That guy with the green garage

[Kenstyles]

Definitely a fan of your porsche as well as your garage. Great job!

[Mk2GTI]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/fuel-economy/ultimate-garage-7-most-extreme-man-caves#slide-1

[Simply Classy]

So clean, both the car and the garage. I'm at a loss for words with this, but that lift is very unique; would definitely like to know more about it!

[Rdn86lude]

Greatest garage I have ever seen!

[MommysLittleMonster]

I watched the video a while back, and it's been a good motivator to finish my own garage in a similar manner. Very nicely done.

Welcome to Stance|Works.

[Miroteknik]

Good to see you on here. Hope to see some updates, or pick up general knowledge on the older 911's.

[Masquerade]

Exceptional.

[jasonklee]

So rad.

Welcome to StanceWorks

[Slow_Ballin']

At least once a week I re-watch your video from Petrolicious just to pump myself up! Such a great car and such a great garage.

[Jack Olsen]

Thank you, guys. Yeah, the garage was in Popular Mechanics and also Car Craft.

So clean, both the car and the garage. I'm at a loss for words with this, but that lift is very unique; would definitely like to know more about it!

The lift was kind of an impulse decision. I mean, I'd wanted a lift for awhile, but they're expensive. I was looking for something else on Ebay when I saw a pair of second-hand Vestil hydraulic lift tables come up for auction. It got me thinking that a table like that could be recessed into the floor and function as a scissors lift without being an obstruction when it was not being used. Then I immediately dismissed the idea for the simple reason that it wasn't designed as an automotive lift and would probably kill me if I tried it.

But it ate at me. I did the math for how the table would interact with the lifting points on the car and what it would block access to. Then I spoke with my father, who's an engineer. He had me work out the balancing point of the car so I could see how it would sit on the lift and how that point would change if the engine were pulled out of the rear or the suspension was taken off of the front. By the time I'd done the math and literally balanced my car on a steel beam, he said it ought to work fine.



I bid on the first one, but lost out. Still, it was one of those losses where you thought "I totally would have paid a dollar more than the final price for that thing." It had sold for a little over $700. So I put in a final maximum bid on the second one, and was surprised to see the final price settle at $455.

Then I went online to subject myself to the deluge of naysayers who were going to tell me the thing was going to kill me. Surprisingly, the greater part of the response was from people who said it ought to work. A hydraulic lift table is designed to different specs than an automotive lift -- but most of them are tougher. The duty cycle on the motor and pump is much higher, since you don't really need that kind of constant-use robustness for an automotive lift. A lift table is also designed for an environment where it will be frequently bumped into by forklifts. So the one I have is pretty stout (it's also US-made, by Vestil, a very reputable company).

I rented a truck from the local Home Depot to pick it up, because that would only cost me $20. It weighs over 900 pounds, so getting it down was a little bit of a trick.



I tested it out -- first with different heavy stuff, and finally with the car:



Then it sat for a while. I still had the nagging thought that this was a crazy idea. But a weekend opened up where I was going to have some time, so I rented a concrete saw and loaded the Jeep up with rebar, spare tiles, and about 20 sacks of concrete.



I worked out where it would be best placed, and marked the floor I'd worked so hard on.



Then I started cutting. It took about 30 minutes. This soil hadn't seen the light of day since Calvin Coolidge was President.



I didn't own a wheelbarrow at the time. This is about 1/3 of the 2000# of soil I had to dig out.



I definitely believed I was out of my mind at this point. I'm sure my wife felt the same.

Here's the hole. There's a piece of sheet metal sitting on the bottom so I wouldn't get as muddy. I had never done anything remotely like this before, but by this point I was getting advice from smarter people online. I drilled into the existing slab to seat lengths of rebar that would tie it into the new stuff.



Scary to drive the car in and out, still. But it was my only parking space.



I'd never made forms before, either.



Then the sheet metal came out, more rebar went in, and the big moment of mixing all the concrete and getting it into the hole. At that point the clock is ticking, and -- as they say -- concrete waits for no one. But I got it in.



Forms out. The new base is 8" thick, which is almost twice what I needed. There's a PVC pipe running to where the island is for the power lines and switching circuit. The little piece of 2x4 is covering a section I scraped out so the power lines could run underneath the lift frame.



A few days to set, and then I rolled in the lift. I should probably point out, this was 100% a one-man job. So moving the 900-pound lift was a slow and careful exercise.



New tiles set. Green paint applied:



And the cool thing is: when you're not using it, it doesn't get in your way:



That's probably a lot more than you wanted to know. But you got me remembering and digging up old pictures. I installed it back in April of 2011.

The total budget, including the cost of the lift, concrete, tiles and truck and tool rental: $670.

[Jack Olsen]

How's the old 911 holding up?

The owner looks older and older, but the car still turns some heads.

[Chris05ppwz]

Beautiful car and garage, I'm more than jealous.

[loekaaz]

Best garage-workshop. Ever.
Hats off to you sir, Also for the 911

[pDubs]

Holy crap

[unusual]

That is just amazing. That lift is such a great use of the space. And I feel like the industrial cupboards suit the age of your car. As in they look like they are from the same time period. Absolutely fantastic work.