shop life - episode 4

Ok here's the whopper

I've been trying to write about.

We'll begin in the middle and go backwards!

I'll do the prequels to this point later,

there was a ton of work just to get here!

For the summer the shop was set up like this.

No feng shui.

It really limited the work output.

I had secured the two canopies,

but there were some layout changes.

Across the rocks would be my new pad.

As you'll see or have seen,

the shop space is like the Wild West.

Stake out the crappiest section,

claim it,

and clean it!

As usual I picked the section with the heaviest junk.

Half was worth scrap price, 

the other is questionable.

One evening Jason and I cleared the first rack.

Underneath that mountain of steel,

were a dozen + 50's rear ends.

Holey Chit.

I barely moved 3 that first day.

Ken came by and did a super move,

which cleared most of the weight.

This pic is the theme of the shop,

once a junkpile is cleared,

it turns into the spot to hang out!

Earlier that month,

the kids had helped clear out a wall section,

the perfect spot to stash these treasures...

One evening I went on a rampage,

and finished emptying the spot.

Amazing what a can of Arizona Peach tea could do.

This all took about two weeks,

usually after working on Mario's 33,

or Greg's roadster,

or...

At this point you'd figure it's a fine deal.

Heck no!

A monster stash of bricks was found on craigslist.

This was a pivotal moment...

I came second replying to the ad,

but the first caller backed out.

Lucky!

It took two loads to move this pile!

With the kids in school,

it was quite a workout.

These 1800+ bricks changed things up.

Next thing I knew,

Ken helped out and built a retaining wall,

allowing a flurry of brick laying.

Which created another problem,

the need for fill dirt.

The canopy was on top of a nice dip.

Every couple days,

dirt was dug up from other shop spots,

or Ken would bring alley dirt from his house.

Bucket by bucket...

Brick by brick.

This went on for about two weeks.

If Ken felt like bringing down dirt,

I'd jam on the brick laying.

When my dad's 53 rolled on the pad,

it seemed so close.

However underneath the car was the deepest valley.

A small truckload of dirt 

would only allow 3 or 4 double rows of bricks.

Finally the end creeped up,

and the bricks ran out...

Just enough to pave under the canopy.

I'll definitely be hunting for more!

What a relief to be barely finished.

There's still a ton of work that could be done,

but with a new space created,

I'll be ready for the rains.

Still on the hunt for more bricks!

TP