1-2 months downtime, and no place to work on car, any ideas?

[redsuns3838]

i was wondering if anyone here has done this. some of us live in apartments without indoor parking, or just a carport. what do you guys do when it comes to major car work, IE several weeks or a few months of downtime?

unfortunately all my friends live in apartments or at parents house and i doubt they want a car laying around in the garage for a month thats especially not theirs.
the only thought thats crossed my mind is to rent storage space for a month or two. wondering if you guys had any other ideas or have done that before?

and please dont tell me to take it to a shop. i enjoy workin on my car.
anyways let me know what you guys think.

[SilviaNinja240]

can you rent a container or public storage, and just work on it in there?

[ALTRNTV]

Try posting in the regional sections. I'm pretty sure someone has space they're willing to rent out.

[j00ni3]

if you go to church like me im catholic *don't hate *

we have a huge parking lot and it's all secure and no one can enter during the weekdays so i asked and they let me let it sit there for 5 months of downtime. no kids jumping on it and no one looking at it...

just bad thing is i had to go there to start the engine up every 2 days... haha... and my rotors got A LOT of rust on it... hehe

but all in all it was nice of em ... ask your church if you go to one...

[ranisron]

Renting a storage place would work, too...

You may need electrical outlet (for better lighting) if you want to work on your car during evening times.

[SiI40sx]

-1 on that storage place.... storage places require you to remove all oils, fluids, gas or anything flamable in the car

[redsuns3838]

wow so my idea of renting storage space wasnt far fetched.
well if im working on the car ill probably need to remove all the fluids since ill be taking motor out.

thanks for the responses guys, ill post in regionals and if not theres always public storage=) thanks again!

[aznpoopy]

i feel your pain dude. i also live in an apartment.

my 240sx was parked on the street for about 3 months with a half completed engine install. additionally, my town has a rule that the car has to move every 2 days, or else you get a ticket. so... i basically went outside every two days and pushed the car a few feet forward or backwards.

i did an engine swap right on the curb in front of this old lady's house. she was hella mad that day.

now, (since my car runs again) i try to go to my friend's houses to do my work. luckily my gf's mom is cool and let's me park it in front of her house indefinitely.

storage space is not the best idea for certain jobs. depending on the place you find, they may get real uppity when oil, coolant and other various car liquids dirty up their nice property. they may also be peeved if you actually try to work on your car there. ask before you put any cash down.

[jdm_s14_zenki]

i live in an apartment. i use the carport for most repairs. your not supposed to work in the carport but the hell with them, the security bust my balls sometimes and i just tell them to screw off, im changing a headlight. anyways, i dont have anywhere to work on my car either. The Regional section of zilvia should make a "shop fund" you pay to work on your car at this "shop" as a non-profit org. pay the insurance and rent fees associated with "shops" and have the zilvians pay for the space and length of time needed. no need for lifts, floor jacks, bring your own tools, take care of your own oil and stuff. just need someone to organize something like that.

Its a far fetched idea but im sure lots of people would pay for the space and make the whole thing happen. THAT WOULD BE BADASS!

[redsuns3838]

yea, seems like a lotta ppl in this area live at home though, or have an apartment with a garage. make a poll about it. i would but it seems i dont have enough posts under my belt to be allowed to make polls. =( haha

aznpoopy thats cool. unfortunately me AND all my friends dont live in the best area of orange county. cars always getting stolen. an RX7 with an engine on the ground outdoors would probly get fucked up faster than , well, just really fast.

[rancid240]

Check pennysaver, craigslist. There are garages for rent usually.

[MELLO*SOS]

I completely HATED living in apartments and condos with (at best) a car port. Besides the stupid HOA rules of not working on your car, there is no power out there, no water, weak lighting and of course the ever present threat of thieves :(.

Here is what I ended up doing to install cat, brakes, sway bars, etc... I had a buddy who's gf's dad had a small garage/shop on the back of his house with an air compressor. Behind the shop was an alley way, so I would take my tools there are wrench away in the alley.... hahaha

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/mello88/New%20Black%20240sx/DSC05225.jpg

But times are better now that I bought a house with a 2 car garage...

I've thought for a long time that someone should start a business with a bunch of car bays with lifts, electricity, good lighting and plumbed with compressed air. Have locking storage for tools and/or cars. Rent out the bays/storage on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and offer tool rental and/or professional services (dyno, tuning, paint/body work, etc..). Of course it would have to have one hell of a long liability wavier contract. I think there are a lot of us who are not fortunate enough to own a house/garage yet, but have tools and the knowledge to wrench.

GL to the original poster, might try making buddies with someone who's dad owns a small repair shop (or gas station, etc).

[alexchanman]

use a friends garage. i use my friends garage for winter storage. he cahrged one dollar a day to leave it there, one dollar well worth it.