Anchor point is a good idea as this is a shop for project cars.
I've already chosen a spot to be made extra thick for a possible lift.
Anchor point is a good idea as this is a shop for project cars.
I've already chosen a spot to be made extra thick for a possible lift.
Did some work on the Chevy truck this morning and got a strong reminder that I MUST get a lift. Laying on the ground and trying to reach up does not work well anymore.
I was very close to buying a new Bend-Pak, until I saw that they are "Engineered in USA, MADE in China". I'm not sending a penny to China if I can help it. Found an older USA Made lift nearby, factory certified at "Only" 5500 Lb.
Paying $800.00, a steal compared to the $1,800.00 - $3,500.00 Chinesium junk being pushed so hard.
Still way more capacity than I need for Lotus, Spitfire, TR6, GT6, MGB, Spridgets, Kit Cars and even my El Camino.
I do not work on diesels. Manufacturer is still in business! Obviously I'm buying it in the morning. 
I moved a lot of projects in and out of my shop with a chain wrapped around the base of my lift.
But that's off-center, and it made me think about how nice it would be to have an anchor point centered in the bay.
I've thought of using one of the folding hitch points used for goose-neck trailers as it would fold flat when not in use.
Have not worked out mounting in concrete yet. Looks like my floor should be poured this week.
I'm planning to put one if these at the front of each work bay. I have a winch on a receiver hitch and can chain it to the front of the trailer currently. These anchor pots would alow me to chain it to the floor and pull a non-op car in.
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/product/champ-floor-anchor-pot-1600/champ-frame-equipment
Today is the day for concrete!
Start-
At 3:30 pm.
30'x48' and still looks so small!
Now 10:30 PM and finish work is still being done. 
Two floodlights and four cars headlamps in use. Mostly looks good but I'm not too confident in two sections being really flat or smooth. Wish the loan had not taken so long, this could/should have been done in nicer weather.
Pretty soon they will wrap it up, throw some blankies over it and kiss it good night. 
Hoping there will be some process to smooth it out a bit more in the daylight.
Oh, and the used asymmetrical two-post lift I bought was delivered.
Ughh, 1:23 AM, blanketed. I will see what I have in four days. G'night - morning.
RichardSIA said:Today is the day for concrete!
Start-
No compacted fill being used under the slab? Is that common?
In reply to STM317 :
I don't know much about typical methods in NV, and I can't tell by that picture if things are compacted.
Soil type generally defines whether base is imported or not. I have built on sandy soils that drain well without importing anything. The current project I am working on is on clay, and we will be putting stone under the slab for decent drainage.
Its always better to build on undisturbed base soil (not fill), but rarely possible (because of finished elevations, drainage, etc). We do strive to put footings and structural bearing points on undisturbed soil (cut it right- don't dig too deep, no fill)
Residential work is frequently put directly on native compacted base soil (not topsoil). Not uncommon. Actually, it would be rare for a residential job to truck in any material if they could avoid it.
There would usually be a vapor barrier, but that is often overlooked for garages and utility structures.
Interesting seeing such small footings with no reinforcement, but these shelters probably have virtually no load. As RichardSIA has noted, it's just a slab. I'd say it's fair to say it's not structural.
@RichardSIA... When do the shelters arrive?
Out native soil at my location is very poor, a mix of clay, sand, alkali, with a caliche layer about a foot down. Like most of Nevada it's an ancient lake bed. Hard to grow anything here that needs drainage, my fruit trees are a struggle.
This slab is over a layer of of compacted "Base" which I think is "Qualified DG" (Sifted for size decomposed granite).
Slab is 4" thick with a small rebar reinforced footing around the edge. Simple slab does not require a permit but any sort of foundation does. We dug down into the Base about 4" where the post for the lift will sit, probably overkill.
At 65 YOA I'm not overly concerned about it lasting longer than I will. I do want it to remain nice as long as I will be using it.
The steel for the Tents will be here tomorrow unless the truck is delayed by weather. The fabric is another two weeks out. So plenty of time to erect the steel in about a week after the concrete has set sufficiently.
In reply to RichardSIA :
What's the height clearance to the bottom of your steel trusses?
RichardSIA said:Ughh, 1:23 AM, blanketed. I will see what I have in four days. G'night - morning.
Unfortunately once you throw the machine on it when it's colder, you are in for a long day. They really should have just used kneeboards and sliders on it, I would have.
Did they accelerate it at all?
In reply to STM317 :
You always should compact the subgrade.
Base is compacted.
First load was 2% and worked fine. Second only 1% as the wind had come up, but when they began to work it the wind died. Waylon said he should have used 2% for the second load too.
I bit my tongue when they walked around on it with boots, I'm not the Pro. Lots of use of a power trowel.
Top of the arc for the trusses/tent is 15'.
The days have been warmer and should remain that way until the blankets come off.
Building steel delayed until Monday.
RichardSIA said:Base is compacted.
First load was 2% and worked fine. Second only 1% as the wind had come up, but when they began to work it the wind died. Waylon said he should have used 2% for the second load too.
I bit my tongue when they walked around on it with boots, I'm not the Pro. Lots of use of a power trowel.
Top of the arc for the trusses/tent is 15'.
The days have been warmer and should remain that way until the blankets come off.
Building steel delayed until Monday.
High Early or calcium?
There's.......a lot of finishers that won't finish by hand even if held at gunpoint but it's better in winter.
For example I did 2 percent high Early, poured at 2 inch slump with hot water and was off it in 6 hours. The reason is I did it all by hand,30x40
I think he said Calcium. He did finish up by hand. It seems there was a lot of waiting for the area last poured to take a sufficient Set before it could be completed.
What really annoys me at this point is that $32K later I'm still having to lay in the dirt to work on the latest PITA F.I. car!
91 Buick Century with the wimpiest V6 ever made. Ran fine until I began to depend on it. Now has an issue where it stalls, but then restarts. Does not start cleanly, more like, wait, a poorly tuned carb car!
Changed the fuel filter, did not really expect it could be that easy. Off to buy a pressure gauge suitable for EFI use, have ordered a new fuel pump as that seems to be the common fail for all EFI systems.
About One More Month to have my shop, getting impatient.
I cannot describe how anxious I am to get back to driving a real car, even the VW Bug/Bradley GT will be a relief from the endless hassles of late model computer crippled junk.
Blankets cam off today, then a wash and sweep.
Told I may begin using it in another ten days.
Not billiard table flat, the area that got "Worked" so much is definitely a low spot.
Ah well, it a workshop not a surface table. Still, had hoped for a bit better. Winter probably did not help but I could not wait another four months.
In reply to RichardSIA :
I spy a Spitfire in the background.
And a GT6, TR4 chassis, El Camino Chassis, and the snow-mobile that tried to kill me.
Now trying to buy another truck box for hard sided storage. Plan is to form a large [_] enclosure to hide the projects not actively being built from the prying eyes of tweakers and county clowns.
The worst feature of the tents is that they will never keep thieves out, but in my too often repeated experience even a metal building only slows them down a little.
Tuesday/tomorrow is to be a big day.
Metal framing for the tents is to be delivered between 12:00 - 4:00.
Concrete guy is coming to "Backfill" the area around the pad and to put in some DG where the second tent will sit. He may have also found me a 40' container at a good price. Need that for secure storage.
Tent fabric covers are to arrive Thursday!
So, I should finally have my shop complete by the end of this month. Of course that means having to move everything out of the rented space. Hoping, really hoping, that for the final move of my life I may get to do so in an organized manner.
Once the shop is up I will have much to do that does not require a keyboard or monitor, can hardly wait to get back to BUILDING/Restoring my NOT PC cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By end of March I should be as free as anyone can be these days, might even regain some my lost patience?
Three of seven pallets came today, metal hoop sections and the 12'x12' roll-up steel door.
Concrete guys are pushing dirt around and leveling.
Rest of the order is to be here in the morning.
I could begin erecting the shop if I were not in so much need of completing my truck, literally ASAP.
Nice. Can't wait to see the outcome.
Four more pallets today, now only waiting for the fabric, and TIME to put it up.
Fabric is scheduled for Monday delivery.
I'm hoping one of the boxes I already have includes the instructions so that I may begin laying out the mounting plates for the unit that is going over the concrete slab.
Additional dirt work has been laid out, 40x60 storage plot between the tents and used truck boxes. That will let me hide the "Projects and junk" from street view. For anyone to complain they would have to be trespassers first.
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