Shawn writes:

(Rhode Island) OK, this is the 'real' thing.
I think the car was in one piece when I took this
but I'm not positive.
Judging by the tires there I don't think
I was working on the suspension yet
and I didn't get the camera till after I was
done with the interior.
Personally, I'm more excited with the other garage. ;).		 ... some assembly required.

This picture was taken April 14th, 2000.
The target date for completion is
around the start of July.
Hey Shawn, please send a pic
when the new garage is done!
Best Wishes to you and Melissa
for your upcoming wedding and
new home!
Garage Invite:
Posted by Shawn Fogg on September 08, 2000 at 10:09:34:

    (posted from: slip-32-100-160-220.ri.us.prserv.net (32.100.160.220))
Just letting everyone know I'm in the process of getting the garage up and running.

This is sort of an open invitation (as time permits on nights and weekends) to be available to help out with pretty much anything on the Zs. Ranging from resetting oil/inspection lights, checking+clearing fault codes (turning off Check Engine lights), installing most mods and of course any testing desired or whatever else.

I've got a pretty standard tool setup as well as some of Ron Stygar's specialized stuff like BMW specific jack stands and a collection of his Richard Mix built from above short shifter installation tools.

For testing I've got OBDTOOL and Vehicle Explorer. Both can view all sorts of operational data on most 96+ OBDII cars so we can do airflow testing, checking ignition timing+air/fuel ratio (handy for tuning supercharged cars), acceleration testing (also have G-Tech and Vericom for this.. need to find a good road) and a bunch of other stuff.

I recently bought Road Dyno which measures torque/hp (and gives full curves) like a 'real' dyno but does it by measuring acceleration. From the little I've used it so far it is pretty impressive.

I'm located about 5 minutes off exit 5 on Rt95 in Attleboro, Ma.

What I don't know (and could use some opinions on) is if anyone does stop by should I be charging for this? If so what? I honestly don't have a clue how to handle this. I want to help but making a few bucks would be nice as I could use it towards more equipment.

Please feel free to E-mail me if you are interested in stopping by.

Thanks,

Shawn

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by Shawn Fogg on September 08, 2000 at 13:48:04:

In Reply to: garage invite posted by Shawn Fogg on September 08, 2000 at 10:09:34:

    (posted from: slip-32-100-160-50.ri.us.prserv.net (32.100.160.50))
Thanks everyone for the suggestions here and through e-mail, please keep them coming.

I really am not interested in turning it into a buisness. Just trying to help and have fun getting together with fellow Z3ers so we could all learn more about the cars. Doing this is going to cost some money (how much I don't yet know) and there is always more equipment that I could use. (Visions of a MoDic dance in my head) I'd rather not charge anything but I'm faced with the reality that with the house payments and such my disposable income has been greatly reduced.

As such I think the suggestions of the voluntary contribution may be the way to go. I'll even further it by flat out accepting nothing on the spot. Well... maybe with the exception of beer. ;-) If you want to mail me something later on... cool. If not that is cool too. This way there isn't any pressure on anyone that comes for a visit so we can just have fun. Does that sound fair and reasonable?

Rach, as far as the BBQ I'm hoping the weather is going to hold up to be able to have one. Tomorrow I'm coating the garage floor and Sunday I think I'm booked too. Maybe next weekend?? With another tool that I don't (yet???) have the airbag light can be reset. There is also software available to interface with the airbag computer to determine the problem. If the problem that turned it on still exists though it is going to turn right back on. If not it will turn off and stay off. You certainly don't have to break anything to stop by, you are always invited. We could dyno test Emmy and her new signing voice (or install her new voice and test before/after) or simply just stop in to watch Mars Attacks. ;)

Thanks,

Shawn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Shawn Fogg on September 20, 2000 at 11:52:27:

    (posted from: slip-32-100-160-101.ri.us.prserv.net (32.100.160.101))
As I mentioned I put down a concrete floor coating in the new garage. I used Rust-Oleum two part epoxy concrete floor coating.

The directions say to wait 30 days from pouring before treating. I waited 35 days.

Directions say to sand/wire brush the concrete. I wire brushed it.

Then acid etch it. I used Behr concrete acid etch. Rinse/scrub. I probably implemented a water shortage in Attleboro from this step.

Wait 24 hours for concrete to dry. I waited about 36 hours.

Power mixed the two parts for 5 minutes per the directions then let it sit for 30 minutes in the 73 degree air as required. During that time I vacuumed the floor.

Put the first coat down and 28 hours later did the second coat after vacuuming the floor again. The second coat was on the 11th.

Let dry for two days before it was walked on and 6 days before a car drove on it.. the book said wait 4 days for cars.

Anyhow at that stage it looked fantastic. If MediaOne ever successfully installs my phone and/or cable modem (its been a month so far) I've got some pictures of it.

No problems with the cars other then the tires were leaving small black marks on the paint where they sat overnight. Not a problem, I was just glad the paint was staying down.

Last night I was putting up lighting and moved my car. I noticed a very tiny puddle on the paint. That gave me an excuse to use my new jack and stands (cool!). Turned out the upper radiator hose was ever so slightly seeping. The clamp just needed to be tightened slightly to fix it. Without the paint I wouldn't have noticed that as the coolant would have soaked into a bare concrete floor.

However, the paint looked a little funny from where the coolant had been sitting on it.

Last night it rained and Melissa pulled her wet car into the garage... of course.

This morning when she went to leave for work the paint pulled up under all four of her tires. All the other wet spots on the floor looked funny.

The front page of the brochure for the paint says in big bold letters...

'Do it once and make it last! Use the only FLOOR COATING that stands up to: Standing Water, Freezing Temperatures, Heavy Traffic & Hot-Tire Pick Up.'

So much for that!

I can imagine how this stuff could possibly last if water on it weakens it. Through the winter this stuff is probably going to be destroyed and my floor is going to look horrible. :(

I'm going to buy rubber mats to go under each tire but I don't have much hope for this helping much.

If you are planning on painting/treating your garage avoid this stuff!

Shawn

Follow Ups:
Posted by Shawn Fogg on September 22, 2000 at 12:47:11:

    (posted from: h00010271acab.ne.mediaone.net (24.91.218.126))
Well, AT&T finally was able to get my phone+internet hooked up. Took 'em long enough.

This flies!

It was kinda funny during the cable modem install as I didn't have any internet stuff on my Windows partition so the cable guy couldn't test the connection. Booted into OS/2, clicked one button and I'm up and running. ;)

As promised a some pictures of the garage and the floor.

This is the epoxy coating a few days after it was put down with both coats. As you can see from the window reflection in the floor it helps to light up the garage. You can really see it in this pic.

This is after Melissa pulled her car out to work with the wet tires.

This is a closeup of one tire.

The carpet runners to try and prevent any more of this.

It still has a long way to go but this is about what it looks like so far.

Shawn Follow Ups:


(Fair warning y'all:
I have a tendency to show up where I am invited. See "Emmy Go Foggy" for details of our first migration for Brake Pads and BBQ at the Foggs!)
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