I live on a pretty tiny parcel of land, and the one spot in the garage goes to my track car. I recently got a sedan, since I've got a kid and getting him into and out of the back of my old coupe was getting old. I got a car small enough to fit in my very narrow 1925 driveway, but it was still getting more bird poop and sun than I'd like.
Here's the parking space:
The thing I wanted to accomplish was to get a cover over it that wouldn't be an eyesore from our patio or for our neighbors. I'd previously had a 14' tall white canopy in the driveway, and the wife was not willing to let it come back.
First step was to bend seven lengths of 1/2" square 16ga tubing. I have a cheap Harbor Freight roll bender which made this pretty easy.
It made surprisingly consistent pieces.
I have a wall on either side of the driveway, so there was no problem finding a surface to mount them to. I used a piece of 1" angle iron as a base on each side.
I got a decent price on UV protected fabric and thread online, and pulled out my little Brother sewing machine. Yes, I'll admit to (barely) knowing my way around a sewing machine. My mother is a big quilter.
It's not fancy, but it was quick.
Matching the curve of the gateway part of the building wasn't in the cards, since the garage isn't actually centered with the arch above it. That's the wife's Prius out on the street.
Per the wife's request, it's not too visible from the courtyard. But it's still tall enough to get my raised CJ7 underneath it. I think it's 74" at it's lowest point, but the courtyard area sits higher than the driveway. (The green line of Christmas-tree lights is part of the patio lighting. In the picture, it looks like it might be the edge of the UV-resistant fabric.)
To postpone the inevitable scrape along the wall, I put down a couple of lengths of wood (bridged with another length of the angle iron) that will keep me from getting close enough for the rear view mirror to get damaged on the stucco. (The wire running up the wall is part of the invisible fence system to keep our cat from getting out.)
Here's the car, stuffed into its new space:
And from the other side:
I've still got some finishing work to do on it -- and I've got to clean out some of the **** I was storing along the outside fence. But it's up and covering the car. I wouldn't consider it attractive, but it's largely out of sight. That was the idea from the start.
Steel was about $30. The fabric was $90. Just a quick little project.
Here's the parking space:
The thing I wanted to accomplish was to get a cover over it that wouldn't be an eyesore from our patio or for our neighbors. I'd previously had a 14' tall white canopy in the driveway, and the wife was not willing to let it come back.
First step was to bend seven lengths of 1/2" square 16ga tubing. I have a cheap Harbor Freight roll bender which made this pretty easy.
It made surprisingly consistent pieces.
I have a wall on either side of the driveway, so there was no problem finding a surface to mount them to. I used a piece of 1" angle iron as a base on each side.
I got a decent price on UV protected fabric and thread online, and pulled out my little Brother sewing machine. Yes, I'll admit to (barely) knowing my way around a sewing machine. My mother is a big quilter.
It's not fancy, but it was quick.
Matching the curve of the gateway part of the building wasn't in the cards, since the garage isn't actually centered with the arch above it. That's the wife's Prius out on the street.
Per the wife's request, it's not too visible from the courtyard. But it's still tall enough to get my raised CJ7 underneath it. I think it's 74" at it's lowest point, but the courtyard area sits higher than the driveway. (The green line of Christmas-tree lights is part of the patio lighting. In the picture, it looks like it might be the edge of the UV-resistant fabric.)
To postpone the inevitable scrape along the wall, I put down a couple of lengths of wood (bridged with another length of the angle iron) that will keep me from getting close enough for the rear view mirror to get damaged on the stucco. (The wire running up the wall is part of the invisible fence system to keep our cat from getting out.)
Here's the car, stuffed into its new space:
And from the other side:
I've still got some finishing work to do on it -- and I've got to clean out some of the **** I was storing along the outside fence. But it's up and covering the car. I wouldn't consider it attractive, but it's largely out of sight. That was the idea from the start.
Steel was about $30. The fabric was $90. Just a quick little project.
