GP Race Works 69 Camaro LT4 w/8 speed Build

[Timmah]

I setup up heavy equipment shop across the southeast over the last 20 years. We used Tennant coating. The secret is a good layer of clear coat of the same material of the color coats. Your will still experience maintenance issue over a period of time depending on how heavy your traffic is. Put a tennis ball on a broom handle to remove black spots.


If it was My garage, I would polish the concrete and put a sealer that absorbs in the concrete and not on top of it. this will look great and will repel the fluids from staining it. We started doing this in the work bays with great excess. Check out your local Costco floors.



Tim

[CamaroAJ]

If it was My garage, I would polish the concrete and put a sealer that absorbs in the concrete and not on top of it. this will look great and will repel the fluids from staining it. We started doing this in the work bays with great excess. Check out your local Costco floors.



Tim

And it holds up to welding without burn marks.

[Timmah]

There is no coating to burn. The sealer is like putting snow seal or mink oil on your work boots. The shine is the polish concrete like when people tumble rocks to polish

[parsonsj]

Does polished concrete get slippery when it's wet?

[Timmah]

Depends on how far you polish. Much like a a coated floor as far as slippery. the work bays would get half of the steps in polishing and a sealer that sets in the pore of the concrete that repel stains Other area would get a high polish like aisle and storage and display area. Where we place yellow lines in the floors afterwards, we would shot ping the floor again and have several coat of yellow and clear. This was the only thing we could get to stay with the equipment traffic. Wash bay floors for the equipment we would add a compound that look a lot like sand in the epoxy coating to control the traction for the techs. It would 5/8 to 3/4 thick when finished.

Polish floor is very low maintenance compared to coating and you can pick what level of polish you want. We also stain the polish floor in one of the 7000 sqf training rooms that look good and held up.


We had to start redoing coating floors in building after three to five years in earlier build dealers.


Tim

[GPRaceWorks]

I setup up heavy equipment shop across the southeast over the last 20 years. We used Tennant coating. The secret is a good layer of clear coat of the same material of the color coats. Your will still experience maintenance issue over a period of time depending on how heavy your traffic is. Put a tennis ball on a broom handle to remove black spots.


If it was My garage, I would polish the concrete and put a sealer that absorbs in the concrete and not on top of it. this will look great and will repel the fluids from staining it. We started doing this in the work bays with great excess. Check out your local Costco floors.

Tim

So what about scratching? My last 2 shops had the Big Box kits with Clear. In about 3-4 years time they looked like crap. They where all scratched up and the clear was not holding up well.

I have a large jack with meta wheels that marks the floor. How does sealed polished concrete hold up to that?

[Timmah]

We could not get any life out of a coating floor even in a training room. the only coating color and clear over used was for striped lines (not much option for stripes). Polish did well with grime and and dirt in work bays. As far as scratches in work bays you got to remember we only polish them half the way to the full polish look (matted polish look) and used a sealer that is in the pores and not sitting on top. Nothing will take gouging. The good thing about polish is it can be polish back even in spots. We never needed to re- Polish the finish when i was there last (around 5 years when i retired) Polishing is a serial of sanding / grinding and cost less starting with new floor. If you coat the floor and have to remove it, it is extremely dusty to go thru and a big cost. If you visit a Costco and check their floors out you can see how they fared the traffic, our work bays where the same level of polish with the sealer in the pores. In my customer base some of them used our equipment in food base warehouses used floor scrubbers to achieve that look by using different pads in place of the brushes, much slower process but they look great.


I would suggest contacting Tennant floor scrubber in your area and see who they partner with and Vet them hard for a solution. All this will cost you is your time. pretty cheap compared to re-grinding a floor.

[GPRaceWorks]

Thanks for the information. I need to make a decision soon.

[TonyHuntimer]

Great project (car and garage)! The Camaro looks very familiar to our '69 Camaro's rust damage.

I would definitely protect a new floor with an industrial coating. The big box store stuff is barely good enough for a residential garage...for a few years.

[GPRaceWorks]

So decision on the floor is Polished concrete!

Reasons based on research and feedback from all of you is as follows.

1. Won't have burn marks from welding and plasma cutting.

2. If it scratches it can be easily repaired.

3. Looks great for the modern look I'm going for.

4. With a topical coating it will hold up well to oil, break fluid, gasoline ect.

5. Reflect light well. (I will have black ceilings)


I decided to hire it done. Doing 2500 sq ft is a big undertaking since I've never done it before. Quoted $3 per sq ft. Not cheap, but hopefully worth it. Attached is the look I'm going for.

[CamaroAJ]

Actually that is very cheap. I had a buddy get quotes in the $5.75-$6.50 range for polished concrete.

[Timmah]

So decision on the floor is Polished concrete!

Reasons based on research and feedback from all of you is as follows.

1. Won't have burn marks from welding and plasma cutting.

2. If it scratches it can be easily repaired.



3. Looks great for the modern look I'm going for.

4. With a topical coating it will hold up well to oil, break fluid, gasoline ect.

5. Reflect light well. (I will have black ceilings)


I decided to hire it done. Doing 2500 sq ft is a big undertaking since I've never done it before. Quoted $3 per sq ft. Not cheap, but hopefully worth it. Attached is the look I'm going for.

I believe you will be happy.

look forward to seeing finish floor. Price seem good from my memory.

[GPRaceWorks]

So here's a question:

Would you spend $7500 to have floors polished,.....or would you buy the entire system for $10,300 with shipping and everything
included and own the machine for future use and opportunity to make some money with it?

https://www.werkmaster.com/the-edge/

[CamaroAJ]

You're paying for the labor and the know how to do it mostly. In either case if you decide to buy the equipment I would go with the 120v version over the 240v version. Most house garages don't have 240v in them.

[Timmah]

Depends.

Are you looking to do more then the Car business? This has a ton of labor and learning curves. If not looking for another side line of work, I would pay to have it done and focus on my core business.


Tim

[GPRaceWorks]

You're paying for the labor and the know how to do it mostly. In either case if you decide to buy the equipment I would go with the 120v version over the 240v version. Most house garages don't have 240v in them.

I agree with the 120V version. I've refinished a lot of floors (wood) and this is similar. I have a 13yr old son, that could use it in the future to make some cash and learn so.e skills. I'm the type of guy that would rather do most things than pay to have them done.

[GPRaceWorks]

Depends.

Are you looking to do more then the Car business? This has a ton of labor and learning curves. If not looking for another side line of work, I would pay to have it done and focus on my core business.


Tim

I'm thinking more of another way my sons can make some cash as he gets older. I'm training him to do a lot of things. On the shop build alone he is doing the Hardie siding and soffits, nailed on 50% of the hurricane straps, driving the tractor, doing the metal ceiling and walls inside, installing the mini split ac units, and the list goes on. At 13 he has learned more skills than most kids ever will. I sit and play PS4 with him every week, but he is loving working with me the more we do. But boy did he hate it at first...lol

[Timmah]

That is great way for him to learn how to do thing and be self sufficient. He will appreciate it more later in life too.

My Dad instilled this to my brother and me. It has made both of us self sufficient with work and home.

Tim

[GPRaceWorks]

Self sufficient is the end game, right.

One of the garage doors went in today. Has wifi built in so I can operate remotely and monitor if someone opens it. They offset the opened so it can't be seen from outside.

[GPRaceWorks]

So now that the shop is getting close to completion, I have to seriously work out the details of outfitting it the way I want.

First, do any of you use the HF Air dryer? For $399 it seems like a good deal and has okay reviews.

Next, I ordered the Crossfire Pro plasma CNC with X,Y,Z axis and the THC option without the Plasma cutter they offer. The one I have (vera cut 40) is high frequency so it wont work with it. I'm looking at the Hypertherm powermax 45xp. Do any of you have a Plasma CNC? What are you running?