Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2001 14:44:16 -0800
Reply-To: developtrust <developtrust@HOME.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: developtrust <developtrust@HOME.COM>
Subject: Re: Lowering kit?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Although I am new to working on Vanagons I am not new to construction work
and carpentry. I have done a lot of garage door work, and even cut off
sections of buildings, moved whole walls and cut off AND extended roofs. I
do know what I am talking about and your job sounds very easy to do.
I do not know your garage configuration but if you have a digital camera and
can email me a photo of the interior above the door framing I may be able to
offer some tips. If you are lucky you will have a foot or more of framing
above your door. Most garages do.
It is really no big deal to cut some height out on top of your door and
reframe it and re-hang your door. You could do it in just a few hours
especially if you use new 2 by 4's for the bottom of the new framing. Use
3" deck screws and not nails and the job will go easier. Pre drill to make
it still easier. Just snap a chalk line, get or borrow a skill saw and a
drill then cut away. My advice is to do all your cutting from inside before
you make your final outside cut. A good sawzall will be helpful. And sharp
new blades. And get sawzall hacksaw blades to cut through nails.
If you choose to work from the outside then after you cut out a section tall
enough for new entry (with a few inches to spare,) go inside and cut 1 & 1/2
inches more from the bottoms of the 2 x 4 vertical framing to make room for
a new 2 x 4 that will run the length of the new door header. Brace the door
in the middle or reuse the old header, if it is a wide span. (An older
header might be wider than 1 & 1/2 inches. Just measure twice and cut once.)
It is difficult to give advice without seeing the job but you can do it
yourself. A construction worker or carpenter will charge a small fortune and
make it sound difficult. It is not difficult. It is easy. It just takes
time.
You can actually frame everything in from the inside before you make the
final cut if it is winter with snow and ice and cold where you live. It is
actually easier to frame from the inside requiring less cuts and less work.
Then you can run a heater in there while you work.
If it was me doing the improvement I would frame everything in from the
inside, including preparing a garage door extension to bolt on as a final
step.
You can add a section to the bottom of your door with some imagination and
maybe even recycle the lumber from the cut out above the door. But I like to
use new material for this kind of thing.
You do not need to raise your garage but that does sound like a good method
also (but it will take more time.)
If you are interested, Email me some photos and I will try to give you more
informed tips.
William Polowniak
----- Original Message -----
From: "joseph Trussell" <joetruss@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, December 24, 2001 11:57 AM
Subject: Lowering kit?
> Hi List,
>
> This isn't very important but I thought I'd share, being that it's
Christmas
> Eve and all.
>
> I just bought the 1985 GL on the same weekend that my girlfriend and I
moved
> into our new house, complete with a two-car garage and plenty of room to
> work on my new treasure.
>
> I got the boxes and unpacking-stuff cleared out of my space yesterday, and
> pulled my Vanagon around to get her in out of the cold. It's an old
garage,
> apparently built in a time of smaller automobiles, and subsequently my
> Vanagon doesn't fit. About two inches clearance would be necessary for
her
> to get in that warm, dry garage, but as it stands, she's relegated to the
> street.
>
> Bummer.
>
> Happy Holidays!
> Joe T.
> Denver, CO
> 1985 Vanagon GL (as of yet, still unnamed)
>
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