My little workshop

I spend a lot of time reading the build threads here and get to see so many great workshops and garage's you guys have and admittedly I get a tad bit jealous. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, on the second floor, on the oposite side of the building from my 1 assigned parking space.

This is my world. All of my build progress happens right there.

I had carved out a small portion of the living room and it became, well a pile of project parts, and boxes and crap.

Yeah... that's rough. So I decided to do something about it. Nothing crazy, just some cleaning and organizing. Some throwing E36 M3 out and the addition of a couple benches.

A little bit of shuffling:

and just like that I've got 8 feet of well lit workspace. It's still nowhere near my car, but it's something.

It's not much, but it's my little workshop.

Nice! You can definitely make progress more quickly if you know what you have and where it's located.

Congratulations. It's called "doing the best you can with what you've got" you're doing it.

When I was younger and *, I've done valve jobs and even changed the head on a VW Rabbit diesel in the parking lot of my residences. It's not bragging because some folks here have done more with less, but we all deserve credit for doing it.

Parking lot wrenching is a major PITA. I've done it, then had a three car garage. Now, I'm between houses so renting and back to parking lot wrenching. It really makes you appreciate your garage (when you get one).

Honestly, you rock. For every person like you who makes the most of what he has, there are several guys with big, beautiful garages stocked with top-name tools that never get used. Big props!

That poor rug, though....

Hey, you work with what you've got. Nice cleanup. If it were my place though, the rug would already be trashed. Maybe grab a cheap walmart area rug to be a sacrificial top layer?

Looks like he already has a protective layer of rug.

OP, I love your dedication. Is that a new car? I thought you were dominating in a FWD grand prix?

Making due instead of making excuses. I love it. But I bet it sucks when the air compressor kicks on at 3:00 am

Kreb wrote: Honestly, you rock. For every person like you who makes the most of what he has, there are several guys with big, beautiful garages filled with tons of worthless crap while the cars sit outside. Big props!

Fixed.

Ian F wrote:

Kreb wrote: Honestly, you rock. For every person like you who makes the most of what he has, there are several guys with big, beautiful garages filled with tons of worthless crap while the cars sit outside. Big props!

Fixed.

Guilty as charged - but, in fairness, while my garage is large (2.5 cars), and filled with crap, its not all worthless. We dont have a shed, and have over 2 acres of lawn to mow, fertilize, weed control, flower beds and all the rest. So, my garage is basically full of lawn stuff. I do park both of our cars in there too, so its not all wasted space...

To the OP, as a former renter, I can say that you are definitely doing it right. Parking lot time is not all bad, it teaches you to be creative, and to tackle the job with whats available. There are plenty of folks who dont let having the right equipment and the right space keep them from doing mediocre-at-best work on their cars. Keep it up!

"Parking lot time is not all bad, it teaches you to be creative, and to tackle the job with whats available."

^^Truth^^

I spent some time this past week wrenching in my heated garage on a couple of projects. I had all the tools needed, decent lighting, and extra cars so nothing had to be done RIGHT NOW.

My neighbor across the street spent the same amount of time fixing his son's Jeep Liberty that had bent control arms (Christmas day mishap with a curb). Not even in a parking lot, but parked on the side of the street!!

That's awesome--and creative. Nice job.

By the way, if you need any GRM signage for your shop, I know a guy.

Look no further than 2nd and third-world countries. What people do with an absolute minimum of facilities and tools makes me blush by comparison. I got a kick out of the roadside guys in Oaxaca. You go to one guy who's got a diagnostic tester and a few tools set up under a portable canopy. Then he sends you to the third guy on the left who's the transmission guy, and so on. It's a whole industrial park worth of mechanics who fold up their stuff at the end of the day and leave no trace behind.

I remember wrenching in the small back alley behind my apartment. Then moving into a non-heated garage barely wide enough to open the car door.

I now have a 3+ garage with all the tools available. Those early days really make me appreciate the luxury i now have. And a post like yours helps me remember those early years. Thanks for that.

And I think you are doing great with what you have. Keep up the good work.

Nice! Does your downstairs neighbor bang on the ceiling? Cause mine did....every time I flushed the toilet at night.

I kept a VW Corrado on the road while living in an apartment, so I've been there. Looks great.

This post makes me happy. I'm still using some of your old tools to take apart the R63.

Kreb wrote: Look no further than 2nd and third-world countries. What people do with an absolute minimum of facilities and tools makes me blush by comparison.

True... I remember seeing a video (posted here years ago?) of a guy in southeast Asia restoring a VW bus and made his own rust repair panels with little more than a hammer and a torch.

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

I referring more towards people (generally not car people) who will have a 2-car garage as part of their house, barely a couple of paths to walk through, and it's filled with literally junk. While their Volvo sits outside (unfortunately, this describes my mother's house... For better or worse, this will likely be corrected this year.)

Wow, more response than I expected. Thanks for all the kind words.

let's get to answering questions.

RedGT: I've got some of those foam floor mat squares I can lay out should I need them. I'm trying to keep the area as modular as possible. I've also got some collapsible sawhorses that can be another table if need be.

Robbie: Yup, that's the new money sponge. The GP finished the season 7th of 58. She's been retired to daily duty and the camaro will be run in CAM-T. There is a build thread in the builds section.

David: Oh, don't worry. You guys are represented on top of the Grey toolbox on the floor in the second photo. It's my little callout to other GRMers at the pick-n-pull.

Tyler H: My downstairs neighbor is pretty cool. She keeps to herself and so do we. I don't band around a lot, but I do listen to bagpipe music, so I'm pretty sure my neighbors are peeved at me already.

And corrados are friggin awesome. My first car was almost a G60, but I missed it be minutes.

Mazdeuce: I'm glad you got the tools. I wasn't sure if they ever made it. When we made the deal you told me it was 100% reversible. I've considered taking you up on that, just so you'll have to figure out which ones were mine...

I wasn't the only one who got a new space. As part of the project our eat in kitchen was transformed into a cozy little reading nook for my better half.

but we do have to eat on the couch... or standing over the sink.

I spent 10 years working out of a unfinished addition at my last house. Then I built a shop and spent 15 years working out of a 12X16 shop. The only place to work on a car was a small paved parking area on the side of the street. My setup never looked as neat and tidy as yours. Even on it's best day.

Well done.

I'm very jealous of most people garages as well, I'm working with nothing more that a tiny concrete pad that only one half of the car fits on at a time,and all my tools either live in my DD or a small toolbox all they way on the other side of the yard in a shed

Most of the actual wrenching I've done was done parked out in the street in front of my parents house. We had no off the street parking. I've done bodywork, R&R transmission, replaced ball joints, did a top end rebuild, new cam and installed headers and exhaust on a 76 Cutlass. I lifted my 86 GMC truck six inches, did headers and an intake and carb on it as well. Only had the cops called on me once.

Then I got a house with a two car garage and the only real wrenching I did there was changing the oil. I did install the exhaust system for my 96 Impala there but I did it in the driveway at 2 O'clock in the morning on a work night.

Then I got a house with a gravel parking lot with no garage and did a bunch of suspension work and various other projects.

Now I have a little one car garage but have no projects going on.

Looking back on it it seems like I may be a masochist when it comes to wrenching.

Nice way to work with what you've got!

Gaunt596 wrote: I'm very jealous of most people garages as well, I'm working with nothing more that a tiny concrete pad that only one half of the car fits on at a time,and all my tools either live in my DD or a small toolbox all they way on the other side of the yard in a shed

This was life for a lot of us. I started with hand me down tools on decaying asphalt and the scissor jack from the car. I graduated to a set of Craftsman hand tools that I got for Christmas my senior year of high school. Those went with me to college and lived under my bed in the dorms. Then to a rental house where I was back in the dirt. I was almost happy to have a third floor apartment to carry tools up and down from because it meant I had pavement to work on again. Then working outside on a cement slab when I bought my house, I wheeled my toolbox and jack and jack stands back and forth in my wheelbarrow. Then I built the Grosh. And now I have a lift and live like a king. I've always been happy to have my tools. Unworried when I bought Clockworks tools that he would have a hard time landing on his feet on the other side of the country. Seeing his modest organized space makes me happy.

The way you make such great use of the space you've got makes me feel like a horrible person for having a two car garage that I've allowed to turn in to one giant E36 M3pile with a Neon sticking out of it.

I should go do some cleaning now.

wae wrote: The way you make such great use of the space you've got makes me feel like a horrible person for having a two car garage that I've allowed to turn in to one giant E36 M3pile with a Neon sticking out of it. I should go do some cleaning now.

What he said. Except with an Alfa sticking out of it