Tony Montero barely fits in the new garage

Hooniverse Asks: What’s the first upgrade for a new garage?

Jeff Glucker

/comment

Comments

I’ve moved. My new place is larger on the inside. Most importantly though is the fact that my car hole is larger. I now have a real-deal two-car garage and I’m straight-up overwhelmed by the possibilities. At this exact moment, it’s currently filled with boxes that need unpacking. But that will happen and I’ll be left with a nearly blank canvas.

So what should I do first?

My immediate thoughts turn to organization and storage. I’d like a peg or slat wall on one part. I need a workbench and I’ll also set up my computer in there as well. Another spot will be home to a more realize sim racing setup (goodbye computer chair, hello actual racing seat). And, oh right, I need to leave some space for the actual automobiles.

Some bright spots in this space include it being already set up with a 240v plug (with solar on the roof). Negative spots are an old, loud garage door opener and a low entry opening. My Montero makes it… just. (Click the arrow to see the second picture below)

So if this were your space, what would be on your to-do list?

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

65 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What’s the first upgrade for a new garage?”

  1. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Another one for the obvious storage shelves, after the work space has been set up. Don’t forget empty air space above your head: We have a gazillion ski, ladders, roof systems and an ever-changing amount of long/oversized building materials fixed to the roof. Everything you can get off the floor is a bonus, because once you set as little as a bucket on the floor, stuff multiplies. 10 minutes later you can neither walk in nor out of the garage…this phenomenon is as insane as it is unbeatable.

    Reply
  2. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Another one for the obvious storage shelves, after the work space has been set up. Don’t forget empty air space above your head: We have a gazillion ski, ladders, roof systems and an ever-changing amount of long/oversized building materials fixed to the roof. Everything you can get off the floor is a bonus, because once you set as little as a bucket on the floor, stuff multiplies. 10 minutes later you can neither walk in nor out of the garage…this phenomenon is as insane as it is unbeatable.

    Reply
  3. onrails Avatar
    onrails

    Floor paint. An empty, new garage is easiest to paint before everything starts coming in. And spills/general cleanup will never get easier than new floor paint.

    Reply
    1. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      Yes. Then lights, in some corners you won’t be able to put the ladder down for a decade…

      Reply
    2. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      I have often considered trying some sort of magnetic covering for the floor, so that when screws, sockets, etc. are dropped, they stick where they fall instead of rolling somewhere else.

      Reply
      1. onrails Avatar
        onrails

        Except for the annoying ones that never quite make it down to the floor. Nothing more heartbreaking than “Oops!” followed by silence.

        Reply
        1. nanoop Avatar
          nanoop

          “It is recommended to cover the inspection hole…” meh I’ve read enough in the Haynes.

          Reply
        2. Lokki Avatar
          Lokki

          Yes. Last week I literally drove an hour in each direction to get a screw for holding the sun visor hinge to the windshield header in my 71 Alfa Spider. I was missing one original and the substitute that the previous owner installed had the wrong size and shape head. The offender was right at eye level and just looked…wrong…constantly. A little piglet among the kittens so to speak. A trip to three local hardware stores did nothing. McMaster-Car is good for nuts and bolts as I know bolt nomenclature but I don’t speak metric trim screw. Alfa parts places “do not trifle with de minimis”.

          Anyhow I sourced one, only an hour away on a “retired for parts car“ and it only cost me a bottle of thank-you wine.

          When I got home, I sat in the passenger’s seat, with the doors closed, and put the screw on the tip of a stubby screwdriver. As it started to enter the hole of its new home the little %#$&!! fell off the screwdriver and vanished. An hour with a flashlight, magnet-on-a-stick, and finally a small vacuum with a new bag failed to find it.

          Fortunately (sadly and stupidly?) at that point I remembered that I am old and have been burned by this phenomena so often that I had taken TWO screws from the parts car. I managed to get the second one installed.

          Oh, of course now that I don’t need it any more the first screw has resurfaced. It was apparently caught in a fold of the leather shifter boot and was invisible till going for a drive made it glitter in the sunshine.

          Reply
        3. Lokki Avatar
          Lokki

          Yes. Last week I literally drove an hour in each direction to get a screw for holding the sun visor hinge to the windshield header in my 71 Alfa Spider. I was missing one original and the substitute that the previous owner installed had the wrong size and shape head. The offender was right at eye level and just looked…wrong…constantly. A little piglet among the kittens so to speak. A trip to three local hardware stores did nothing. McMaster-Car is good for nuts and bolts as I know bolt nomenclature but I don’t speak metric trim screw. Alfa parts places “do not trifle with de minimis”.

          Anyhow I sourced one, only an hour away on a “retired for parts car“ and it only cost me a bottle of thank-you wine.

          When I got home, I sat in the passenger’s seat, with the doors closed, and put the screw on the tip of a stubby screwdriver. As it started to enter the hole of its new home the little %#$&!! fell off the screwdriver and vanished. An hour with a flashlight, magnet-on-a-stick, and finally a small vacuum with a new bag failed to find it.

          Fortunately (sadly and stupidly?) at that point I remembered that I am old and have been burned by this phenomena so often that I had taken TWO screws from the parts car. I managed to get the second one installed.

          Oh, of course now that I don’t need it any more the first screw has resurfaced. It was apparently caught in a fold of the leather shifter boot and was invisible till going for a drive made it glitter in the sunshine.

          Reply
          1. onrails Avatar
            onrails

            I have to admit I was reading that fearing the worst – was almost relieved to read ‘vanished’ because I was expecting ‘fell into the defroster vent.’ Glad it worked out!

          2. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
            dead_elvis, inc.

            For the next time (there’s always a next time with the annoying stuff!), https://www.belmetric.com/ & https://www.clipsandfasteners.com/ are worth bookmarking.

          3. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
            dead_elvis, inc.

            For the next time (there’s always a next time with the annoying stuff!), https://www.belmetric.com/ & https://www.clipsandfasteners.com/ are worth bookmarking.

          4. Lokki Avatar
            Lokki

            Damn! THANK YOU!

            I totally owe you a couple of very good beers. Found it in less than a minute after I measured the length of a “known correct” screw.

            https://www.belmetric.com/39mm-c-10_82_1657_1766/msm39x16ss-pan-head-sheet-metal-screw-stainless-p-12126.html

            This Site is not just going to be bookmarked; it’s going to get printed and added to the car’s log book!

          5. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
            dead_elvis, inc.

            Hey, glad you found that helpful! They’ve both come in handy for me, for a variety of projects over the last few years.

          6. dukeisduke Avatar
            dukeisduke

            Magnetized screwdrivers are your friends.

          7. Lokki Avatar
            Lokki

            Ah, you underestimate Alfa Romeo back in its glory days before hunger overcame pride and they surrendered to Sauron Fiat. All the trim (“bumpers”, etc) including the trim screws were stainless steel in those halcyon times.

        4. surlymv Avatar
          surlymv

          That only happens to the 10mm.

          Reply
    3. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
      Rust-MyEnemy

      Came here to say this. Every garage floor I’ve ever walked on in the USA (so, not many) seem to have been beautifully painted, but that’s not something that anybody seems to think about in the UK. Not that our garages are much good anyway. Even the most modest of houses Stateside gives you a garage that allows you to walk all around your car. Mine is only just big enough that I can slither past my old A4 if I breathe in really tight.

      Reply
    4. Scoutdude Avatar
      Scoutdude

      Just say no to floor paint if you are going to use the garage for working on cars. It won’t last, particularly in a hot area where the hot tires will peel it right off. If you want a coated floor you need something stronger than floor paint.

      Reply
      1. crank_case Avatar
        crank_case

        What do you reccomend? Serious question, I still need to get my Garage floor completed and am considering options on finishes.

        Reply
        1. outback_ute Avatar
          outback_ute

          Something that is 2-pack and designed for commercial use. I used ordinary paving paint from the hardware store in my old garage and even with proper prep and etching it lifted. At least it made some interesting tread patterns afterwards.

          Reply
        2. Scoutdude Avatar
          Scoutdude

          Like outback noted you’ll want one of the 2 part epoxy type coatings.

          My friend, a professional painter at the time, did his garage with the standard paint. The car was left out for a week to be sure it was fully cured. However the first time the car was put in there after driving for a long distance in hot weather it stuck to the floor. There were 4 perfect tread patterns left when it was backed out.

          In my garage I’ve got commercial tile, the type you’ll typically find in a grocery or convenience store. It was put there by the previous and original owner who was into motorcycles. I’ve been quite happy with how will it has held up. Yeah the one set of jack stands left some impressions when the project was left on them for a couple of weeks, but my others don’t seem to.

          Reply
  4. Rick Radcliffe Avatar
    Rick Radcliffe

    Air suspension for the Montero?

    Do you have space outside for your air compressor? Put it outside and then run piping inside with drops all the way around and one out the front. Something I wish I had done before I moved all my stuff in.

    When you do the workbench, plan for storage. There’s never enough. I put a shed outside and there’s still not enough storage.

    It’s going to get pretty warm in that garage in the summer…AC would make your sim racing much more enjoyable. I’ve been quoted about $1000 to have a split unit installed. Looks like you are already drywalled so no point in ripping it out to insulate.

    Reply
  5. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    I’d personally love to have a lift, but the height of our garage ceiling looks similar to yours– with a support beam that makes it very, very low.

    I’ll second onrails‘s suggestion about sealing the floor. I’ve had intentions of doing that for years, but can never conjure the will to empty our garage of all the crap that’s collected over 13 years living here. Do it while it’s empty, or you may never.

    I would also prioritize work space over storage space. Our garage had built-in cabinets when we moved in, and I honestly wish I just had more room to work. My workbench is small and tucked in a corner– I have to climb the kids’ bikes and skateboards just to get to it.

    Reply
    1. salguod Avatar
      salguod

      My garage had cabinets the length of the far wall and back wall where they’d mostly be blocked by the Tbird. I took 6 of them down and hung them in 3 rows floor to ceiling on the near wall. Might work for you.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2af2108641638eda4cf0afeaa09d3db6ade403d82979ad0e2d6485eeab0e00ab.jpg

      I also had full width work bench along the back, but I wanted the garage depth on the Tbird side so I took almost half of it out too. I cut up part of it and hung it on the wall for storage. It’s a mess right now but it works OK.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c24d5526ae014bb58116ed626cb088aa53f9dd6b3a6c81908c822b819441f34.jpg

      Reply
      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Definitely arrange storage so it doesn’t impinge on car space and allows for working space. I removed shelving along one wall because it made it too narrow.

        Reply
  6. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    Workbench and lighting, followed by some sturdy storage shelves. I’m hoping to go even better at my next house with a dedicated shop building since they are common in more rural areas.

    Reply
  7. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    Stereo System!
    Nothing can get done in silence. You need tunes, or talk radio, or something to drown out the demons.

    Reply
    1. salguod Avatar
      salguod

      This. I’ve got an old 5.1 surround sound system in my garage with an add on Bluetooth receiver and it’s great.

      Reply
      1. Batshitbox Avatar
        Batshitbox

        My last place had a Sansui QR6500 Quadraphonic receiver (free!) and 4 enormous speakers ($10 each!) that I mounted up high in the corners before moving anything else in (well, the workbench went in first.) After a while the FM circuit would drop out and I stopped using it. Still have it, in the original packaging.

        Reply
        1. I_Borgward Avatar
          I_Borgward

          This, of course, begs the question: do you have the period quadraphonic source material to go with it?

          Reply
          1. Batshitbox Avatar
            Batshitbox

            Nope. I had a nice Pioneer RT-909 (also free!) but I could never find any Quad tapes to play on it, and anyway they all would have been crap by now unless stored in an archive. I’ve never owned a turntable.

            The Sansui had a synthesizer on board that would split a stereo signal up into various frequency ranges and distribute it to the 4 speakers in different arrangements. You could rotate the stereo image by quarter turns, making things sound like they were coming from front, left rear or right.

        2. salguod Avatar
          salguod

          This was a $75 system I bought for playing music in the living room of our old house. We had the TV & a better (but still old) surround sound in the basement there. The new house only had one space, so the good system went there and I got the cheap one for the garage. You can see it on top of the cabinets in my reply to Zentropy above.

          Reply
      2. evan r Avatar
        evan r

        Oh gosh no! I can’t concentrate on the task at hand if music or any other media is playing!

        Reply
        1. salguod Avatar
          salguod

          I can’t concentrate if music is not playing!

          Reply
  8. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Another one for the obvious storage shelves, after the work space has been set up. Don’t forget empty air space above your head: We have a gazillion ski, ladders, roof systems and an ever-changing amount of long/oversized building materials fixed to the roof. Everything you can get off the floor is a bonus, because once you set as little as a bucket on the floor, stuff multiplies. 10 minutes later you can neither walk in nor out of the garage…this phenomenon is as insane as it is unbeatable.

    Reply
    1. I_Borgward Avatar
      I_Borgward

      Yes, this! Anything to keep crap off the floor!

      Reply
    2. neight428 Avatar
      neight428

      If your roommates are anything like mine, your garage turns into their “out of sight out of mind” too. I’ll be tripping over the 2 for 1 potting soil special for the rest of my life.

      Reply
  9. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    What’s the first upgrade for a new garage? – an addition to said garage

    Reply
  10. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    I know someone who lived in a gated community. The houses were big, but on small lots, and all the garages were accessed through back alleys–the only people who would typically see the garage would be other neighbors using the alley. Nevertheless, one of the neighbors wanted everyone to see his Ferrari, Lambo, wall-to-wall toolboxes probably equal in price to one of the cars, etc. The garage was obviously put together by someone with an eye for style and looked ready for a photoshoot at all times, so the garage was fitted with roll-up glass doors in order to show off. You should consider glass garage doors, which might also have the advantage of gaining another half inch of clearance for the Montero.

    As a slightly more practical suggestion, I would say a lift, but you still don’t have enough garage height for that.

    Storage/workspace is the best real recommendation. Pegboard seems like a waste of space if you expect to have a lot of tools (or even if you don’t “expect” them but realize some will follow you home). Be aware that some of the things you will be storing will have drastically different shapes and sizes than other objects–a circular saw takes up a lot more volume than a set of combination wrenches, though the wrench set weighs more.

    Don’t forget the electronics. I’m not a social media person, but you are. Consider multiple permanently-mounted cameras so you can shoot how-to videos with different angles. Proper lighting to go with the cameras and for your own use at seeing what you are doing. And a computer you don’t mind using when your hands are greasy.

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      If I backed the Montero in, I could do a Quick Jack setup.

      Reply
      1. neight428 Avatar
        neight428

        I picked up a set of those when Costco was running a special, Highly recommend, except if your garage has a slope built into the slab/floor. I either have to have the vehicle up against the back wall to get the frame off the sloping portion or do the work out on the driveway, which makes its use weather dependent.

        Reply
        1. Scoutdude Avatar
          Scoutdude

          I scored on the Costco deal too. Highly recommended.

          Reply
  11. mdharrell Avatar
    mdharrell

    “…I’ll also set up my computer in there as well. Another spot will be home to a more realize sim racing setup…”

    You do know this is how a two-car garage becomes a one-car, and then a zero-car, garage, right?

    Reply
    1. I_Borgward Avatar
      I_Borgward

      – – LISTEN TO THIS MAN – –

      Reply
    2. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      I’m aware…

      Reply
    3. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      With skill, one can also cultivate an accumulation of non-cars that won’t fit in the garage. And perhaps one or two or 17 that do fit.

      Reply
      1. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        Yes, I believe I speak with some authority in this matter.

        Reply
    4. crank_case Avatar
      crank_case

      Space is the biggest luxury as they say. I’ll be putting a computer (old laptop) in my garage too, but only as a quick way to keep track of the project so I can store photos to document taking it apart and for ECU diagnostics and inevitable googling of “how do I get this 25 year old fastener off”.

      Reply
      1. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        If it’s anything like the 43-year-old Renault motor mount I removed last weekend, the answer will involve a pocketknife, a Dremel tool, a drift, and a short-handled sledge.

        Reply
  12. I_Borgward Avatar
    I_Borgward

    Congratulations! There’s really nothing like one’s very own indoor car hole. My best advice is rather Zen: nothing can be one of the best upgrades. Embrace minimalism, jealously guard the space and limit the amount of crap you keep there. If it never moves or rarely gets used, squirrel it away elsewhere if you can. And watch what you bring home with you, as the ever-flowing crapstream of modern life will fill any and all spaces if you allow it to (this is the voice of experience speaking).

    Happy garaging!

    Reply
  13. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    They’re never as big as you think. Leave the video games in the house, use that space for a nice roll away tool box.

    Reply
  14. Wayne Moyer Avatar
    Wayne Moyer

    The hardest thing for me to do with my two car garage was to turn it into a two car garage. It just wants to be a junk room. Right now its a one car garage with stuff. So the first addition is a shed and then a second car. So that you don’t stuff it with stuff.

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Our garage was designed for a 1960s Beetle. I can barely squeeze the Camry in for an oil change, not sure if I will even try that with the Centennial. The garage sees all use for storage and woodworking – a car inside is a once-a-year-exception. The building also sits at the bottom of a looooong 20-35 degrees sloped driveway, so it is unfathomably useless for car parking in the winter. Ah, and the cats live in the garage loft.

      Come to think of it, we really made sure to not use this for cars.

      Reply
    2. onrails Avatar
      onrails

      I have a couple helpful (my kids would argue totalitarian) garage ‘stuff’ rules. 1 – The floor is not a shelf, and 2 – nothing gets floor space unless it rolls or stores stuff. Though I have my ‘office’ set up in the garage for the time being so a small table and lawn chair gets the honor until I can work at work again. It’s worked well keeping massive piles of stuff from overcrowding. It does help that the things that come with little kids has vastly decreased as they near teenage-dom but the garage has stayed a haven of order through the years that our main living area has not always been.

      Reply
    3. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Our garage was designed for a 1960s Beetle. I can barely squeeze the Camry in for an oil change, not sure if I will even try that with the Centennial. The garage sees all use for storage and woodworking – a car inside is a once-a-year-exception. The building also sits at the bottom of a looooong 20-35 degrees sloped driveway, so it is unfathomably useless for car parking in the winter. Ah, and the cats live in the garage loft.

      Come to think of it, we really made sure to not use this for cars.

      Reply
      1. Wayne Moyer Avatar
        Wayne Moyer

        I’ve seen a lot a garages turned into rooms. Sounds like that is your garages future.

        Reply
      2. Wayne Moyer Avatar
        Wayne Moyer

        I’ve seen a lot a garages turned into rooms. Sounds like that is your garages future.

        Reply
  15. Scoutdude Avatar
    Scoutdude

    I was going to say lighting, but it looks like the first order of business is adjusting your garage door. Somewhere there is an adjustable “up travel” stop and a couple of turns will pull the door to the same height as the opening. So:

    #1 Fix door
    #2 Add light(ness)
    #3 Sound
    #4 Quick Jack

    Reply
    1. Scoutdude Avatar
      Scoutdude

      I should add what you want to do with your work lighting which is create an M sort of layout. Lights directly above the car don’t do much for you. So 3 4′ lights parallel to the cars , one next to each wall and one in the center. Place them so that they are centered about where the windshield meets the body. That way they help when working underhood and inside. Then two that are placed so that are just in front of an opened hood.

      Reply
  16. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    If just because even I could install it in like a minute.

    https://www.homewetbar.com/media/catalog/product/cache/265d7bf611d39b8f80e93d32d7319b33/o/p/opener-mount-ciblack.jpg

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      Ha! I have one waiting to go on the wall already

      Reply
  17. salguod Avatar
    salguod

    Get the boxes out and put the car(s) in that you want to keep in there and then live with it for a few weeks. You will need lighting, storage and work space but your first thought on how to do all that might not be the best once you live with it as a garage for a while.

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      excellent point

      Reply
  18. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    So I get a notification on my phone that you have a show on Motortrend (“Shift Talkers”)? Good Lord man, you’ve hit the bigtime.

    Reply