My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Give details and pictures of your ACVW projects here.
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vw59beetle
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by vw59beetle »

Thanks for all the well wishes guys. Firstly I would like to say that I am very privileged to have a work space and lifestyle like i do, but that magic have happened in smaller and less ideal places than mine. If you have passion and a love for what you do, anything is possible. You don't need the flashiest workshop to enjoy your passion.
It all started when I inherited my Grandfather's 1959 Beetle. You can read more about it here http://www.aircooledwonders.com/feature ... ed-wonder/ .One of my biggest influences, apart from my dad, is my friend and mentor, Werner Alker. In 1999 I did the first ever African Beetle Marathon, which Werner happen to win in record time. In 2000 I did a little road trip in a 1959 kombi with a Norwegian friend of mine, Espen Svensen. You can read more about it here http://www.aircooledwonders.com/feature ... he-59-way/ . I spend the next 10 years in America, teaching tennis and finally moved back to South Africa in June 2009. I decided to experience this beautiful Country of ours after a decade absence, in my 50 year old Beetle of course.
In 2011 I bought a 1967 911 Porsche and started restoring it in our garage. We live in a neighborhood, where it is frowned upon making a noise, but lucky for me the house next to us was being upgraded. Every time the builders made a noise, I made some noise.This was not the best situation and one day a guy named Werner Roux knocked on my door, looking for a old Porsche. He invited me to finish the Silverado restoration at his panel beating shop. During this time he decided to make his panel shop a bit smaller and this is how I ended up with the spray booth and the two post lift. You can read the Silverado story here http://www.aircooledwonders.com/restora ... o-project/
I started building the Aircooledwonders workshop in 2012, with the help of 3 of our workers. I plan to restore the projects we have collected over the last two years. I will do as much as I can of the work myself. In my mind it's the only way you know that it is done right. I will also host events and workshops(by Werner Alker) soon.
You are all welcome to visit me anytime and share this passion of ours.
@ Armand. Thanks for the suggestion with the paint for the floor. The little room that you see in the workshop is my tool room.It is also a great spot to make some noise (metal shaping) The workshop building is 7m by 14m I think, with a little room added next to the workshop.
@ Rekert. I'm not sure on the height of the lift. I will measure it on Monday and let you know.

Wernher
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Riekert
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by Riekert »

Epic story! I can't wait for my spot to be finished.
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jolas
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by jolas »

Great progress there Wernher, hope all the rest of the project goes smootly and according to plan - a few more "afdaks" perhaps :lol:
by fig » Mar 26, 2018
Sambas in South Africa are good for only 2 things: showing off and sunburn.
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vw59beetle
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by vw59beetle »

@ Rekert. I just measured the lift. It is 3,6 m high and the car is 1,8 m off the ground at it's highest. Hope this answers your question.
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by Riekert »

vw59beetle wrote:@ Rekert. I just measured the lift. It is 3,6 m high and the car is 1,8 m off the ground at it's highest. Hope this answers your question.
Wernher

Any updates? Also shot for the info. Might be able to fit it in my garage now :D
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by greenbean »

...very nice :mrgreen:
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vw59beetle
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by vw59beetle »

A lot has happened since I last updated this thread. Aircooledwonders hosted Herbiesworldtour as a first event. It was an amazing day spent with great people.
I have also planted grass in front of the workshop and built a media blasting cabinet.
Here is a picture of the cabinet.

Image

Sunset at Aircooledwonders. Heaven might be on earth.

Image
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by Barry »

Looks good Wernher - I need a cabinet like that. Care to build a second? :wink:
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Metalshaping courses, full builds, replacement panels.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garage-Cl ... 2857822743" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by calooker »

Great work, how I would love to build something simillar.
Looking thru the pics, I have 1 huge concern, the 2 post lift is sitting on a un-reinforced slab that is only 85-100mm thick (correct me if I'm wrong) but that is way short of min. requirement, you run the risk of the whole thing topling over. A quick thumb suck calculation, considiring that the base is on fill, it should have base min. 1000x1500x350 thick with 1 layer of reinforcement at the top to avoid things failing, that is taking into account 350kg of the lift & 2000kg for a car and rather than mechanical anchors, have holding down bolts cast into the base. :zhelp:
For what it's worth, ignorance has no limits ......
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vw59beetle
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by vw59beetle »

Thanks Barry.I used the skills that I learned at The Garage sheet metal course. :D So building a second should be easy. But you should be able to build it in your lunch break, with your mad skills.
@ Calooker. The whole floor is pretty thick. A bit of an overkill actually. I did make the area where the posts are even deeper than the rest. I also had a certified person install the lift, so everything should be ok. But if it falls over,I will just have to use the skills I learned at Barry to fix it :D
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by greenbean »

Let me know if you need blast media, can supply you.... :mrgreen:
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vw59beetle
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Re: My Aircooledwonders Workshop

Post by vw59beetle »

Thank you.We are good for now, but I will let you know when supply runs low.
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