Show us your shop

Tony

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Guys, you don't understand. There are 12 more bar clamps that you don't see there. Tony
 

rocky1

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Well, I did finally take a few pictures, since I been giving everyone else a rash of bat guana. My shop is definitely not clean, by any means, but I got a whole lot of shop to clean, and lots of help messing it up at times, and it's constantly being used for a few different things. First bay catches all the yard toys, and assorted other overflow from the small storage shed the wife and mother-in-law keep in @Tony fashion.

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Wall full of antique tool type goodies stashed over here as well.

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Looking across the shop...

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Far back bay, currently used for storage with exception of the back end where all the carpenter tools are located. Maple and Walnut overflow storage beneath cart.
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Bathroom is laid out and framed up, just never has been plumbed. Yeah there's some wood working goodies in there too.
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Backing out to the working bay... No I didn't shoot all that! Wife's father and grandfather used to hunt enthusiastically, and had the hunting camp in the back yard here, so it's a collection of several people's efforts over many years.

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The other wall looks as bad...

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Everyone has seen the pen blank storage flat rate box organizer assembly table.

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More to come...

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rocky1

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Layout of the wood working section in the center bay at present...

Bandsaw, table saw, drill press, hydraulic press in top left corner. Welder, wire feed, torch, metal bandsaw, welding table in top right corner. Toaster oven was moved to welding table because it's all steel, and thus flame proof

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Tool box, tray, garbage can, lathe layout. Everything is sorta handy... Need a smaller trash can in this arrangement.

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The infamous Harbor Freight Tool Cart at present...

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woodtickgreg

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@rocky1 There is way too much room in there, I could fill that with lots of crap, lol. All kiding aside, very nice shop! And huge!
What's that little white truck thingy?
 

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Shop is big Tony, don't know for sure, never measured it honestly... 32 x 60ish. Lots to keep clean!! Therefore it's easier to try and keep it clean. Was a disaster when I inherited it. Took about 2 months to clean it all up. Car trailer loaded with scrap iron, sold lots of car parts, sorted nuts, bolts, nails, screws, and pounds and pounds of little odds and ends for days.

Little truck thing is a Suzuki mini truck. 660cc 3 cylinder, 5 speed, 4x4, lifted 2 inches ATV tires all the way around.

I've got lots of toys in there for sure.
 
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rocky1

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@woodtickgreg - OK Greg... Back at the house so I can get at pictures to answer your question better. Posted this up once before in reply to someone's question on what kind of side by side did we have.

Mini Truck was an auction sale purchase. These things typically start around 5 - 6 grand in running order. This one ran, but had issues, I picked it up for $1900. Bought an '89 Chevy 3500 in front of it, thinking I was bidding on this, wound up making over $200 on it after the auctioneers' cut, and never took it off the lot. Told them what happened, we ran it back through the sale the next month.

Top end on these little things, older carbureted models was around 45 - 50 mph, I want to say around '97 - '98 they went fuel injection and they'll top out around 65 - 70. Got it running to load it, battery was shot, so I replaced that. Ran, but it spit and sputtered up 'til you hit 3rd gear then started losing power. Mechanic buddy came out and we tried running codes on it. Nothing about these things is OBD II compliant. Supposed to be, but after 4 scan tools, the last being a $6500 Snap On Scan Tool, we gave up. Pulled a compression test, that indicated head gasket leak, so we pulled the head, had the valve train reworked and the head decked. Replaced timing belt and water pump while it was all apart.

Replaced struts and shocks (they were all shot), left CV joint (boot was torn and it was snapping and popping), repaired the exhaust system (it was about half torn off and leaking everywhere). Decided to go ahead and do the 2" lift kit while replacing struts and shocks just so we didn't have to take it all back apart again. Spacers above the struts on front (E-Bayed kit. PITA to install!!!), added a leaf in rear. (Bought those through Jeg's as best I recall. That's questionable on these because they don't weigh anything and it tends to stiffen the suspension to the point it lifts tires off the ground constantly on un-level terrain, but I intended using it to work around the farm, and the extra leaf just about doubles payload. You go from 900 lbs. to 1500.) That necessitated new U-Bolts, and plates underneath the axle as well, but we still came in under $250 on the lift.

Added an auxiliary fuse panel to carry the driving lights, added driving lights and rear cargo lamp/backup light, (ordered a kit for all that, relay and switch were about the only thing that wasn't modified on it, completely rebuilt the wiring harness), replaced radio antenna and radio, plumbed it into the auxiliary fuse panel as well. Stock fuse panel is utterly impossible to get at on this model, and there is some issue with wiring on the after-market radios and the lights in several mini-truck threads I read so that was an easy choice to make.

Left front fender was caved in, pulled it and beat it out straight, had to do a little patching of rust on the cab post behind the fender, little bondo work on rust on the hood, and a few other little dings on the cab. Otherwise it's pretty sound body-wise. Side panels were froze up, got them all working like they're supposed too; fold down and slide off. Was going to replace the front bumper, mini-truck dealer told me to heat it up, straighten it out, epoxy the crack, and save the $350 unless I was building a show truck.

Still hadn't got but about 37 mph out of it at that point, got on the net and started chasing mini-truck threads and found there is a problem with rust in the gas tanks on these things. The housing around the fuel pump acts as the primary filter, it plugs up, and they starve for fuel. If you take it out and clean the housing up, clean the tank out, and put fresh gas in them, they'll run a whole lot better. We went ahead and found a replacement pump as long as it was out. (Pays to know your local parts man well and catch him on slow day, when he needs entertainment! We handed him the fuel pump, told him we needed one just like it. He asked what it fit, we told him he didn't want to know. He insisted! We told him!! He said, we were right, he didn't want to know. After pulling about 20 different pumps off the shelf, finding one close but it was plumbed opposite of what we needed, call to the manufacturer questioning reversed specs on that pump, pulling another 10 or so, found one that required about 2 seconds with the die grinder and it was exactly what was in it.) Took it out for a test drive, picked up about 5 - 10 mph in the first 5 miles. Made the loop in the drive at the office, turning around, it hiccupped once, and was a whole new truck!!! We were scratching studs in the first 3 gears. Went back by the house at 68 mph!

Mini-truck dealer in Jackson, MO where I bought about 90% of my parts, (actually only about 4 - 5 miles from a friend's house there in Jackson), had a sale on tires and wheels that spring, bought the whole set, new, mounted and balanced, for about half price. Had to trim a little off the corner of the bumper, and beat about 3-4 inches flat in the back of the fender to clear them, but that was it. 20 minutes and I was done altering for tires.

Needs paint, I still need to fabricate an end gate for it, want to fabricate a receiver hitch on front and bumper with receiver on rear, and put a winch on it. Could use the seats recovered, driver's side is split all the way across the seat. Otherwise runs like a top! Dirt road it'll spin the back tires in all 5 gears with the ATV tires. Taller tires cut my top end about 5 mph according to GPS. Blast to drive, but this is supposedly the smallest cab of all the minis, so there simply isn't much room in it. My knees are pretty much on the dash!


Before picture, day I drug it home...

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After a couple months and several thousand dollars tinkering...

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woodtickgreg

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I always liked those little mini trucks, and that one is way cool now!:cool: Years ago when I had a landscape business I entertained the idea of running a fleet of those things. It would have been kind of a gimmick but people would have related to them. They would have been perfect in the tight neighborhoods for parking etc. 1 or 2 guys in each rig with 2 small 21" lawnmowers, back pack blowers, and some fabbed up trimmer racks on the sides for stick edgers and line trimmers.
 

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Oh yeah, they get attention! Few states they aren't street legal at all, but I believe Michigan was pretty open on them in respect to laws.

G&R Imports in Jackson, MO has been the best source for information, parts, accessories that I've found to date. They also carry a pretty extensive line of used trucks and vans there. Craigslist typically has a few hiding somewhere. And, as best I recall you have someone up there in your neck of the woods selling trucks and a few parts.

The only drawback to running a fleet of them would be... Everything on them is outrageously priced!!! If you can find a part's counterpart on a vehicle sold in the US, you can usually buy it for a third the cost. Fuel pump on mine was for an '02 Chevy Nova, that model was manufactured by Geo. We had to buzz a piece of casting out 1/8" x 1/4" in a recess on the bottom of the pump was all. Suzuki pump from G&R was $283, the Nova pump set me back about $100. Shocks obviously fit something else as well, they were $25 from G&R, front struts on the other hand were $185 apiece. And, you just really don't have a lot of options in shopping around for parts for them.
 

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Ha, they run a lot of those little trucks around here up in rice country. Just run them forever. I see them all the time, no doors, some no windshields rusted to all get out, but still hauling crap around!
The problem is they dive the freaking things at night. NO LIGHTS. Got to be so freaking careful after dark.
 

rocky1

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Yeah, from what I understand they're supposed to be pretty dependable little vehicles. Japan has laws governing emissions testing and licensing on them, that after so many years, it's simply more feasible for them to replace the truck than it is to pass emissions tests and license it.

Since they're stuck on an island, they can't go very far, and most seldom see any high speeds, they just run around town making deliveries, so most leave Japan with fairly low mileage, in fairly decent shape. Did the conversion on the odometer reading, mine only has around 35,000 miles on it, and it's a '99.
 

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Nobody has posted anything here for awhile, thought I would bump this. Tony
 

Lou Currier

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@rocky1 a few questions...what is the crutch for and what is that pink thing under your boxing station?

Your truck looks like a 55+ community golf cart on steroids and I see lots of antler pens hanging around there :ponder:
 

rocky1

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@rocky1 a few questions...what is the crutch for and what is that pink thing under your boxing station?

Your truck looks like a 55+ community golf cart on steroids and I see lots of antler pens hanging around there :ponder:


Crutch - I have not a clue... More crap the mother-in-law and wife moved from the little storage shed into my shop, in my way, given it's location. Why? Because they can't keep their shed clean! They've got in there and cleaned it out 3 - 4 times in the brief 8 years or so I've been here, within 6 months you can't walk around in there. Sneak in to the fridge and freezer, but everything else is hid. Path wandering through the mess is about it.

Pink thing under the counter - is a rubber half round candy mold, that's folded over itself. Has 16 - 1 inch diameter half round cups in it. Bought several of them in hopes of casting refrigerator magnets and such, the ones that were too big, came in the house for creating candy and cookies, the ones that were small enough stayed in the shop. Was pouring left over resin in it, making little half round balls out of it, until I got a few pen molds built, now I typically keep a few blanks for casting sitting in the mold, ready to cast and pour pen blanks with my leftover resin. Much more fun than collecting little half-round gizmos.

Kinda thought they might look cool set on top of bottle stoppers and polished up. Could make interesting lights on the side of a deeply set candle, could be interesting set in a piece that occupies a sunny window. I don't know, what I'm going to do with them honestly. Glue them to a piece of wood and make something out of them. Glue a magnet on the back, and paint smiley faces on them or something. That's half the reason I quit pouring them, couldn't decide what to do with them

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Old folks would have a blast with the mini truck. Mother-in-law didn't think she could drive it, right hand drive and standard transmission, but she had it down before she got out of the yard. She loves it! It would be fun on the golf course though with 60+ mph top end!
 

Tony

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Crutch - I have not a clue... More crap the mother-in-law and wife moved from the little storage shed into my shop, in my way, given it's location. Why? Because they can't keep their shed clean! They've got in there and cleaned it out 3 - 4 times in the brief 8 years or so I've been here, within 6 months you can't walk around in there. Sneak in to the fridge and freezer, but everything else is hid. Path wandering through the mess is about it.

Pink thing under the counter - is a rubber half round candy mold, that's folded over itself. Has 16 - 1 inch diameter half round cups in it. Bought several of them in hopes of casting refrigerator magnets and such, the ones that were too big, came in the house for creating candy and cookies, the ones that were small enough stayed in the shop. Was pouring left over resin in it, making little half round balls out of it, until I got a few pen molds built, now I typically keep a few blanks for casting sitting in the mold, ready to cast and pour pen blanks with my leftover resin. Much more fun than collecting little half-round gizmos.

Kinda thought they might look cool set on top of bottle stoppers and polished up. Could make interesting lights on the side of a deeply set candle, could be interesting set in a piece that occupies a sunny window. I don't know, what I'm going to do with them honestly. Glue them to a piece of wood and make something out of them. Glue a magnet on the back, and paint smiley faces on them or something. That's half the reason I quit pouring them, couldn't decide what to do with them

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Old folks would have a blast with the mini truck. Mother-in-law didn't think she could drive it, right hand drive and standard transmission, but she had it down before she got out of the yard. She loves it! It would be fun on the golf course though with 60+ mph top end!

If you decide to get rid of some of those round things I might buy some from you, use them for stoppers. Tony
 
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