New workshop

What type of work do you intend to use it for? Body, paint, welding, etc?

Everything beside Paint. So I have to put my welding stuff in, lift, lathe etc etc. I am the kind of Pantera owner who as soon the car is in working order, I'll take her all apart and do it all again, but with new lessons learnd and new idea's.

Well I am a typical Pantera owner. As soon as the car is in working order, I take her all apart and do it all again. With new lessons learned and new ideas. I do everything on the car except paint.
So I have to put all my tools in it, welding stuff, lift , lathe etc etc.
Maybe a second project car as well....

Dago, after years of putting off building my new shop I finally got started. 40'x32'x14' high, in-floor heat and a bar fridge.

First and most important, INSULATE the whole place as much as you can afford. I think mine is at R-80. Use an insulated garage door. All this will keep it cooler in Summer without AC and drastically cuts the amount of heat you need in Winter. A hanging 30,000 btu heater w/fan will keep the place at 60F all winter no matter where you live. For my 1000 sq. ft shop I tapped the natural gas line to my house and ran a spur 100 ft out to my shop, buried below the frost line with water and 220/100 amp service. Natural gas only runs at 2 psi in 3/4" black iron pipe.

Plumb your air compressor with sweat-soldered copper pipe & sink it into the walls for a neat appearance. Plastic pipe WILL leak in time from constant 100+ psi pressure, and if it's inside drywall behind benches and shelves, you have a real mess to get to it to fix.

By using an instant-on electric water heater for RVs, you avoid having to install a hot water heater. Hot water is really nice to wash up before returning to civilization (the house) especially in Winter.

And if you can, install a toilet if the shop will be a ways from the house. This will save many miles of walking back & forth.... There are RV-type toilet-waste pumps that will push wastes to your house sewer line or septic tank if you don't have the required slope for a sewer line to your home line. That also has to be buried below the frost line, which can be 24" deep in some areas.

Run electric outlets every 6 feet along with compressed air quick-disconnects in all 4 walls & the ceiling. Run at least 5 extra power or com wires out there from your house. You WILL forget something you need- telephone lines, security cameras, etc, and no one likes re-dos, especially if you have to trench.

if you are going to have water to your shop consider a sprinkler system .cheap insurance!

I thought about a sprinkler system but local codes make you pay for an inspection every year and my car has been absent for a number of years now being worked on. Nevertheless some sort of fire protection is a good idea and you could get a break on insurance.

Garage equipment suggestion first would be a 4 post lift with a jack bridge or the trolley jack that slides along the rails. Plenty of lighting. A jackshaft garage door opener. Parts washer. Small sink. Plenty of cabinets and shelves. Anna-Marie Goddard!

there are fire extinguishers that mount on the wall or ceiling and are triggered the same way a sprinkler system is. fwiw

Parts washers and air lines I understand. But I'm glad I googled Anna-Marie Goddard!

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But I'm glad I googled Anna-Marie Goddard!

Second that

Yes, every garage need one of those Anna Marie Goddards! WoW

is she a good mechanic ?

Tall ceilings for the lift and shelves for parts storage while the car is apart.

My shop is 60'x40' with 14' tall ceilings. Just a big, hyper insulated box. I put 10 skylights in the roof for natural light and big windows as well. Lots of plugs all over and bay lighting. Big, insulated roll up doors on two ends. A wood stove for heat in the winter. I'm solar powered (power company wanted $40k for a new vault and transformer!!) I catch water off the roof in two big tanks. A tiny fridge for cold drinks and a pool table have been amazingly popular. Sink and toilet would be nice, maybe next year. A hoist from the ceiling would be handy. More shelving - there's never enough. Anna-Maria would be a nice addition but my wife knows how to work the Uzi.

Great suggestions so far. If you have tall ceilings it's nice to have a loft for storage with some stairs to get up there. Also some sort of water proof wall covering like tempered hard board with a plastic coating on one side(like what they use in showers) going up from the floor to about waist or chest high so you can wash down you floors without saturating the drywall, that is if you are going to drywall. Substantial water supply for proper water pressure for a 1" hose to wash out your shop along with a good drain plan to get rid of the water. BIG BEAD BLASTER. If you have posts supporting the roof, run your compressed air supply line down a few of them for air in the middle of the shop. Get your self a 220 volt 5+ hp compressor with a 60 to 100 gallon tank (first and best investment I made 30 years ago!). Good luck, sounds like a great project.

If you want to be fancy make your overhead winch electric.

What a dilemma! How much can you invest in these great ideas for the shop and still have money for the build you want to continue on your cat?

You can utilize the domestic water for Fire Sprinklers or you can install an Ansul System with Halon ... great insurance in case something happens.

Ron

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shelves for parts storage while the car is apart

Go to your local Storables store (or visit storables.com) and get some inexpensive chrome industrial shelves on wheels for parts storage; available with flat shelves or basket shelves. This will allow you to roll the rack where you need it when working on projects and make it easy to then take everything over to the parts washer, blast cabinet, powder coat spray booth, or back to the vehicle for reassembly.