# Where's Bear?



## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I've been MIA for awhile, spending most if not all my free time building out my new shop addition. I had a building added on that has 14ft tall side walls so there'll be room for a lift. I'm getting too olde to crawl around on the ground. 

So far I've finished out all the electrical including significantly improving the lighting in the existing building and powering the new building using a 100amp subpanel. I've added additional bracing to the walls so that I can hang cabinets and whatever else I might want without having to worry about the weight. I'm about ready to do plumbing and create a small bathroom in one corner after I get the whole thing insulated.

The Beast is still down, patiently waiting for me to get this project done so I can deal with the aftermath of that failed rocker arm on the Power Tour this past summer. My plan is to take advantage of the opportunity to step it up a little in the power department  and also deal with the last remnants of the 2013 engine fire, and maybe try to improve the A/C system.

A few photos:


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Damn, real nice. I think your wife just became a garage/car widow! :smilielol5: I'd be setting it up with a bed, TV, hot plate,microwave...........:bannana: I love the smell of oil & gas in the morning.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Wowee that's real nice there Bear! I'm ready to move in, we can get some bunk beds and don't forget the coffee pot Jim!


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

Very nice Bear!
I just bought a house in Northern Arizona right off route 66 with a 3 car garage and 1/2 bath.
It also has a 100 amp sub panel.
Jim the neighbor next door has is alky fueled modified in there for the winter and I will be using his enclosed race trailer in the spring to haul my goat there in style.

I also plan on enclosing the carport in the front to make it a tad bigger in the spring.
South Rims has a great lunch menu with Arizona craft beers and Arizona wines.
As a bonus there is a restomodded '67 GTO parked inside.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

I've come to the conclusion that as we age, its no longer about our love for women, its about the love for our cars and our man cave. Gotta hang that sign out "No Women Allowed" at the entry way and our motto is "What happens in the man cave stays in the man cave." :thumbsup:


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Wow! They sure do things BIG in Texas! Congrats on the shop, and I love the sign...from your dad's old dealership? That's gotta go up! It's a shame most of us have to wait until we're old and decrepit before we get a shop with a hoist, etc.....I sure could have used mine for the past 35 years or so! Looking great! Here's my in-town expansion a few years back....oh well. All my photos are now too big to post. Anyway, great to hear from you, Rob!


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

In my case my present garage is 19 by 19 so I can't even do things like pulling the axles so even though my new garage isn't all that big it is a vast improvement on what I have now.
Bear's shop is truly a dream garage, if I had it I would disappear in there and my wife wouldn't ever see me again.


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

Looks good Rob! 
What did you go with for shop lighting? Am at that point.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I put up 6 of these in the new building with the 14ft + ceilings (it's 25 x 30) ...

Lithonia Lighting 4-Light T5 White High Output Fluorescent High Bay-IBC 454 MV - The Home Depot

and 12 of these in the existing building with 8 ft ceilings (this part is 30 x 50) .

Lithonia Lighting 4 ft. High Output White T5 Fluorescent Multi-Volt Strip Light-ZR 1 54T5HO MVH - The Home Depot

Mrs. Bear insists that I need a bathroom in the place, so I've now begun on the plumbing for that. Since I had plenty of free space in the electrical service panel and didn't really want to use up a lot of space with a water heater tank, I decided to go "overkill" on the water heater and put in one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Stiebel-Eltr...78927839&sr=8-1&keywords=plus+24+water+heater

I got it installed and running last night. So far, it works great!

Bear


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

Looks good! Thanks for the info on the lights. Am also at 14' wall height with flush mount girts/z purlins holding up roof. Been looking into lighting options. My brother converted over his long fluorescent fixtures by pulling the ballasts & went with some direct from China LED bulbs. His comments was the Chinese LED tubes "aren't there yet"  & he only has a 10 ft ceiling. Had high intensity sodium lights outside at my old place, but they are expensive to run. Just may end up with similar fluorescent fixtures & use small cantilevered arm LED fixtures @ my workstations. Am really wanting to do the instant hot water for a bathroom sink. Have a corner in the front where eventually will be finishing a small bathroom. Am putting off the bathroom til next year, as front of building is aprox 250 ft behind our deck & pool, and our septic tank & field is adjacent to the pool. Its also up hill aprox a foot the entire run from the shop to the septic tank, so am going to have to have some form of bilge pump. Nothing is ever easy.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Yeah, I'm finding as I get older I seem to never have 'enough' light. I was thinking that I was going to wind up putting 3 more fixtures in the new shop but when I flipped the switch the first time and it was like daylight in there, I figured it'd be enough  Both areas have the same number of tubes running at 24 each now and it seems to be plenty, but I might still add some directly over work stations whenever I figure out where they're going to wind up.

Amen on the 'never easy' part. Our septic system too is generally uphill from the shop. I had a plumber guy come out and talk about options there, a grinder pump/lift station was one of the options. I decided against that because of some things he said (they tend to be high maintenance) and also after reading up on them I'm not sure it's the answer anyway. They're intended to lift material vertically, as in straight up, to get it to a point where it can flow downhill normally from there to whereever it needs to go. They're not intended to push up an incline over a long distance, like one here would have to do. What I'm going to do is install a second small septic system just for the shop. It'll be a little more cost up front, but it'll also be something that I generally will never have to mess with again. I'm going with an 'old style' system since I'm out in the country and don't really have to get anyone's permission to do it. It'll be servicing a shower, toilet, lavatory, large deep sink, and washing machine. A 500 gallon dual chamber tank ought to be plenty and I've got several very good places the system can be laid out. The last variable on all that is how to install the drains for the toilet and shower. I'm assuming that I'll either need to jack-hammer into the slab for those drains or else elevate the shower pan a little and then either do the same for the toilet or use a rear discharge toilet. The corner where the bathroom is going will have a ceiling height of not quite 8 feet so I can't go crazy on elevation. I need to talk those questions over with the plumber guy I reckon.

I got the last of 3 18,000 btu combination A/C - heat pumps installed and running yesterday which gives me a total of 54,000 btu's capacity to cover 2,250 square feet. I hope it's enough, considering the high ceiling in the new part. Once I get the plumbing mostly roughed in (hopefully this week because I'm on vacation all week) I'm going to have both areas insulated with 2" of spray foam on the walls, 2 1/2" on the ceiling.

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

ALKYGTO said:


> Wowee that's real nice there Bear! I'm ready to move in, we can get some bunk beds and don't forget the coffee pot Jim!


C'mon down! We'll make a weekend out of it, or longer. I've got my own shooting range out here to ya know... :grin2:

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Goat Roper said:


> Very nice Bear!
> I just bought a house in Northern Arizona right off route 66 with a 3 car garage and 1/2 bath.
> It also has a 100 amp sub panel. ....
> I also plan on enclosing the carport in the front to make it a tad bigger in the spring.
> ...


Sound like a plan to me. Once I get the Beast running again, we might just have to organize a "go visit everyone's shop" tour of our own. Whaddya think? :wink3:

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

PontiacJim said:


> I've come to the conclusion that as we age, its no longer about our love for women, its about the love for our cars and our man cave. Gotta hang that sign out "No Women Allowed" at the entry way and our motto is "What happens in the man cave stays in the man cave." :thumbsup:


Definitely a big fan of the man cave.... but also not sure about the 'no longer about women' part. Mrs. Bear is almost as excited about the project as I am but the other night she told me I'd have to get it cleaned up some more inside before she'd be ready to "break it in" >

Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

geeteeohguy said:


> Wow! They sure do things BIG in Texas! Congrats on the shop, and I love the sign...from your dad's old dealership? That's gotta go up!


Yes sir, it is. Thanks for noticing. I remember the day we put those signs up on the lot. There were two of them, bolted together sandwiching a light pole. The other one is framed and is displayed in our entry hall in the house. That was Mrs. Bear's idea (did I mention I love this woman?) 










You can see the bolt holes where the two were joined.



> It's a shame most of us have to wait until we're old and decrepit before we get a shop with a hoist, etc.....I sure could have used mine for the past 35 years or so! Looking great! Here's my in-town expansion a few years back....oh well. All my photos are now too big to post.


Yeah it is, isn't it? If I allow my mind to float in that direction, sometimes I get a little maudlin about not knowing how much time I'm going to have left to enjoy this thing. On the photos you can do what I do -- post them on some web site / photo storage service and then just include links to them in your posts, like {img}http.... url .... {/url} (Replace the curly braces with square brackets in actual use. I had to use curly braces in this post to get them to show).

I still think we "all" ought to figure out a way to meet up in person sometime.

Bear


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

BearGFR said:


> C'mon down! We'll make a weekend out of it, or longer. I've got my own shooting range out here to ya know... :grin2:
> 
> Bear


The shooting area is 1/2 mile from my house, they closed them all down here in Ca.
Back in '94 they made me a criminal for owning my AR-15 and several other firearms, I didn't register any of it so I finally was able to shoot it again for the first time in 22 years.
My magazines which were grandfathered but made illegal also in this last election along with the new law where I have to be fingerprinted and pass a background check to buy ammo also passed.
I was able to get all of it out of Ca. and into America and I was sweating it until I crossed the border.
Sadly Californians are losing their rights and actually voting to have them taken away they only have privileges granted by the state for a fee of course.
I saw this coming for decades and we finally closed the biz, laid everyone off and surrendered our license.
I am stuck here for a little longer tying up loose ends but will be in Az. full time in the spring.
The wheels are coming off the bus out here and it is past the time to get out.


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

BearGFR said:


> Sound like a plan to me. Once I get the Beast running again, we might just have to organize a "go visit everyone's shop" tour of our own. Whaddya think? :wink3:
> 
> Bear


Great idea, my goat is almost ready for road trips but I have a slight rumble in the rear end going around corners so I am going to pull the axles and replace the bearings.
I finally took it out on the freeway and with the 2.93 rear end it just cruises along at 75 and goes right up to 100 giving it just a little more gas.


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## 1968gto421 (Mar 28, 2014)

Congrats to both of you, Bear and Goat Roper. Despite all the mechanical problems you all have had this year, you all have kept at it and have better garages and a better home in a better place. I am covetous of Bear's new garage, its fantastic. We now have major forest fires in the mountains of western NC and SC and all the smoke and anxiety of where they spread next remind me of GR's ordeals in CA. Moving to AZ was a good move. Best of luck on the new construction to Bear, GR, and PH!


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

1968gto421 said:


> Congrats to both of you, Bear and Goat Roper. Despite all the mechanical problems you all have had this year, you all have kept at it and have better garages and a better home in a better place. I am covetous of Bear's new garage, its fantastic. We now have major forest fires in the mountains of western NC and SC and all the smoke and anxiety of where they spread next remind me of GR's ordeals in CA. Moving to AZ was a good move. Best of luck on the new construction to Bear, GR, and PH!


Fires are a horrible ordeal and I hope you will be safe.
Out here cleaning up ladder fuels and trimming up lower branches is an uphill battle due to the environmentalists, we just have to wait and let the wildfires do it and hope we don't lose our homes in the process.
The Kaibab is a whole different story, brush and ladders have been eliminated and now a lot of grass for the game and they can easily roam through the forest.
There are no fuels to enable crowning and my fire insurance is one tenth of what it is here because of that.
We have deer and elk in our front yard there every morning and evening.
Here are a couple of pics, one is the DC-10 supertanker over my house stopping the advance of the fire on 6/15, the other is a pic off my front porch of some deer.
As you can see all the trees have the lower branches trimmed up and fuels under them removed.


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## 1968gto421 (Mar 28, 2014)

Goat Roper said:


> Fires are a horrible ordeal and I hope you will be safe.
> Out here cleaning up ladder fuels and trimming up lower branches is an uphill battle due to the environmentalists, we just have to wait and let the wildfires do it and hope we don't lose our homes in the process.
> The Kaibab is a whole different story, brush and ladders have been eliminated and now a lot of grass for the game and they can easily roam through the forest.
> There are no fuels to enable crowning and my fire insurance is one tenth of what it is here because of that.
> ...


Thank you, GR, most appreciated.:smile3: Attached are pics of the Pinnacle Mountain (SC) fire about 20 miles from our house. Speaking of Elk, some of the elk herds in NC mountains are coming to SC to escape their habitat areas burning at present. No air filtration in my garage (19' x 19') so GTO work is on hold as its hard to work wearing a mask. Your place looks real good, good luck with the garage/carport renovations. Sounds like some sensible people there thinking about fire dangers.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hope everyone is safe from the fires --- man that's a bad deal.

Things are coming along here. Insulation is in, I got the bathroom framed out, and most of the inside plumbing at least roughed in. They've started on the septic system and would have finished Friday, but the excavators hit rock they weren't equipped to deal with so they're going to have to come back to finish the digging so we can get that all buttoned up.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Howdy everyone,

Things are still moving along on the shop renovation. Earlier this week Mrs. Bear and I put down the last of the floor coating. Also my lift has arrived, waiting for me now to get it assembled and set up. The bathroom is done, up, and running. It has take time but it's been reasonably fun so far. Lots of jobs that have been 'first time' for me to take on. I shot a short video of how things are looking right now. Probably the cleanest it's ever going to be from this point forward.

I've started ordering some of the parts I'm going to need to get the Beast running again. I'll be switching to a different windage tray, adding a crank scraper (both from Paul Spotts), and putting in a different cam + valve train. --- at the very least.

Here's the link to the video:





Bear


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## 1968gto421 (Mar 28, 2014)

Bear, Thanks for the video....That is fantastic! I'll never get there but I'm happy for you and Mrs Bear. Alot of work, but well worth it. Congrats!!

(Understand about Mrs Bear, without my gal (40 years so far) there would be no GTO's (or garage) in my life, Love is good.)


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Getting there....


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Shop is looking great Bear!

I'd love to do a shop one of these days, maybe after the daughter finishes school.......That lift would be awful handy right now as I'm about to put exhaust on the Olds......


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Looks really, really nice, Bear. Working on The Beast will now be a pleasure and not such a chore. Impressive collection of equipment, etc. You have 'arrived'!!! Congrats!
Jeff


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

Am really liking the climate system Bear has installed in his shop. Will be thinking of him this summer when its 102 outside, & the sweats rolling off me  in my new building. Building out a large climate controlled clean room is in my longterm plans, just not the budget this year 

Rob, you might want to let us how you got the nickname Bear. Please dont be cruel & wait til this summer and put up a pic of a 65 degree thermometer in your shop & you taking a nap


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Pinion head said:


> ... Rob, you might want to let us how you got the nickname Bear. ...


Sure! It's kind of a long story and you know how I do tend to prattle on, but I'll try to be concise.

You may know I'm a HUGE Grand Funk Railroad fan - have been since 1969 - and I'm also a drummer (at least I claim to be). In 1998, through "a series of events" (huge detail compression there), I was fortunate to have been able to meet, and make friends with, the band and crew. I really hit if off with Don Brewer (GFR's drummer) and his wife, Sunny Quinn. That summer alone I went to probably more than 10 shows all around the country, organized and managed a petition drive to get them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (that's a whole 'nuther saga), and got my '5 seconds of fame' with a brief interview that aired on the VH-1 "Behind the Music" special they did on the band.

I mentioned Sunny and I hit it off. One of the reasons was that during that period of my life I'd just barely met the future Mrs. Bear, we were "only dating" but had already realized that she was special. I could tell just from watching Don and Sunny interact that have a very close, unique, and special relationship. When I told her that I'd noticed it, she really appreciated that and it seemed to bond us a little. At that point in my life, I also looked a little different than I do now 









At GFR concerts, I don't sit - I _can't_ sit. I'll be up on my feet, "dancing" (at least that's what I call those uncoordinated motions), often singing. Yeah, I get into it. Sunny noticed me. She'd usually be on the stage, in the wings, watching "her man". (Funny story: Don still plays his killer 'T.N.U.C.' solo and he can still nail it. Sunny used to have the side stage sound guy patch a mic into the board for her, and during his solo she'd "mess with" Don, making suggestive comments into his ear monitors and such. Every now and then you could see him smile and sort of nod his head, but he'd never miss a beat.)

Anyway, Sunny got to noticing me in the crowd at shows because, well, I'm kinda big and with the way I get into the music I tend to stand out because people will open up a space around me so as not to get trampled, so I'm not hard to spot.... to her, with the hair, size, and all the rest I guess she decided that's what I reminded her of - a Bear. ... and it stuck.

So that's how I got the nickname.

Here's a photo of Sunny and me from some time in 2002, not too long after GFR re-formed and started touring again. (Mark Farner threw a hissy fit and quit the band at the end of the 1998 tour, but that's a whole 'nuther story.)










Bear


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Well ok.... here's a current video of how things are looking now.







Bear


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## 1968gto421 (Mar 28, 2014)

Grand Funk Railroad----Great story, Bear! Thanks for sharing it!


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