Swapping Radiators in a Parking Lot sucks

So the m6 decided to that the water pump should send coolant into both the engine and the radiator fan, so I have to swap it out. Since I have gone from the dual garage condo to the dual parking space apartment; I am dreading the entire process.

So...how do I find a place to work on a car? Can you rent garages? I am in scenic Greenville SC and all my friends are in Atlanta GA. Of the people I know here, ZERO of them even have a garage (part of the joy of going back to school I guess). Anyone got some suggestions?

Thanks!

Commando parking lot install? Have all the parts and tools ready. A cheap plastic storage box makes for a handy coolant catcher and they are cheap at Dollar General or Walmart. They have the added benefit of a lid that snaps in place.
If you can do it without jacking the car up, it looks less obvious. Don't tear it apart any more than you need to and don't leave it in-process. Be able to shut the hood and clean up the area in a moment's notice.

I was able to swap an exhaust manifold (including drilling out a broken stud) in the parking lot of my apartment complex using this method. That was on my Galant VR4.

Another suggestion: Are there any You-store-it places nearby with garage spaces? They may have rules against working on cars there so the commando method applies there too. At least you won't be in the open doing it so it is easier to conceal. It'll cost you a month's space rental though.

Check Craigslist. There may be garages that rent spaces in the area.

I once changed a water pump in an apartment parking lot in about 30 minutes (on a 2.3T Turbo Coupe) without anybody noticing. Radiator swap would be a little harder.

My suggestions:

1. Become buddies with the manager and mention you can work on his/her stuff if they give you some leeway.

2. Rent a garage space to do the job.

Do it like all the damn redecks here do, parts store parking lot! :-/

PS- I once had to do the water pump on my PowerStroke diesel in the AZ parking lot in lovely Findlay, OH on a Saturday night. Had to sleep in the truck overnight for a ride to Cincy to drop the pump off to get the clutch fan and pulley off on Monday and finish the job on Monday night.

Could be worse. Several years back, maybe at Carlisle (I forget where), I remember a Thunderbird TC losing an engine. The owner found a replacement in a junkyard and swapped it out in the parking lot of a Red Roof Inn.

I lost a radiator as I pulled into the parking lot at work one Saturday morning last year.

I called my wife, told her what tools to grab, had her pick up a new radiator, hoses and coolant that I bought over the phone and I changed it at work before I ate lunch.

Radiators are easy.

Hell, I did a clutch replacement in my apartment parking lot on a 260z by myself. Brings new meaning to "pumping iron". Took less than 2 hours. I was younger and more stupid, but it got done.

radiators are not hard.. usually only held in with two bolts.

Why are you changing the radiator anyway? It sounds more like it is your waterpump that failed

I've done not one, but two starters in parking lots. Both for my ex-brother in law. Gran Torino at a shopping mall, Tempo at a Pizza Hut. The GT was done in the pouring rain.

Hehe. Ford Explorer upper and lower intake in a church parking lot on a Sunday. Fixed it and drove 300 miles back home.

I replaced my radiator on the side of 1000 West George Street in the North side of Chicago sometime in the winter of 1997. I remember my hands hurting really bad from the cold. It was in an MGB, so it really doesn't count because thats an easy one to do.

my buddy and I did his rear main oil seal (2-piece possible??) in his 1973 Chevrolet lifted 4x4 K10 in our KOA campground spot somewhere in Minnesota on our way to Yellowstone in 1980.

could that be right?

My dad replaced the springs on his camper at a red light in a small town in Michigan. One of them snapped when he stopped at the light and with the tires rubbing the truck wouldn't move it. The cop that pulled up redirected traffic for the 45 minutes it took him to swap them.

Tie rod that separated and spun me into a field, tie rod that separated and left me stranded miles from anywhere, starter by the railroad lines in the rain without a jack, fuel pump wiring that shorted in the rain and left me with a very deep slash in my forearm.

Old cars mean learning to do running repairs

Nowadays I have a trailer and tow vehicle though...

I work on the bike in broad daylight during the quieter times of the day. I smile and say hello to people that walk by and they don't give me any strange looks.

Or:

Work on it in someone else's apartment complex where the landlord can't really do anything to you. Maybe wear some mechanic-y coveralls so people assume that you are doing a mobile repair. Be creative!

I had a buddy who did the mobile-mechanic thing. He'd meet people at a public park. Clean up that coolant!!! It'll cause a miserable, painful death for a cat or dog.

Do it in the parking lot of the auto parts store that you're buying all the parts from. It's done all the time.

That's presuming you can get there.

MitchellC wrote: Work on it in someone else's apartment complex where the landlord can't really do anything to you. Maybe wear some mechanic-y coveralls so people assume that you are doing a mobile repair. Be creative!

Mitchell, you are wise beyone your years. I LOL'd at working on it at someone else's apartment complex.

It helps to have the right tools and everything u need on hand. I changed an alternator beside an interstate highway about 30miles from home once. Did everything by myself, except for a bolt that I needed a smaller hand besides mine to get to.

mad_machine wrote: radiators are not hard.. usually only held in with two bolts. Why are you changing the radiator anyway? It sounds more like it is your waterpump that failed

Not changing the radiator, but when you have a 3.5 liter inline six, apparently i have to pull the rad to get to the water pump. If it was just the pump, I could totally ninja this.

the good news is that I definitely have all the tools, the biggest pain of this entire job is going to be getting the AC belt back on. Done it 3 times now, and even with the absolutely correct belt, I have use the motor to get it down into that DEEP V, bmw decided to put on the compressor.

I feel your pain. I changed my starter 2 years ago mid winter, with snow on the ground of my apartment parking lot. I got lots of strange looks, and was questioned by a douchebag that was on the local zoning board. I just told him to berkeley off, worked out fine, though I do have charges still pending from the aftermath of that run in...

Bar parking lot at dawn. Plus you will probably meet some interesting people coming to retrieve their cars

Best I've done, outside of add oil to whatever sad sack I'm driving, was a fan belt and spark plugs/wires in the AutoZone parking lot. AZ, by the way, seems to be the preferred destination for the enterprising shade tree mechanic these days. Best example I ever saw was one of Dad's friends, who was changing the headgaskets in his Ford F-100. Best part? He was a short guy, and since it was raining, decided to just sit on the fender and lean under the hood and do it that way. He wasn't getting wet.

oh lets see in the last year or so I have done a starter on SO's car in Sears parking lot, Radiator on SO's previous car in Gaming store parkig lot, by-pass of heater core of said previous car on side of Interstate 40, Cooling fan on SO's car in Parking lot of local Books a Million, and finally troubleshoot and repair faulty starter on my Van in Wal-Mart parking lot. Lesson to be learned: She needs better cars, on the bright side she now has a very nice comprehensive tool kit in her trunk so I don't have to scrounge for tools for any future road side repairs we might run into.