Making Do
I think we at GJ put together nice garages because working on cars, wood, planes (I saw some in GJ), wooden boats, etc., is our hobby, so we enhance the pleasure by using good tools and creating a satisfying environment in which to putter and work and just sit around the things we like.
Very good work can be done with a lot less, of course, as illustrated by my friend Ben. Ben was (and isn’t) by any measure well off, but he fell in love with the MG TC in the mid-1960s. He scrimped, saved, and finally bought one, even before he learned to drive. The MG was in need of restoration, so he tackled the job, even if he didn’t have a garage. He took the car apart on the street and began his restoration. With rain in the tropics and things that walk away in the night, it became clear that wasn’t feasible, so Ben began to bring the parts inside his small apartment, shown in the photo below.
Ben was a hard worker and learned all things MG TC. His small apartment filled with TC parts in the process of rebuilding. After several years, he finally finished the restoration, and the MG TC was assembled, complete, and ready to run – in his living room. The problem was how to get it out, as the door was so narrow. So he tore a wall down to liberate the TC.
Ben’s life revolved around the MG TC, which he continued to cosset and improve over the years. He was able to buy a small garage in which he and his family lived. His car became a constant in the local sports car club’s events, including motorsport meetings. Ben’s tools are worn and hard-used, and he has to this day made do with the same open-topped toolbox where all the tools sit together in one bin.
The local club organizes concours d’ elegance, judged by “imported” judges (enthusiasts from clubs in Hong Kong, England, Japan, Thailand, and other countries) to avoid any issue of bias but principally to raise standards locally. At one such concours in 1998, against stiff competition, Ben’s car won Best of Show. That’s his car at the concours.
I hope you don't mind this digression. Ben had a stroke the other month and his condition is strained by his circumstances. I just wanted to show what can be done with little resources and plenty of enthusiasm.
Andres
