Garage envy

[Rob Gaskin]

Having seen a few pics of your garage situation I thought I'd add some of my own. I'm not moaning just explaining why my jobs take a while. As my wife says 'nobody is making you work on old cars'.

I have done most jobs on Zs including welding inner wings, chassis legs, replaced floor, resprayed engine bay, rebuilt engine, 5 gearboxes incl S14 mod, complete suspension swaps etc etc bear in mind I was doing trackdays for 10 years.

Currently I have my heater out and most of the wiring - bear in mind I can only open the drivers door and even that's very limited!

My welding was done with 5' high Oxy-acetylene cylinders mostly in this garage.

I remember going to 'racers' first house when he was racing his 240. He didn't even have a garage - just a shed for parts!

 

[Rob Gaskin]

I remember someone asked if their Z was small enough to drive it into their garage! Mine is 1" off the racking on the passenger side so I can open the drivers door a little. It gets pushed in and out every time - I'm 68 by the way.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

When I took the engine out of my track car we pushed the car up to my mate's place because he had a 'beam' in his double garage. We then pushed the car to another neighbour to store it temporarily in their garage whilst I dismantled the engine. Moved the engine in a little trailer.

Every job is a 'ball ache' but I still enjoy it.

 

[peter_s]

Oh man, that is tight. I'm impressed that you manage to work in that. But we all take what we can get, and get things done. Space is a premium.

 

[peter_s]

Nice Renault Sport by the way! Always been fond of those!

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Nice Renault Sport by the way! Always been fond of those!

That's my lad's who lives at home. It's a 200 Cup with lightweight seats, no A/C etc. He's done a bit to the suspension.

We did a job on it the other day - replaced the radiator support subframe (on the drive!). It was incredibly rusty.

We also had to renew his front calipers - the pins wouldn't budge and I mean wouldn't budge. I had them in the vice, used heat etc.

Another job was a bottom ball joint (on the drive again ha ha) .

All these are common faults, he loves it .

 

[peter_s]

Love it. Have driven one on the Nurburgring. Great with the N/A engine.

I used to have a Mini Cooper S (the Turbo one) which felt (and was quicker because of the turbo), but the Renault felt much more pure. If I were to get a track car, the Clio is a great car!

 

[Paul_S]

You are tight for space Rob. I don't think my garage is much bigger but I don't have any racking down the sides so maybe I have a little more space. Is there nowhere you can put a shed to put that racking in?

Here is my garage empty:



I'm scared to put any shelves up on the walls because of the risk of dropping things on the car. There is some loft space above which I do store stuff in, but of course I can't get to it if the car is in the garage.

Here's a couple with the car parked up. If I put the car right up to the door I have about 2 foot space between the front bumper and the bench:





I am lucky that I have a car port next to the garage which allows me more working space and some shelter from the weather:



I did look into extending the garage into the car port but it would mess up the whole roofline of the house and I would lose a parking space so decided it wasn't worth it.

However, I did get a large wooden shed / workshop build in the back garden so I have space to store things, work on bits and create mess away from the car.

Oh, also, I have occasional use of the dining room too...

 

[peter_s]

Paul, that is a very nice garage! Love the 370Z art on the walls.

You have enough space to do work in there with brakes etc.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Love it. Have driven one on the Nurburgring. Great with the N/A engine.

I used to have a Mini Cooper S (the Turbo one) which felt (and was quicker because of the turbo), but the Renault felt much more pure. If I were to get a track car, the Clio is a great car!

Hi Pete, he's been around the 'ring in a 182 Cup. He keeps telling me to go!

My eldest Lad has BMW 435d xdrive and my daughter a Mazda6 Sport. I think I must have influenced them during their childhood!

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Paul, I have a large shed full of bikes!

Do you get fumes (petrol, oil, paint) into the house.

Your carport would be so useful to me.

 

[Mr Tenno]

Just about got enough room to move round it...

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Modern garages shouldn't be called garages because you can't get a modern car into a single one.
Mr Tenno where do you store all your tools etc? In the house?

 

[Paul_S]

Paul, that is a very nice garage! Love the 370Z art on the walls.

You have enough space to do work in there with brakes etc.

Yes, it's a nice place to park the car and I can just about get the wheel off and past the car to do small jobs. I certainly can't complain, but bigger would be nice!

 

[Paul_S]

Paul, I have a large shed full of bikes!

Do you get fumes (petrol, oil, paint) into the house.

Your carport would be so useful to me.

The fumes aren't a big problem. We are lucky to have walkway with cloakroom between the garage and hallway so there's an 'air gap'.

The car port is really handy. It's better than a garage in some respects because you wash and detail cars under it in bad weather. But it's not so good for working on them if the rain is anything but vertical!

 

[Mr Tenno]

Mr Tenno where do you store all your tools etc? In the house?

Yeah, they live in the loft usually!

 

[JK240]

My garage is of the modern type, very little room and certainly no room to do any work. I’m the same as you Rob I have to back the car out. When I had the Z I couldn’t even fit a bench at the end which I’ve got now and I can still fit the 510 in.
I keep some parts on the rafters as well, but like Paul said can’t get to it with the car inside.
With time on my hands and a bit of spare MDF I recently built a spanner rack...
Oh and old carpet on the walls so I can open the doors without fear of chipping paint..!

 

[toopy]

My garage is of the modern type, very little room and certainly no room to do any work. I’m the same as you Rob I have to back the car out. When I had the Z I couldn’t even fit a bench at the end which I’ve got now and I can still fit the 510 in.
I keep some parts on the rafters as well, but like Paul said can’t get to it with the car inside.
With time on my hands and a bit of spare MDF I recently built a spanner rack...
Oh and old carpet on the walls so I can open the doors without fear of chipping paint..!

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Loving that pseudo tube map on the wall 'pubstops of the Lake District'

 

[racer]

Hi Pete, he's been around the 'ring in a 182 Cup. He keeps telling me to go!

You should listen to your Son Rob.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Hi Matt, that is David. Yes you are right - life is too short to stay at home. When all this is over I'm going to get to Le mans, Spa or the 'ring. I have two cars that are more than capable.

We need to meet up again abroad - happy days!