Not enough room to swing a cat

[bl4ck4dd3r]

Still in the planning stage at the moment so am taking a good look at donor cars to get the lay of the land.

When I eventually take the plunge I will of course need build space so a skip is on the big list of things to do in advance as the garage is chokka with 11 years of accumulated rubbish, what I don't chuck / recycle will be relocated to a new shed cum workshop in the garden leaving the proposed build space as a single width garage.

I would like to know what is the minimum space people have managed to get away with ?

I could of course push the chassis out front of the house but British weather as it is I would expect most activities to be under cover, perhaps i'll get a tent

[kiwicanfly]

Jul 20, 2017 8:30:58 GMT bl4ck4dd3r said:

.......perhaps i'll get a tent

Now that shows true dedication, moving into a tent to allow the build in the house.


Will it be a two person tent?

[bl4ck4dd3r]

I was thinking more of a tent for the build but yeah, build in the kitchen so that I am near the kettle and fridge seems a better fit, not sure I would be getting much love from the rest of the family in that situation though . . .

[skyquake]

I can highly recommend a Clarke pop-up garage like this one.  They are spacious enough to work both sides of the car (provided you don't fill it up with too much crap!), and they're sturdy enough to withstand the weather) provided you strap them down well enough.

Don't be tempted to use a gazebo (check out my build thread for why!)

[bl4ck4dd3r]

While I do have a gazebo I hadn't even really considered it as there is no access to the back of the house wide enough for a vehicle and so any temporary cover would need to be at the front of the house, on the drive, hardly secure . I think the only option if I am to do it at my house is to completely empty the garage and hope there is enough room for the majority of work, if needs be then wheel out onto the front drive when more space is needed.. The pop up garage does look like a solution if it can be put in an otherwise secure place though and your only real need is for cover / weather protection.

[skyquake]

I'm doing a full dry build in the back garden, then complete disassembly before everything is painted/powder coated. I'll then re-erect the pop up garage in the front of the house for the final build. You're right, it isn't secure, so I take my tools out every night, which is a pain, but you get used to it!

I have a little batter powered PIR alarm in my garden shed, which is actually pretty good. I think I'll get one for the tent too, which oughta keep the undesirables away!

[p5curly]

This was our build shed but it's a squeeze to get a astra van in

[bl4ck4dd3r]

I am sure my mum would let me use the garage at her place. Farm house, plenty of room, large garage with power and lighting and a smattering of my dad's old tools. Problem with it is that it is 25 miles from my place so all work would need to be planned and scheduled, no 5 minute jobs when you have an hour round trip

[airforceone]

I built mine in a standard house integral garage. It's about 16ft long and 7 ft wide so ample room.

[bl4ck4dd3r]

mine is an integral garage, 2.4m (8 foot or so) at widest but the pillars half way down bring that in to about 2m
if you managed in that space then you must be slimmer than I

[casesensitive]

I have mine at my gran's house, garage is 3m x 5m which is decent. Anything involving running the engine or sanding, I reverse the car outside onto the drive and work al fresco.
Every build day involves bringing and retrieving 6 toolboxes full of tools though, which is a giant pain.
I'd love a huge garage at my own house with a ramp, where I could leave my own tools though, I have have a 4 piece set of industrial roller-bearing drawers, just nowhere to put them :/

[R2S]

Jul 20, 2017 19:40:44 GMT bl4ck4dd3r said:

I am sure my mum would let me use the garage at her place. Farm house, plenty of room, large garage with power and lighting and a smattering of my dad's old tools. Problem with it is that it is 25 miles from my place so all work would need to be planned and scheduled, no 5 minute jobs when you have an hour round trip

Might be worth sharing my experience which is very similar to this in that Im using a large building (ex builders merchant store) at my in-laws 25 mins away.

Dont underestimate how much this impacts the build.

Unlike you I have to remove any tools of value (compressor, power tools etc) every time i visit so there is loading at home, unloading at build, loading at build unloading at home on top of the travel time. My position is made worse by no power/lighting so i have to run an extension cable from their house to building.

Also weather can be a staller in winter, both getting to the workshop but also temperature, there are times when its simply been too cold to continue.

The other thing i miss is not being able to use the odd free hour, those unplanned moments(when at home), to work on the car, occasionally i do take the odd piece home to work on but its difficult to find things that dont need the car to check against.

Oh and considering all of the above i ended up having to have a dedicated car day (semi retired) otherwise i found myself being redirected to more 'important' jobs by she who must be obeyed.

[casesensitive]

Jul 31, 2017 10:04:58 GMT R2S said:

Might be worth sharing my experience which is very similar to this in that Im using a large building (ex builders merchant store) at my in-laws 25 mins away.

Yep, me too, Dad now rents his mother's house 20 mins away.

Jul 31, 2017 10:04:58 GMT R2S said:

Dont underestimate how much this impacts the build.

No small jobs; I get permission from SWMBO to visit 3 times a month, so I get maybe 18 hours a month build time.

Jul 31, 2017 10:04:58 GMT R2S said:

Unlike you I have to remove any tools of value (compressor, power tools etc) every time i visit so there is loading at home, unloading at build, loading at build unloading at home on top of the travel time. My position is made worse by no power/lighting so i have to run an extension cable from their house to building.

I can leave my compressor behind only because I've balancing risk/reward an decided I can't bring myself to bring all that stuff with me every week. It has some very sturdy locks. Engine crane wouldn't fit in my car anyway. Also ran an extension cable into the boiler house for the first 3 years. Last year I drilled a hole between them so it no longer runs over the ground; extension was on the deck and was tripping the house supply.

Jul 31, 2017 10:04:58 GMT R2S said:

Also weather can be a staller in winter, both getting to the workshop but also temperature, there are times when its simply been too cold to continue.

I bought a boiler suit in lidl with sleeping bag on the inside, two pairs of socks minimum. Don't grind in it, I melted mine all the way through.

Jul 31, 2017 10:04:58 GMT R2S said:

The other thing i miss is not being able to use the odd free hour, those unplanned moments(when at home), to work on the car, occasionally i do take the odd piece home to work on but its difficult to find things that dont need the car to check against.

Far and away the worst part of it; the whole show can come to a halt if you discover you're missing something; if garage was next to house, I'd investigate simple stuff like do I have all the screws, tools for this job early in the week while there's time to do something about it.
Look forward to having my own house; still renting. My veto will be on 'has garage'/'space to build one'.