4/75 Datsun 280Z; Leaf Green, CA market, 250K miles, Long Term Project 03/2023-

[HusseinHolland]

21 minutes ago, Patcon said:

A bad back is no fun!

If the rafters and celing joist are tied to the wall plate well enough, you can setup a temporary wall inside the existing wall about 12-16". Use bottle jacks and temp posts to jack up the ceiling structure.  It should take the wall with it. Be sure you have all the studs free from the plate. You dont need a lot of movement to have enough gap. You may have to replace the sill on shorter sections to get it in there.

Yeah, I have one herniated disc, which I've been getting treatment for for the past 2 years now. Chiropractor puts me on a rack every couple-few weeks to stretch it back out & allow the disc to move. It is good overall, if I don't over do it.

OK - The rafters have hurricane ties to the top plate. I was thinking that it would have to be that way - so, a top plate that bridges the rafters fore-aft, and then posts with the jacks under. The existing studs at the East end have dropped at least 1/4-3/16" into the rotted sill, so I would cut the nails for each stud, then jack the temp posts just enough to loosen the studs, with enough lift to get a new 2x10 sill in place.

I assume I will section the sill into at least 3-4 pieces - given the studs are 24" OC, and the total length of the sill is 18' ?

 

Edited March 23 by HusseinHolland

[Patcon]

Yes, I believe you understand. I would try to do three pieces about 6' long. You actually don't have to pick the whole side up at once if you can't. The building will "flex" some if you pick it up in one area and not another. You can get it jacked up and then cut temporary studs to length and then you can move the jacks around. When you want to set it down you can drive each stud out a little at time so they all come down evenly or you can use the jack again to lower them. A 2x6 as a top plate works better than a 2x4. It's wider and stiffer...

[HusseinHolland]

4 hours ago, Patcon said:

Yes, I believe you understand. I would try to do three pieces about 6' long. You actually don't have to pick the whole side up at once if you can't. The building will "flex" some if you pick it up in one area and not another. You can get it jacked up and then cut temporary studs to length and then you can move the jacks around. When you want to set it down you can drive each stud out a little at time so they all come down evenly or you can use the jack again to lower them. A 2x6 as a top plate works better than a 2x4. It's wider and stiffer...

Thank you Pat.

I still have a few good length dimensional lumber from the original wall - so that would be good for the top plate, and I think I have several in about 8' lengths which would work for posts. 

It did indeed rain all day today - this is what the back of my yard looks like whenever we have heavy rain. It's a very high water table, there is a stream that runs around the outside of the property between me and my neighbor, and the soil only goes down maybe 2 ft or less before it becomes clay

For perspective, this is the view from the house (different day) right-hand side (West) is where it pools..

Even with that, the back of the garage did not get very wet or have any accumulation to speak of. So, I think I can just backfill that area with gravel.

Since I couldn't work outside, I just did some more cleanup inside. Added sheathing to the inside of the garage doors, as those were pretty darn drafty and also a little wonky.

While I was at it I also put some primer on the new shelves and upper sheathing

Rain is supposed to stop later today, so hopefully tomorrow I can start with the jacking and replacing of the sill sections.

[HusseinHolland]

So it took me literally hours just to set up the posts & plate. First I screwed the plate to the rafters, then levelled the posts & jacked it carefully using 2 bottle jacks & then a floor jack in the middle (cut all the stud nails first!). Then I cut 2x4s to fit (95") & clamped then screwed them together

Added some cross bracing, since it's gonna be there a couple days, since it took me so long to setup .

Found after that that the corner post is toast so I removed it entirely

Extra large end opening now. Have to do the sill first, then the corner post , then tie the door frame to the post, then address the studs

Doors will be much more level than before, once it's all tied together

Cleaned the foundation, packed some gravel in the openings & added some concrete (not finished) - I'm going to add another anchor bolt at the west end to the 8' section going in

Edited March 24 by HusseinHolland

[Patcon]

Well done

[HusseinHolland]

14 hours ago, Patcon said:

Well done

Thank you for your advice! Feels solid enough - definitely not concerned about working in/around it now.

In order to make sure this is taken care of before we leave town on Sat., I took half a day today. Put down the sill seal, with a 1/2" strip of butyl squished along the outer edge.

new pressured treated 2x10 sill plate, 8' section starting from the East end. 4x4" post in place, and dimensional 2x4" post for the door frame. Wall studs still to be addressed.

Outer panels in place for this corner. Sealed the sill at the corner also. Have to get new siding for the bottom 1' of the wall - I'm going to use concrete backer board for at least the lowest run (6") off the sill

These garage doors have been unusable for at least 10 years, wedged shut. Now I can open & close them (after trimming the righthand one), I need to address the latches to properly secure them, and replace the pane of glass I broke.

Edited March 26 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Another detour - since I started aligning the barn doors, I decided I needed to address the floating center post

Had to cut out 16" of the dimensional 4x4 center post, and about 12" of the dimensional 2x4" door frame/posts. Fortunately I have saved sections of old posts I've cut up for other areas, so I had sufficient lengths to get clean sections for here. I tied two 2x4 together to get the center, set that on a piece of pressure treated sill, and then added the side posts 

The external plates needed to be actual 1x, so I got 5/4" x 6" decking & cut the width down to 4.5", to get the total 9" width needed

Covered the center area with butyl wrap before putting the external plates in

Replaced the wood screws with 3" 5/16"  lag bolts, so that should hold up. Don't have any in the left door yet, ran out of time & light. I'll deal with that after work tomorrow.

Edited March 27 by HusseinHolland
Typo

[HusseinHolland]

After work yesterday I got the left door hinges attached, the pane of glass installed, and some glazing putty on a couple other loose panes, then primer on the replaced wood, in time for it to dry (hopefully enough) before the rain started.

got some top coat on the doors and jambs, sorted out the door latches

Edited March 28 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Worked on the replaced sill area today. Added a plate to further remove the studs from any possible damp/water contact. Spliced in stud sections.

Added  a 2x6 header(support?) above the Southeast door - there are 3 plates there (see left of pic for reference ) - I figure this should help stiffen it up a bit. I'll jack the center a hair before I tie it to the plate sandwich 

Added some cross braces to stiffen up the wall after the corner post for the existing top plate..... 

......and the new header post were in place. Have to add splints(?) to the repaired studs

Next I need to clear this out so I can get the Z inside while we are out of the country for a week

Feeling better now it's going back together. I can't work on the cars until my stuff is out of the way & back where I can find things as needed

 

 

Edited March 29 by HusseinHolland
Typos

[HusseinHolland]

Took me at least a couple hours of rearranging & moving some stuff to the basement, but I made room & got the Z inside. Still have the V8 drivetrain sitting in between the two cars 

Made sure I could actually lock the garage doors...

Ended up leaving it out though - I decided that since I was going to be away for a week, now was a good time to patch the broken concrete floor (from the roots of the very large pine tree  on my neighbor's lot, that is now gone). That can set all week now without any floor traffic. Still a mess, but at least closer to level it was difficult to roll carts or the bench over that patch during to the rise/drop. I broke up the loose pieces so that I had a good 4" or so of depth, then used a mortar mix to feather it to the old surface, after cleaning with acid.

 

Edited March 30 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Much better temps than back home - still some inclement weather though

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HusseinHolland]

Fibreglass tail panels finally came - I placed the order in mid November with Zociety - I was getting worried that they were a scam.

Oscar did communicate a couple times, but he always implied shipping was just around the corner. Anyway, he was very apologetic at the end there, and said that if I were to buy something else in the website they would give me a break. 

They appear solid enough. I went for the plain fiberglass finish. I have to paint them anyway & want the chrome edge, which they do not offer as a finish 

Edited April 6 by HusseinHolland
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