Who does mechanic work on the side?

Get two fire extinguishers...you would be surprised how fast they get used up and leave you staring at a blaze.

Good floor jack.

E36 M3load of hand tools and a big assed toolbox

Good mini sledge hammer

Reasonable sized compressor

Lots of those thick blue paper towels

Timing light. Get a dialback with RPM display

Vacuum gauge for sure

Beer Fridge.

Some method for de-greasing parts.

Wire wheel

Angle Grinder(s) (I ended up with 5 of them)

Naked Girl Calendars

Mig Welder

Drill

Digital voltmeter.

Coveralls

BIG jar of GOJO hand cleaner

Rubber gloves

Remember how I mentioned that the $30/hour gets eaten up in overhead? The stuff in the list gets eaten up and broken and the list grows by at least one item for every job you do.

Umm... You guys must all live in metropolitan areas.

The one question that has not been asked- is there a market?

I can tell you that in my town there are only 2 1/2 Corvairs in a 150 mile radius, so this particular business plan might need a little tweaking.

I'd get insurance, even if I was willing to skirt the zoning regs. The worst they can do regarding zoning is tell you to stop. A fire, or a wreck while testing, or a car that fell off the jacks on someone's leg would be devastating.

NOHOME wrote: Get two fire extinguishers...you would be surprised how fast they get used up and leave you staring at a blaze. Good floor jack. E36 M3load of hand tools and a big assed toolbox Good mini sledge hammer Reasonable sized compressor Lots of those thick blue paper towels Timing light. Get a dialback with RPM display Vacuum gauge for sure Beer Fridge. Some method for de-greasing parts. Wire wheel Angle Grinder(s) (I ended up with 5 of them) Naked Girl Calendars Mig Welder Drill Digital voltmeter. Coveralls BIG jar of GOJO hand cleaner Rubber gloves Remember how I mentioned that the $30/hour gets eaten up in overhead? The stuff in the list gets eaten up and broken and the list grows by at least one item for every job you do.

I have most of that stuff in your list, I do need fire extinguishers.

Right now I don't have a mig welder and it may be a while before I get one.

Definitely need a timing light.

If at worst, my dad has a parts washer I could use.

SVreX said: Umm... You guys must all live in metropolitan areas. The one question that has not been asked- is there a market? I can tell you that in my town there are only 2 1/2 Corvairs in a 150 mile radius, so this particular business plan might need a little tweaking. I'd get insurance, even if I was willing to skirt the zoning regs. The worst they can do regarding zoning is tell you to stop. A fire, or a wreck while testing, or a car that fell off the jacks on someone's leg would be devastating.

Yes there is a market. There are a lot of folks in the Chicagoland area that have no one to work on their Corvairs. However, I'm not afraid of working on other classic cars myself.

Insurance is definitely a must. I will not work without it. My old shop had an accident involving customers cars before. It's good to have it just in case.