Garage facilities

[Vista]

One of the things that limits what I do myself on my car is the lack of proper tools and facilities, I hate trying to work underneath it with it 3" above my face teetering around on axle stands on an uneven drive. I'm also limited by what I have in the way of hand and power tools, etc. Nor do I have power or lighting in my garage.

 

So (and here's the reason for my post) assuming others face this issue, i.e. no progress on wet days and in the winter etc. If you had access to a garage style facility that you could rent space in and hire decent tools from, equipped with ramps and bays etc, would you use it?

 

Lets say it was a small barn size building with power, lighting, running water etc. It was equipped with tools available to hire as you need them with advice available as you go along. Would you rent space to do your project there as opposed to on the drive under a tarpaulin?

[Wessie]

depending on location, yes

[marky4]

if it wasn't to far away them yes deffo, i have a good size double garage but it is half full of stuff i need for work and general house hold / kids stuff etc. also i don't have that many decent tools

[bomber1]

[CapriBoy]

Yep for me! It would be like my work except no1 walking round saying "you workin on the old sh1tter again?"

[Vista]

location location location

 

There are times when I love living in the South West, and others when the distance from everywhere is a pain in the ass.

 

I was thinking of looking into setting something up where people can have access to proper garage facilities, without the exorbitant labour rates. i.e. something along the lines of an OSF maintenance club with an annual membership fee and rent of facilities and tools for however long or short the member needs them for, sort of a DIY garage.

 

Does this sound like a useful facility?

[bomber1]

location location location

 

There are times when I love living in the South West, and others when the distance from everywhere is a pain in the ass.

 

I was thinking of looking into setting something up where people can have access to proper garage facilities, without the exorbitant labour rates. i.e. something along the lines of an OSF maintenance club with an annual membership fee and rent of facilities and tools for however long or short the member needs them for, sort of a DIY garage.

 

Does this sound like a useful facility?

 

yes it is but who's shelling out for the tools? as small tools can be expensive and walk off very quickly

[Copey]

just get the less common tools in, everyone has ther own spanners and the likes

[Guest MK1gaz]

great idea mr vista

[mossy]

top notch idea!

 

my garage is ok, but its too small and it leaks!

[james p]

its all a good idea exceptfor the argumrnts with peoples cars being in the way for 6 months etc outher than that sounds great

[Vista]

just get the less common tools in, everyone has ther own spanners and the likes

 

That's the kind of thing I had in mind, Big trolley jacks, Hydraulic nut splitters, Slide hammers, a Press, parts cleaning bath, Torque wrenches etc etc. As you said most people have their own spanners and socket sets etc so perhaps give them a miss.

[old skool freestyler]

top notch idea!

 

my garage is ok, but its too small and it leaks!

 

mines the same mate

[Rick]

would be a good idea but sharing a garage with family alone can be a pain in the arse.

 

things arent put back where they should be, cleaning up other peoples mess...

 

and whos responsible when something is damaged or lost.

 

its a good idea but id certainly take great care in managing it.

[over_head_cam]

I've been thinking about this sort of thing ever since I joined OSF.

 

I would love to have the chance to use decent acilities and workshop space.

 

If I was a millionare I'd have a huge perpose build workshop with all the good gear in it and it would be filled with OSFers and their OSFs

[Copey]

got another way in which it could be funded too people could use it to do work on other people cars, i.e i wouldnt use it coz i am not a great mechanic but say i book my car in and someone on OSF does the work, just take a few quid dependin on how hard the work was and then take a percentage out and give it to the facility funds

[Jay_harrier]

Good idea Mr Vista but the management could be tricky, jobs that overrun, insurance, liability, good old health and safety.

 

It could work very well but should be restricted to certain types of activity, no spraying, restos etc

 

I wouldn't use it personally as everything I start takes 10 times longer than it ought! at least I can nip outside when I have a spare 15 mins when the car is here.

 

Winter storage... now I would consider that.

[capriaddict]

Great idea i would use it but there wouldn't be any room left for anyone else

[mk2 matt]

i think its a good idea, but like said, people leaving mess, tools going missing etc, be a tricky one.

[Copey]

in fairness most people on here have enough brains and respect not to leave a mess or pinch tools

[Messenjah]

im very fortunate int hat my m8s dad runs a garage and aslong as i give him enough notice and am not to picky about time he can usually squeeze me some space on a 2 post lift if i need it or i can just turn up and work outside but using his tools (big jacks and big axle stands and air tools etc !

 

but a "club" workshop sounds like a good idea and i reckon if you were to write a letter (rather thenan email dunno why but letters go down better) to a company like machine mart saying the things you were looking for and also offering them advertising on our cars then i reckon you may well get atleast some tools out of it ! and then the guys who want to use the tools / facility just stick a machine mart sticker in the window of their car

[Slik 50]

I would deffo use it without a second thought and I would also pay a yearly fee or what ever as I feel that I am pretty competent in the home mechanic deparment its just that when you, and say your wife both use your cars daily for comuting ect it can be very tricky trying to sort out the simplest of things like servicing ect and just for ease I book them in at a garage to have it done, wich turns a job from just £40 in parts to £80 in parts and labour! when you are talking about 3 cars in your house hold that get seviced twice a year, the money soon mounts up!

Its also some of the simpler jobs that turn into a pain in the arse but when you have a roof over your head, lights, a ramp and tools that you can use untill the small hours of the morning without worry, It tends to help. It would be just like a self service garage thats open 24 hours a day.

But having about £7000 in hand tools and tool boxs ect I would be very concerned on people that had access to the stuff! It may not be the lads that pay to use the place it could be there freinds that they have taken along for company or whatever!

[V8ian]

would be a good idea but sharing a garage with family alone can be a pain in the arse.

 

things arent put back where they should be, cleaning up other peoples mess...

and whos responsible when something is damaged or lost.

 

its a good idea but id certainly take great care in managing it.

 

I am with you there, Shareing can be a real pain, It only needs one person to make it unworkable in a nice easy way, which it should be, shareing with family is even more of a pain, Oooohhhh how I wish infantacide was legal