusk someone in a F150 crew cab will mistake the car for a speedbump.

That only happens in silver on a bright day(early morning or late afternoon) or near dusk. The silver blends in and is indistinguishable from the gray of weathered pavement. Trust me, I've almost been killed a half-dozen times when my Spyder was silver. It happens much less often now that the car is white.

I always see black cars, except at night, lights off.

We have the same problem as motorcycles. The eyes see the car or motorcycle but the brain doesn't register it as there, because they're not LOOKING for a small vehicle.

I'm the lucky buyer of Alan's latest speedster build.   My wife and I are honored to have our build in the care of an absolute legend of this trade!   I'm making sure Alan will sign the gas tank as an upgraded feature ; )

On the color selection, we've had several gray, silver and black cars over the years, so I wanted to break out to something with some color to it.  I'm really excited about the non-metallic aqua marine with the tan interior... Should look awesome when we take it to Ocean City, MD and cruise down coastal highway in the summer.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for the wealth of knowledge you bring to the table.  Looking forward to starting this journey with everyone and hopefully getting to Carlisle in a few months to meet in person. 

@MarylandGuy posted:

I'm the lucky buyer of Alan's latest speedster build.   My wife and I are honored to have our build in the care of an absolute legend of this trade!   I'm making sure Alan will sign the gas tank as an upgraded feature ; )

On the color selection, we've had several gray, silver and black cars over the years, so I wanted to break out to something with some color to it.  I'm really excited about the non-metallic aqua marine with the tan interior... Should look awesome when we take it to Ocean City, MD and cruise down coastal highway in the summer.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for the wealth of knowledge you bring to the table.  Looking forward to starting this journey with everyone and hopefully getting to Carlisle in a few months to meet in person.

@MarylandGuy welcome to the madness and good idea to have Alan sign it. Added value for sure 😎🤙👍

It is a great color choice, but I have to throw some clarification in the mix...

- Paint Code: 5707 is "Aquamarine Blue"

- Paint Code: 5606 is "Aquamarine Blue Metallic"

They are very two different colors. The 5606 is a lighter shade of blue and has the metallic flakes that sparkle in the sun. 5707 is a flat blue - which I believe is similar to the picture Alan posted earlier.

Here is a good reference link:

http://www.porsche356service.de/?page_id=49

I prefer 5707, but I am bias ;-) I wanted to keep true to my build and stick to the 57 paint codes. That has gone out the window with my coupe build... LOL!

@MarylandGuy First of all welcome, and hope to meet you at Carlisle. Knowing Alan, your car will be done barring any parts supply problems.

And what is your first name? We don't want to have to call you JAFO now, do we?

...and welcome to the MADNESSS!

@*LongFella  thanks for the clarification.  This is definitely going to be the flat/non-metallic 5707 and not the lighter metallic 5607.  I also wanted to stay true to the '57 color code and the deep flat blue looks so good with a nice gloss clearcoat.   

I think we're looking at a June completion on this one which works well for me since part of the agreement with my wife was I would add a detached 2-car garage so my hobby didn't encroach on her garage space.  I already have a Jeep that finds its self taken apart at times. 

Paul

@MarylandGuy posted:

@*LongFella  thanks for the clarification.  This is definitely going to be the flat/non-metallic 5707 and not the lighter metallic 5607.  I also wanted to stay true to the '57 color code and the deep flat blue looks so good with a nice gloss clearcoat.   

I think we're looking at a June completion on this one which works well for me since part of the agreement with my wife was I would add a detached 2-car garage so my hobby didn't encroach on her garage space.  I already have a Jeep that finds its self taken apart at times.

Paul

It is a beautiful color in-person. That is one of the most common compliments I get when driving around - folks love the color :-)

I love both of those colors, but they are very different.  Not sure I can pick a favorite between them.  Either way, it'll be gorgeous.

@MarylandGuy- 5707 Aquamarine blue is a great color, Paul, and your car will look stunning!  I admit that I like it more than the metallic version; to the point that if I was building a car from scratch it would be a color i'd be leaning to.  Do you know what bolt pattern and wheels are on it now?

Welcome to the Madness!  Al

And @*LongFella- Always great to see pics of your Speedster out in the sunshine!

Thanks, Al!

Finally got her out yesterday for a nice canyon run. Smiles for daaaayyyyssssss! :-D

@Alan Merklin posted:

So the Verdict is in ... Porsche 5707 Aqua Marine Metallic,  the gentleman that I'm now building it for likes the color as I do too.   Many outdoor photos seem to wash out the actual color shade, this is spot on .

Al, I do not think you posted the Metallic version  that color.  The Metallic version is lighter and I think the code is 5607.  This is a very expensive () paint sample of Aqua Marine 5707 from John Willhoit.   

For wheels we are doing the 4.25x15" 4 bolt slotted in argent silver with chrome baby moon caps so it sticks with the original look. 

Gold color badges on the exterior and two-tone on the dash with wood nardi style steering wheel.  First speedster, so I'm sticking with the classic look for now and absolutely following Alan's lead on the finer details as he is the master at this.

Here are some pictures of the flat 5707 and tan interior that I used as inspiration for the build. 

@MarylandGuy posted:

Here are some pictures of the flat 5707 and tan interior that I used as inspiration for the build.

@MarylandGuy love the right hand drive.

This was the build I tried to mirror when I built mine (which seems like a decade ago). I even hand picked the interior color to try and match as best as possible.

I was torn between oxblood (red) interior in the beginning. 5707 exterior with red interior is amazing IMO.

I originally wanted to go with the darker whiskey brown interior which also looks amazing with aquamarine.  The TR kit Alan found already had tan interior which grew on me as I found pictures of examples, including @*LongFella 's build on the forum here. 

@calmotion posted:

@MarylandGuy love the right hand drive.

The picture is upside down.

Oh btw, welcome Paul, or MLGuy, the colour choices are awesome to me and building a garage will help with the hobby for sure.  I would just make sure it is high enough for a 4 post lift for your future additional cars and big enough for walk around space   When we built our garage we added a loft by doing a 10/12 pitch it added a lot of storage and a man cave potential.

Ray

@MarylandGuy- have you considered deleting the side trim and giving it a bit of an outlaw look?  Now's the time to do it...

I think we need to have Paul do a short presentation, he not only got the Kitchen Pass on the speedster build, but also negotiated to include a new garage, there are valuable lessons to be learned !  Brandon my paint guy, did a spray out panel the other day to confirm the 5707 non metallic Aqua Marine Blue color. Brandon just had a third ( yes third !) spray booth installed a new top of the line $75k multi filtration unit. Early June is the estimated completion date,  Normally I would shoot for mid May /Carlisle but as we all know parts and supplies are slow to ship or out of stock these days. I also still have a few weeks to go on a the contract dune buggy build and somehow squeeze in a week in Florida to hang out with the best buds. Paul and his wife, have selected all of the specific components and it will be a Looker !

Planning to make the garage 24' x 24' with an 12/12 pitch.    I need to research putting extensions to make the garage door tracks higher up.   Not a problem for a speedster but my jeep has a 3.5" lift and barely gets through the 7' high garage door let alone lifting it. 

For my purposes I think a quick jack from Costco should meet most of my needs, but may be worth jumping to another topic to play out the garage plans.   It was wife approval criteria last week, so still sorting the details.   

@Alan Merklin I would be happy to do a wife approval seminar at Carlisle this year! 

@MarylandGuy posted:

@Alan Merklin I would be happy to do a wife approval seminar at Carlisle this year!

While Sandy is shopping for shoes in Reading with other wives.

@MarylandGuy posted:

Planning to make the garage 24' x 24' with an 12/12 pitch.    I need to research putting extensions to make the garage door tracks higher up.   Not a problem for a speedster but my jeep has a 3.5" lift and barely gets through the 7' high garage door let alone lifting it.

For my purposes I think a quick jack from Costco should meet most of my needs, but may be worth jumping to another topic to play out the garage plans.   It was wife approval criteria last week, so still sorting the details.   

I have a 24x24 as well with 10/12 pitch and 7 x 9 doors. I could not go to 12/12 due to bylaw.   I regret not having made my ceiling 10 foot high as I could have added a 4 poster for a 3rd car. Also the staircase to the loft depending on the orientation of the garage can remove some interior space so it would be nice if the width on the side of the stair case was 3 feet longer, the width of the staircase.  BTW I have a 3500QJack, original for the roadster, and a 5000QJack, for my other cars, and one Hydraulic control that I use for both.  Planning may save you some regrets. Best of luck .

Whatever you build it won't be as large as you had anticipated, consider that work benches, shelving etc. take up 2 - 3' of useable floor space. IMHO  24 x 28 is a minimum but ideally 28 x 32.  Hang onto your hat and wallet as you discover current material prices..... 2 x 4 x 8 =  $6.50 and 1/2 CDX sheathing  $38 with the cheaper 7/16" OSB board at $28 a sheet. 1/2" sheetrock is now a whopping $12.    Back in the day I was a Yard Forman for a large Lumber company:  2 x4 x 8 = $.99  1/2 CDX $7.99  7/16 OSB $5.25 and 1/2 Sheet rock $1.25.

@MarylandGuy posted:

Planning to make the garage 24' x 24' with an 12/12 pitch.    I need to research putting extensions to make the garage door tracks higher up.   Not a problem for a speedster but my jeep has a 3.5" lift and barely gets through the 7' high garage door let alone lifting it.

For my purposes I think a quick jack from Costco should meet most of my needs, but may be worth jumping to another topic to play out the garage plans.   It was wife approval criteria last week, so still sorting the details.   

My daily driver/work/play vehicle is a Toyota FJ Cruiser- 3" OME lift, 285/70-17 (33") tires and fits under the garage door with ¼- ½" to spare.  I'd love to put 285-75's (34") on it next time but it'll never fit in the garage again!

Another course or two of foundation block is a cheap alternative to achieve garage height.

Doesn't matter how large you build it, it still won't be big enough.

When we had to tear down our 150 year old barn, I decided to replace with a nice bank barn/driveshed type of structure.  A bank barn structure fits into a hill, and gives you a full height upper/main storey, and a lower height bottom storey that exits the other way.

We ended up with a 28x48 foot building, and - as garages go - it has accumulated stuff over the years.  All of my three sons have stuff in there, my wife has stuff in there, there are lawnmowers, snowblowers, weed whackers, old furniture, music equipment, sets of snow tires, etc. and just enough room for my speedster.

No garage is ever big enough...

I'm seeing if I can squeeze anymore square footage out of it, but its a bit constrained by the proximity to my septic tank and drain field.  Trying to confirm with the health department on code specific to the drain field which is the main challenge for going bigger. 

The guy that does construction for me is super flexible on the details.  He said the same thing on being able to do an extra layer of foundation block to give me a bit more height. 

I just talked to him about the loft idea as I haven't thought of that, so he is going get the trusses to open it up and put in a basic staircase to get up there.   

Here is a sample 24x24 with a few steps going to a landing then going up to the second floor. You can see how the stairs take up some room and the way you orient your roof can change the stair case location as you need to arrive in the middle of the roof peak. Actually rotating this plan gives you an idea.   I would put the steps on the back wall if I was doing it again or add 3 feet. but it depends what you want to see from the road when you look at the garage or maybe you want to add a front dormer.  Some have put the stairs outside but then you end up with a second floor apartment.  All depends what you want or need to do.  This guy has only a single garage door but I would do two doors for sure.

This one has the stairs on the back side

This one has the stairs on the side.

Now you can put a front gable as below with window or no window in the loft.

You should look on the web or a plan it might help you decide some even put granny suit in the loft ...and it goes on.

I had my detached garage built 20 wide and 30 deep, and would probably go 24x24 if I did it again. Ability to park two-deep on the non-bench side didn't pay off as often as I pictured, and the narrow width is constraining. Re: lift height, I had them put in a 16x8 metal roll-up door rather than a conventional garage door, so there are no ceiling tracks. After you get a couple feet from the door, the ceiling is Ceilume tiles on CeilingConnex surface-mount right on the joists.

@Bob: IM S6 Isn't that the truth, one of my family members has one accessory building that is 30x70 ... really nice place to park.

FYI There is a new garage door lift that is wall mounted and a screw type that eliminates the need for overhead tracks I believe.

@IaM-Ray posted:

@Bob: IM S6 Isn't that the truth, one of my family members has one accessory building that is 30x70 ... really nice place to park.

That building is just too empty...

Your right Bob,  I could really fill that thing up  

I've done this several times. A lot of time what you can do is dictated by lot and/or zoning restrictions.

I live in town, in a very old section of town, in a home I built a couple of years ago. I designed the entire thing to be as big as possible for the lot, and around a BendPak 2 post lift. I'm 12'8" clear to the ceiling, which was the minimum for the lift.

I'd absolutely go at least that high to fit a 2 (or 4) post lift now or later on. Whatever you do, don't put a 7' door in-- go at least 8', preferably 10'. You can mask the clear-span height by not using trusses and doing a front and rear gable, so that the vast bulk of the space is clear to the ridgeline of the roof.  24' is not really deep enough for a bench (unless all of your vehicles are Speedster size or smaller). The loft is neat, but stairs eat floorspace like nothing else and rob your height.

It's true that a building is never big enough, but I'd contend that going three stalls wide, 26 ft deep, with 13 ft clear (up) afford the possibility of 6 vehicles, assuming you have 3 lifts. Parking 2 deep seems like a great idea, unless you actually do it-- then you're forever moving vehicles to get to the one you want.

I heated the floor in the last two I built, and it's fantastic-- but I also put A/C in the one I've got now. A/C is worth whatever it costs. Also, insulate the heck out of it. It makes going out there a pleasure.

Buy once, cry once.

Oooo, yes Stan, a heated floor is a must on any garage I would build again for sure.  

I keep telling my wife we need a small house with a 4 car attached garage.  Hard to build and not make it unsightly if it is 20 feet high

BTW a very close friend built a 30x40 with very high ceiling and all white pvc inside including a ceiling rolling come along lift to raise an engine... just awesome.

.

Some colors need to be seen in the right light to be fully appreciated.

With Jim's car, it's the right music:

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@IaM-Ray posted:

Oooo, yes Stan, a heated floor is a must on any garage I would build again for sure.  

I keep telling my wife we need a small house with a 4 car attached garage.  Hard to build and not make it unsightly if it is 20 feet high

BTW a very close friend built a 30x40 with very high ceiling and all white pvc inside including a ceiling rolling come along lift to raise an engine... just awesome.

I wanted to build a 4 car carriage house, with a 2 BR loft apartment upstairs. I had it drawn up and it was fantastic.

Alas, zoning wouldn't allow it. Pity, that. I planned to put a half-bath, and small kitchenette in the garage. A space like that with heated floors, a/c, and polyaspartic floors is as close to untaxed living space as you're ever going to get.

Pull the cars out and enjoy a 45 ft long holiday dining room. I've got the half-bath, the floors, and HVAC in our attached space, and we use it all the time for a game room when family comes over.

My main trouble was getting drywallers, painters, etc. to think of the garage as finished space. I wanted as nice as finish out there as I got in the house. It was a struggle, but we got it done.

I vote for the heated floor.  One of my cousins did that (he builds commercial buildings for a living) and it is heavenly.  Super easy to do while building, too.

When my wife told me she wanted to move back to New England from South Carolina (in retirement) I was less than thrilled.  In fact, I hated the idea and she knew it but here we are watching the snow fall in Grafton, MA just the same.  I found that being close to grandkids can be a big magnet.

One thing she offered to get me to be less hostile to the move was to build a 24' square, 2-car detached garage, mostly to house the Speedster and her car.  I was constrained by underground septic in two directions, but 24' is OK if you put your shop on the same side as the Speedster - they both fit.

This one is a pre-fab job from a company in Connecticut and has 11 ft ceilings (we just made the foundation walls a bit higher), a full attic and 8' high doors.  It was built off-site in parts and then assembled on-site in two days, including roof, siding and trim.  Access to the attic is via a set of pull-down stairs in the center, so no floor space is lost to stairs.  I think it's a 12/12 pitch so there is plenty of room upstairs to walk around (I'm 5'6" tall).  The walls are 2" X 6" and it's fully insulated but not yet heated or cooled (although I can get it up to 70F in about 40 minutes using a Charboil "Big Easy" turkey frier)

OK, so things I would have done differently:

1. Radiant heat in the floor slab
2. A "Mini-Split" AC unit (you don't need the heat side, given #1, but it's handy if you keep the shop at 55F all the time and want to bump it up when needed)
3. A Bend-Pak 4-post lift.  If not that, then a 48" high scissors lift (I currently have the 3500 Quickjack for the Speedster but lust for something higher)
4. Going to 26' square or even 24' X 30' would have been better for some larger machine tools, but I've found other tools in town to use, anyway.
5. 220 volt 80 - 100 amp service (I opted for 110 only - bad forethought)
6. Cat-5 Ethernet cable direct from the central house router
7. Run high pressure air lines above the ceiling to the bench area and both bays
   
   That's about it.  Others will have more, I'm sure.