What does your garage look like?

Schwoo, glad you got the Dino to round out your fabulous collection.

 

It's a GTA Junior - winner of the 1969 Budapest GP

 

Injected, or carburated? If former, narrow head? Are you on Alfabb?

Regards, Alberto

 

very nice collection

 

It's carb'd - not not on alfabb - do you recommend it?

 

That floor looks amazing! Is it poured? How thick?

What's it like with oil leaks etc?

 

Yes, Bobj, the floor was poured, but I can’t recall now how thick it is. I wanted a perfectly level floor for wheel alignment and corner balancing (I used to race a Lotus).

The floor takes oil and automotive spills very well. It is a working shop, although I don’t do restorations anymore and don’t have welding and metal working done there.

Andres
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This is the “after” photo after the oil spill. The floor just wipes clean.

Andres
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Wow! Thanks! Do you recall the name of the epoxy? I might need to get some of that!

It looks much better for displaying an orange Stratos than my floor...
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Due to high humidity, here in the southern US (Louisiana, to be more specific) painted or epoxied floors are a disaster. They are perpetually wet and as slippery as an ice skating rink UNLESS there is air conditioning or heat running full-time. Just a word of caution.

 

My garages are all dehumidified - I would worry more about what all the moisture was doing to the cars!

 

if an issue, adding a plug in dehumidifier is an easy fix.

 

I absolutely love Andres garage, such class

That floor is awesome but scares me. I have an epoxy floor in my shop that the top coat is urethane with some small amout of aluminum oxide for grip. Even that floor is pretty deadly when wet. I personally would not do a totally smooth floor.
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Bobj, you have so much space! Do you happen to know what the width of that garage is? I'm thinking of building one of similar layout (long with one garage door on the side and cars parked as your stratos and rs are in the photo). I want to make it narrow but going a bit too narrow would obviously be a costly problem...

 

It's about 8.5 meters wide, give or take. It's fine, if you park the cars at an angle it's easy to get them in and out in one manoeuvre - I also have another door at the other end but I never use it. You could easily go a bit narrower but my configuration was dictated by an existing building. Also if you went narrower you have to increase the angle which decreases the number of cars per unit length so that's the ratio you might want to play with. If I had another meter on the width I could probably park them square and fit another couple of cars in

 

Man, I've GOT to get some epoxy on my floor. I'm tired of the dusty, ugly bare concrete. Looking at these amazing pics almost makes me feel dirty.

Oh, my garage could use a Dino too, if anyone is interested in a trade for a slightly used Miata race car. I'll even throw in a case of the finest south Mississippi micro-brew and Coledoggy's yellow 355 as seen below.


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Yes, I highly recommended it. You ought to share the Jr. in the Gta section.

It is a slower forum as these are mostly historical cars, so not much on restoration, mostly authenticity.

GTA (1965-1975) - Alfa Romeo Bulletin Board & Forums

See you there!

Regards, Alberto

 

Thanks. That's actually a bit narrower than I thought i needed. Good to know it works!

 

Of course, David. I live in the tropics, so humidity is in 80s usually, higher during the rainy season. Perhaps because we don't have temperature extremes, we don't get condensation on the floor, even in the "commuter car" garage, which has an epoxy floor but is not humidity-controlled.

BobJ is right, I feel. Humidity is a greater concern in so far as our old cars are concerned. If condensation and humidity are a problem, it is imperative to try to control that.

60% RH is supposed to be the magic number for iron; below that corrosion stops. I suppose that works for aluminium, magnesium, and other metals too. Piano and musical instrument manufacturers suggest 55% as the ideal environment; much lower and wood shrinks and may crack; leather, too.

My garage is air-conditioned, but I turn those on only when I'm in the garage. I have portable dehumidifiers set to 55% that operate at other times. The downside is that they heat the room too somewhat. Perhaps I should install a small inverter air conditioner and set that on dehumidifier mode with the thermostat at 26 degrees.

Andres
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BobJ, I live in the Far East, and the paint was formulated by a local manufacturer, so wouldn't be much use to you. I gather you are in the U.S.? There are several very good brands there, as well as installers. I would have the floor professionally painted.

I went with white, because it lightens a room immensely. I tried a light grey in our commuter-car garage, and the lost of brightness is quite apparent.

Best,

Andres

 

Thanks, I'm based in the UK, I will have a look around

 

Epoxy is know to yellow or color fade so be sure you look into a urethane top coat. Most pros will suggest this.

 

You are right, Joe. Good reminder. I have a topcoat.

Actually, tile l think is preferable to epoxy. it is easy to install and probably cheaper.. One can get non-slip surfaces if desired. It is easier to repair (just replace the one damaged tile). It will not change colour.

Some high-end manufacturers (like Lamborghini, l recall) specified tile for dealer workshops.

My parking area is tiled.

Andres

 

For a garage that is used for parking only, l would use tile for the reasons I mentioned above. Tile is on the floor in this photo.

Andres
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Beautiful Andres.