Working on the Street/Mini Garage

[bczygan]

Lots of monster garages on this site, but some of us don't have those kind of accommodations.
Some have modest 2 car garages, or even just a small one car.
Some one car garages are too small to get most modern cars into.
Some people don't even have a garage. They have to work on their cars outside.
So, how many of you have to do your car repairs in the street or driveway?

And where do you keep your tools? In a closet? In the basement? In a shed? In the car itself?

I have a small one car garage with a tilt up door. Too small for a car, much less the E350 van I have. So it is just for tools. And I have filled it with metal working machines. Woodworking is going in a shed. In fact, there are so many metal working machines, that I am thinking of purging the car stuff from in there. Just the daily stuff you might use for car maintenance. I would use an outside storage cabinet or small shed, located near where the cars are parked, for this stuff. It would house the following items:
Air compressor (Portable)
Car cleaning and detailing tools
Shop vac
Jacks
Blocking
Creeper
Spare tires
Jack stands
Light
Extension cord
Jump/battery charger
Weights for winter
Salt
Jumper cables
Batteries
Trickle chargers
Gas cans
Oil
Rags
Bucket
Roof racks
Hitch stuff
Car top carriers (2)
Oil and old oil containers

It would have a water hookup and hose and an electrical outlet and light inside and out.
Tools would be in small carry boxes or bags, totes and maybe a small service cart.
It would be a car supplies storage and maintenance tools shed.
It wouldn't need heat, but I need a way to keep the humidity down so tools don't rust.

This would free up space in the one car and turn it into a shop.

 

[bczygan]

Nobody does their work in the street?

 

[crewchief888]

until we bought this house 7 years ago, nothing i drove would fit in the garage, so everything got worked on in the driveway, parking lot or street.


the wifes saturn vue, my harley and my trail truck will clear the overhead door, '00 sierra wont make it.

 

[WSMC633]

I was renting a house with a 2 car garage and had a pretty full fab shop in there for car and bike building. Now I just bought a house with a 1 car garage.... So i'm sort of in the same boat as you. However I literally moved in a week ago so everything is still piled high and in boxes. Unfortunately one side of the garage is attached to the house and the other side is as close to the property line as I can be. So, I'm planning to push back about 20' which should give me a decent amount of working room in there.

I Drew the space and the footprint of machines etc. in AutoCAD so it seems it will be workable. i would have obviously liked a much larger garage, but life is about compromises. The house is in great shape, (new roof, sewer, copper plumbing etc) in the area we wanted to be at the price we wanted to pay. So, I'll make do.

At some point I will probably add a shed too. I had one at my last place. They are really handy for getting stuff out of the way.

 

[JimmyTheMonkey]

I used to do work in the driveway when I just rented a house with no garage. Definitely a less desirable way to do things. I just kept my small assortment of tools at the time in the coat closet. Luckily, my generous neighbor had a full shed with air, woodworking, etc. that I would just use in my driveway. I wouldn't have attempted to tackle major projects without his stuff.

I am so happy I have a garage now!

 

[Roverbo]

Nobody does their work in the street?

View media item 33301
Yep, I work in the street or in my driveway...
Our house was build in 1928, and it has a cozy, but small garage (brick-build, but without heating). And someone planted a large tree between the driveway and the garage, long time before we moved in... So I´ve got my tools, bench, bits and bobs in the garage, and do the carjobs when the weather allows me to But frankly, it´s not as bad as it may sound. I´ve done headgasket jobs, clutch replacements, ECU-adjustments, wheel bearings, cv- and universal-joints, tracking/alignments, and you name it... On a nice day, and together with a buddy, most jobs can be done in a driveway with access to proper tools and a workbench.

 

[zkling]

My garage is a 12x20 single stall packed with junk . Houses all the tools, machines, supplies, etc. So no room for a vehicle. All car work is done in the driveway on jack stands. I just walk from the garage tool box out to the car. I recently turned my old 27" wide bottom box into a "cart" which is much handier as I can keep everything together and roll it out into the driveway.

I have access to a lift a few miles away, but very limited tools, honestly ~95% of the time jack stands are just fine. When I build that dream garage, you better believe it will have a lift and one open bay for cars to pull in. Some day.

A friend of mine lives in the heart of the city, houses real close together and no garages. Luckily he has a walkout basement that opens to the driveway. Same deal, jack and jackstands. Have to plan work around the weather. Can't leave anything open over night. He keeps his tools in cardboard boxes, shoebox size. I've tried to give him a tool box numerous times, but he just won't. It is f'ing magic watching him work. Reaches into his box of sockets, all mixed together. And in no time he will have the right size needed. Amazing. When he needs space, other tools or air power, he comes over to my driveway.

Biggest down side, I just always pray nothing breaks in the winter.

 

[bczygan]

One good thing...when I am doing a brake job in the street, all the neighbors wave and honk as they go by.

Or maybe they're just pissed and trying to hit me...

 

[evandonald]

I am currently living out of an apartment complex but that sure hasn't slowed me down for doing regular car maintenance. I did change out struts and tie rod ends just up on jack stands. Although I am a heavy mechanic by trade we have no lifts suitable for a car or light truck at work. The big drag is that I live on the 3rd floor and always have to drag my floor jack, stands and all the tooling I will need. It usually ends up being several trips up and down the stairs to get all the tools I need. Can not wait to buy a house and build a garage!

 

[Roverbo]

One good thing...when I am doing a brake job in the street, all the neighbors wave and honk as they go by.

Or maybe they're just pissed and trying to hit me...

No no, they admire you...or that´s what i like to think

 

[scaron]

i'm in the middle of the long, arduous process of closing on a house right now, if it goes off i'll finally have a garage of my own to work in... that said, i've spent basically the last, uh, decade or so doing my repairs in driveways and parking lots of various apartments and rental houses so i can for sure identify with where you're coming from. it's definitely a drag to be a slave to the weather, working out in the hot beating sun or putting it all back together and packing up in a hurry when it starts to rain. you can never really do anything that takes longer than an afternoon because you can't very well leave a disassembled car or bike with a bunch of parts out and tools out on the driveway at the end of the day. i also felt it was a little dangerous working on driveways that were often sloped or all cracked up (from the standpoint of trying to jack up and support a car) so that limited a little bit the scope of what i was willing to do. at that point in time, my mechanic's tool kit mostly fit in two craftsman portable toolboxes so i'd just lug those out when it was time to work and put them back in the basement (when i had access) or in a cabinet or closet (when i didn't) when i was done. can't wait to finally settle down and have a place of my own.

 

[crewchief888]

Biggest down side, I just always pray nothing breaks in the winter.

yea that ***** pond water

i replaced a broken rear spring in my '78 bronco (4" lift on 38's) in the driveway..

it was about 10* and 3 ft of snow on the ground.

what a fun filled adventure that was

did a 318 timing chain in the front yard at one of the rentals i lived in, and used to rebuild engines for my atc200x & atc 250r on the coffee table at the same place.

when i had my house in orlando, i was in a deed restricted subdivison....

neither of my vans would clear the overhead door

i did lifters and pushrods on a '74 dodge van w/ 318, and an oil pan & pump on a '68 chevy van w /283 in the driveway, as well as replacing several rusted brake lines on the '68
the HOA nazi's were none the wiser

 

[gte718p]

I did a frame off restoration on a 78 corvette in a single car garage. Smart storage and mobility is key to making it work. Everything has to have wheels. HF dolleys made all the difference in the world. Vertical storage also helps. The body was lifted up on a rack above the frame, the front nose clip was above the rear window.

I'm slowly getting worked out of my garage now that I have a normal to car garage. The pop up tents and portable garages make working in the driveway much more civilized.

 

[03protege]

I have my tools in the garage and do all my work in the driveway.

I have a little metal tool tote I just load all my job specific tools on and that saves me from doing too many trips back and forth.

 

[Toolgarage]

i work on my driveway where i have those cheap car canopy

 

[I van putski]

I live in the city. I have worked on my van out in the street. I do all my daily driver repairs in front of my garage. Old cars only inside the garage.

 

[zkling]

yea that ***** pond water

I think you mean frozen pond water.

I'm just one state to your east. Winters here are a mix of freezing rain and some snow. Usually during the day it doesn't stay cold enough to keep the snow frozen so you end up with this slushy, nasty, cold combo. The cold I don't mind, the wet cold, now that is just a B to work in. Throw in some wind, and you have yourself one heck of an experience.

I will add. Anyone working in the street, be careful using jackstands or jacks even on hot asphalt. They can and will sink with enough weight. Neighbor left his car on ramps on the street one night in July. Next afternoon the ramps had sunk into the street.

 

[signcrafter]

I have a 2.5 car garage and can't work in it. Although I have had a truck parked in it for about 6 years now so that takes up a stall. The "free" stall is full of bigger stuff like table saw, jointer, planer, engine hoist, engine stand, etc. The half stall is all tool boxes and shelves full of tools and supplies. I have to do all my work in the driveway and hope nothing breaks when it's cold out. If it does I load up whatever tools I think I'll need and have a family member that has a two car garage and is very understanding. Helps I do all her maintenance! I guess I would rather have a garage full of tools and no room to work then have an empty garage with room to work but no tools to work with.

 

[crewchief888]

I think you mean frozen pond water.

I'm just one state to your east. Winters here are a mix of freezing rain and some snow. Usually during the day it doesn't stay cold enough to keep the snow frozen so you end up with this slushy, nasty, cold combo. The cold I don't mind, the wet cold, now that is just a B to work in. Throw in some wind, and you have yourself one heck of an experience.

been there, done that, had the frostbite to prove it.

i'm a field mechanic at a const eq dealer...
the ONLY thing thats stops us from running calls is road conditions, and ONLY if the roads are impassable.

i spent a wonderful winter day out on navy pier in chicago a couple years ago...

temp was -5
windchill of -50
and a nice mist in the air from the crashing waves.

complaint was the heat wasnt working in a brand new excavator..
coolant temp was 110* heater outlet temp was 100*



we get a lot of those kinda calls every year....

 

[zkling]

i spent a wonderful winter day out on navy pier in chicago a couple years ago...

temp was -5
windchill of -50
and a nice mist in the air from the crashing waves.

complaint was the heat wasnt working in a brand new excavator..
coolant temp was 110* heater outlet temp was 100*

Thanks for the laugh, seriously.

 

[nexum1919]

one option would be to get a beater van maybe with a main seal leak, broken leaf spring, a trans with no overdrive gear, bald tires etc. so you can get it at almost junk value, maybe 4-5 hundred bucks.
screw down plywood on the back, cover the windows if it has them, take the front passenger seat out, sell it on craigslist (gives more room for storage and makes it a lot easier to work inside the doghouse style engine covers)
screw down a toolbox (shim it on front so the drawers will have a tendency to close by themselves) right by side door, on a ford econoline, a 44" wide and 37" high toolbox fits perfectly, leaving enough room on top for socket trays. magnet rails are your friends when dealing with a toolbox in a vehicle
get an electric oil lubricated compressor with a long extension cord. put it behind the drivers seat. bolt a hose reel on to the roof above the toolbox.
you can drop a small side toolbox on to the passenger area (seat removed), but that makes it tough in case you need to work inside the doghouse. use that space for storing your blow-molded toolsets, pullers, etc. stuff that can be removed to access the engine if needed
install a hitch receiver and get a vise hitch mount. get several milk crates for seating and setting up the grinder.
leave the back aree floor clear for temp storage of removed parts.

keep the van in running condition so you can use it for emergency part runs during a job.

 

[General Geoff]

you haven't lived until you've done an engine/trans swap in a gravel driveway.

 

[May Pop]

The key to a small shop is being **** about putting things away. And having a place to put things. Once your in the habit of returning tools and equipment to its home jobs that required "finding" an item are no longer a pain in the ***. Like I can never find one of my 2 battery chargers as they get tossed on the overflowing work bench catchall pigsty. But gear pullers are promptly returned to their drawer and available when needed.
I also have worked outside for many year and now am extreemly grateful for a heated 2 car.


Ron