Our own Jack Olsen's garage on Jalopnik (and Popular Mechanics)

[cstreit]

The amazing DIY Ikea dream garage

"The amazing DIY Ikea dream garage

Matt Hardigree—Living in Los Angeles as a car guy typically means either being wealthy enough to afford a garage (i.e. Jay Leno) or flexible enough to wrench in an AutoZone parking lot. Alas, Jack Olsen's managed to find an incredible compromise.

Short on space but long on creativity, Jack managed to fit everything a wrench-turner would need with Strong Hold cabinets, some DIY lighting, and a bit of repurposed Ikea furniture. But the best part? That second-hand Vesti hydraulic lift submerged in the ground and tiled to blend into the floor. He paid $455 for it.


In the immortal words of Liz Lemon: I want to go to there. And I'll take the Porsche, too."


Cool story Bro.

[Playa76911S]

Cool...congrats Jack!

[HawgRyder]

I figure that Jack is around to let the rest of us know: if you apply yourself, it can be done.
Someone has to set the bar a little higher for the rest of us...and we are lucky to have him around.
Now...Jack...could you slow down just a bit please? ....LOL
Bob

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks for the heads up, Chris. That looks like a busy site -- maybe the links about the car in the comments will bring some new people over this way.

My little two-car garage has been getting a lot of attention lately. Everybody who writes about it seems to get most of the story right, and then some of it that makes me go 'Huh?'

It's going to be in the August issue of Popular Mechanics, and their web site leaked a version of the story early. They interviewed me, and I thought the piece was very flattering and accurate. But the article head -- about 'extreme' and 'ultimate' garages seems a little out-of-place for a two-car garage with $3,200 in it. I spend some time on Garage Journal, and there are many, many, MANY garages there that are more extreme and much more ultimate than mine. But hey, the 911 is going to make an appearance in Popular Mechanics.

The Jalopnik blog seems to have gotten their stuff from the Hemmings Blog, which did a thing on it last week. I liked Hemmings' coverage (because I got to write most of it), but I'm not sure where the wisenheimers at Jalopnik got the idea for calling my garage the Ikea DIY garage. There are two Ikea lights and a piece of their butcher block in there. But I don't have any of that company's famous fiberboard products anywhere.

I think it all got started by the garage (and 911) showing up in Car Craft a few months ago. I was proud to get an old 911 into Car Craft.

The shop is also going to appear for a second time in Wood Magazine's 'Great Garage Makeovers' some time this fall (I think). Oddly, Wood Magazine's special issue seems to focus mainly on car garages, while Popular Mechanics seems to focus a lot on garages where woodworking is done and there isn't a car to be seen.

In any case, I'm sure the garage is going to get a very big head from all of this and that sooner or later I'm going to find a guy with a velvet rope at the door who's going to tell me to keep waiting, since I'm not on the list.

To keep the 911 tech content, here's the garage right now -- shocks all out for rebuilding and the motor out for some fixing -- which I'll explain in an upcoming post.



Not so pretty right now. But still a pretty tidy garage, judging from what I've had in the past.

[911lvr]

Congrats Jack. it really is a VERY nice garage. I have a question about the lift..is it just one be solid platform? it doesnt crush the oil lines?

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks. The lift is really only viable for a flat-bottom car like a 911 or a Beetle. But it was also a bargain at $455 -- it's possible to spend more than that on a good floor jack.

I have flexible oil lines that run through the rockers. But if I put a 911 up there that needed more clearance, I have some blocks I made out of sandwiched 2x6, plywood, and neoprene.



For my car, I just slide a cushioning sheet (padding from my kid's old playroom) so the tiles don't get cracked.

[Hugh R]

What a cool idea, I like it. You don't want to see my garage.

[scoe911]

Jack, I counted 6 fire extinguishers in your garage. Knowing(of)you, I'm sure they all serve different purposes no? Different chemicals?

[Jack Olsen]

Well, mostly it was a buying spree of used units on ebay. And when you're dealing with an untested extinguisher, a back-up seems like a prudent idea. But there are five Amerex ABCs, one pressurized water unit (I weld) -- and then a Halon extinguisher in the car and also a three outlet Halon 10-lb system there. I have a magnesium transaxle, and those fires are ugly.

I also read an article written by a firefighter about garages. There are a lot of potentially life-threatening hazards in your typical garage (not only that magnesium and paint thinners, but I also have acetylene and oxygen in a separate shed) that make it so firefighters will not do much more than protect adjacent buildings when a garage lights up. My first goal is to see that it doesn't reach that point. I've even looked into a freestanding sprinkler system -- DIY, of course. I've already picked up some used parts.

No accident, one of my father's degrees is in Fire Safety Engineering.

[RonDent]

OK Jack, you win! That has to be the best use of space I've seen.

[cstreit]

I think the cool part, Jack, is the innovative use of small space. I have a 900 sq ft garage and it isn't nearly that organized. One of these days when I have down time and a line on some old cabinetry I'll be scrutinizing your pictures.

[scoe911]

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

No accident, one of my father's degrees is in Fire Safety Engineering.

I hear you. BTW,I love the music, the "blues" makes me keep up the good work!

[911lvr]

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

Thanks. The lift is really only viable for a flat-bottom car like a 911 or a Beetle. But it was also a bargain at $455 -- it's possible to spend more than that on a good floor jack.

I have flexible oil lines that run through the rockers. But if I put a 911 up there that needed more clearance, I have some blocks I made out of sandwiched 2x6, plywood, and neoprene.



For my car, I just slide a cushioning sheet (padding from my kid's old playroom) so the tiles don't get cracked.

awesome. thanks for the information.. what kind of lift is it?

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by 911lvr

awesome. thanks for the information.. what kind of lift is it?

Vestil Hydraulic Lift Table

[911lvr]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Vestil Hydraulic Lift Table

thanks!

[Sirius Driver]

NICE! Real Nice!

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by 911lvr

thanks!

You're welcome.

I luv the way Jack has tiled the top surface to match the floor in his garage.

[Rodsrsr]

Very cool...........Very creative.

[cantdrv55]

Inspirational. I wish I was half as creative.

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys.

I can't say it's the most gripping reading or even very coherently put together, but the full build thread on the garage is here, at a site called GarageJournal.

I'd never really paid any attention to Jalopnik before this. But I'm surprised by the traffic they get. The thread on my garage has been up for half a day and it's gotten over 24,000 views and 145 comments. Yikes.