How do poor people be home mechanics?
Discussion
Hi,
I have no garage, no driveway, i live in a block, I've been told i can't work on my car on the grounds, so I have to do this stuff on the street. But once I'm there, thats it, i have to do everything and not leave the viscinity until i am done, no toilet break, no lunch, no running back in because I just realised I need something, otherwise my gear will go bye bye. And the idea of having to lower the car and lugging my tool box, 4 axle stands and a ridiculously heavy trolley jack up and down, because I need to use the toilet, is really not doable. Add to this, the fact that ive already been scolded by a local for doing such things on the street anyway!!
What am I supposed to do? One of the reasons I'm doing this and trying to learn, is because I can't afford a mechanic.
So, I'm wondering what I am missing. Is there some communal places where people can go, or some space I can rent for peanuts or by the hour.... what does everyone else in such situations do?? or are the poor simply screwed?
I have no garage, no driveway, i live in a block, I've been told i can't work on my car on the grounds, so I have to do this stuff on the street. But once I'm there, thats it, i have to do everything and not leave the viscinity until i am done, no toilet break, no lunch, no running back in because I just realised I need something, otherwise my gear will go bye bye. And the idea of having to lower the car and lugging my tool box, 4 axle stands and a ridiculously heavy trolley jack up and down, because I need to use the toilet, is really not doable. Add to this, the fact that ive already been scolded by a local for doing such things on the street anyway!!
What am I supposed to do? One of the reasons I'm doing this and trying to learn, is because I can't afford a mechanic.
So, I'm wondering what I am missing. Is there some communal places where people can go, or some space I can rent for peanuts or by the hour.... what does everyone else in such situations do?? or are the poor simply screwed?
I'd question the bit about why you can't do it in your car parking space. Where do they draw the line?
I.e. are you not allowed to change a wheel if you get a puncture, headlight bulbs? What about topping up fluids? Same applies to spending a day washing it etc.
If their point is re: staining block paving etc. then some pond liner under the car.
Also how do they know you're working on it? If you were doing an interior job, how does that affect them?
Full engine out and a resto; can see their point. But for running repairs, such as brake discs and pads? As long as you're not offending anyone - how can they complain?
Also if you had a fault that prevented reliable/legal use on the highway, such as brakes stuck on or a snapped spring... They can't force you to move it onto the highway.
Even if you got the RAC out, or a mobile mechanic to the car then *someone* would be working on it.
Your purchase/rental agreement for the property is where I'd start. Look at your covenent/restrictions.
Like I say, engine swaps and car in pieces for weeks - agree, maybe classes as taking the piss.
Fixing something so you can get to work tomorrow? I'd ignore them. As long as you're not staining the car park and/or blocking others access.
Had similar things on halls at uni,. I pointed out that my mk3 fiesta being stranded in their car park for weeks if I didn't fix it, was way worse.
I.e. are you not allowed to change a wheel if you get a puncture, headlight bulbs? What about topping up fluids? Same applies to spending a day washing it etc.
If their point is re: staining block paving etc. then some pond liner under the car.
Also how do they know you're working on it? If you were doing an interior job, how does that affect them?
Full engine out and a resto; can see their point. But for running repairs, such as brake discs and pads? As long as you're not offending anyone - how can they complain?
Also if you had a fault that prevented reliable/legal use on the highway, such as brakes stuck on or a snapped spring... They can't force you to move it onto the highway.
Even if you got the RAC out, or a mobile mechanic to the car then *someone* would be working on it.
Your purchase/rental agreement for the property is where I'd start. Look at your covenent/restrictions.
Like I say, engine swaps and car in pieces for weeks - agree, maybe classes as taking the piss.
Fixing something so you can get to work tomorrow? I'd ignore them. As long as you're not staining the car park and/or blocking others access.
Had similar things on halls at uni,. I pointed out that my mk3 fiesta being stranded in their car park for weeks if I didn't fix it, was way worse.
often thought i would find a corner in a multistory to work in on a quiet evening if i had no where to work,if anythings said "ive broke down -be gone asap "
im kinda the guy that works in the street sometimes , not engine swaps etc , i try to be discreet and not annoy anyone best i can
im kinda the guy that works in the street sometimes , not engine swaps etc , i try to be discreet and not annoy anyone best i can
Eric1066 said:
Hi,
ive already been scolded by a local for doing such things on the street anyway!!
If you're working on a separate project car, there's some justification for criticism, but if you're doing necessary repairs on your daily to get to work tomorrow, I'd tell them to pive already been scolded by a local for doing such things on the street anyway!!
s off.Any lockup garages around you could rent?
Most likely bit of your lease that's relevant I would imagine is that the parking area you are allowed to use is for roadworthy vehicles, or basically words to that effect. The reason being to give some justification for telling tenants to move their rusty 'project' heap that hasn't moved for 18 months etc.
If your car is taxed and you're doing some sort of a repair / maintenance then they'd have a very hard time causing you any grief, unless you're covering the place in oil and coolant and so on, or yes, it runs on for weeks or you're blocking people in etc.
If you're doing it on a second car to practice and it's going to be in an unroadworthy state for weeks then you're likely to have more issues, although this will mostly be about perceptions, if the car is clean and on its wheels, even if there wasn't an engine in it, it won't really draw much attention and likely wouldn't cause any grief. If it's covered in moss and it's up on stands with no wheels and no bonnet, someone will probably complain within hours
I was in a second floor flat by a public car park for 8 years or so, I feel your pain in terms of lugging a trolley jack down multiple flights of stairs and dragging it across a car park and so on, it's no fun at all, and the fact that you have to leave the car at least looking like a car is really inconvenient.
If your car is taxed and you're doing some sort of a repair / maintenance then they'd have a very hard time causing you any grief, unless you're covering the place in oil and coolant and so on, or yes, it runs on for weeks or you're blocking people in etc.
If you're doing it on a second car to practice and it's going to be in an unroadworthy state for weeks then you're likely to have more issues, although this will mostly be about perceptions, if the car is clean and on its wheels, even if there wasn't an engine in it, it won't really draw much attention and likely wouldn't cause any grief. If it's covered in moss and it's up on stands with no wheels and no bonnet, someone will probably complain within hours
I was in a second floor flat by a public car park for 8 years or so, I feel your pain in terms of lugging a trolley jack down multiple flights of stairs and dragging it across a car park and so on, it's no fun at all, and the fact that you have to leave the car at least looking like a car is really inconvenient.
When lived with my parents they had a gravel driveway i could use.
My first house had a short really steep driveway, so did all my car work in the road including pulling engines gearboxes etc out, some work i could do on the drive but not jacking up etc too dangerous.
Maybe people back then weren't so far impaled up their own arses, a bit of live and let live applied, lots of us short of money so many people had older cars they needed to work on themselves, often enough we helped each other out, you know like a real community that didn't need the state's permission/instruction/order to fart.
Obviously you try and keep inconvenience to neighbours down and noise too, no harm in keeping a tizer bottle handy for piddling into especially in the cold weather, pita to have to pack everything away just for a jimmy.
I still work on my own cars on my own gated drive, no one can see what i'm doing, almost never see anyone else working on their cars they don't even wash their own cars, but then most cars around here are newish, either company jobbies or on the drip or long term rent or whatever and drivers of such don't feel the need to do any maintenance even if they had a clue how or why.
The only people i see working on cars locally are a couple of Polish blokes along the road who work on their cars in the road because they have a short steep driveway, i heard comments about them from a couple of snob types (who themselves haven't got two hapennies to scratch their ringpeice with but make out they're summat special) but i won't knock the lads for trying to save a few quid.
Do what you have to do to make ends meet mate and take no notice of those peering down their noses at you.
Try and find somewhere to live next that's got somewhere suitable, preferably out the back of the gaff so you arn't lying in the road with traffic passing, or consider getting a lock up garage.
My first house had a short really steep driveway, so did all my car work in the road including pulling engines gearboxes etc out, some work i could do on the drive but not jacking up etc too dangerous.
Maybe people back then weren't so far impaled up their own arses, a bit of live and let live applied, lots of us short of money so many people had older cars they needed to work on themselves, often enough we helped each other out, you know like a real community that didn't need the state's permission/instruction/order to fart.
Obviously you try and keep inconvenience to neighbours down and noise too, no harm in keeping a tizer bottle handy for piddling into especially in the cold weather, pita to have to pack everything away just for a jimmy.
I still work on my own cars on my own gated drive, no one can see what i'm doing, almost never see anyone else working on their cars they don't even wash their own cars, but then most cars around here are newish, either company jobbies or on the drip or long term rent or whatever and drivers of such don't feel the need to do any maintenance even if they had a clue how or why.
The only people i see working on cars locally are a couple of Polish blokes along the road who work on their cars in the road because they have a short steep driveway, i heard comments about them from a couple of snob types (who themselves haven't got two hapennies to scratch their ringpeice with but make out they're summat special) but i won't knock the lads for trying to save a few quid.
Do what you have to do to make ends meet mate and take no notice of those peering down their noses at you.
Try and find somewhere to live next that's got somewhere suitable, preferably out the back of the gaff so you arn't lying in the road with traffic passing, or consider getting a lock up garage.
kiethton said:
I'd just work in the grounds of your own house/flat tbh. As long as you aren't doing it commercially there is nothing anybody can do to stop you as it would be included within the enjoyment of your own home provision.
That is completely wrong. Almost all communal developments have enforceable restrictions on what you can and can't do. In exercising your own "rights" you must also respect the "rights" of everybody else - who probably don't want their neighbours repairing cars on the front lawn.Panamax said:
That is completely wrong. Almost all communal developments have enforceable restrictions on what you can and can't do. In exercising your own "rights" you must also respect the "rights" of everybody else - who probably don't want their neighbours repairing cars on the front lawn.
Not always, I was a director of our blocks management company until 6m ago and we had no such rules. I do not know of any (after asking the management when it did come up after one complaint) and was advised of the same and as per the above - as long as it's not a commercial operation and the work is not causing a nuisance there is little that can be done.Even then, we were advised that words of advice were our limits (viability) as the time and cost taken to enforce anything will significantly exceed the time taken to do any simple car repair job (so work - each job being a different event - would have stopped by the time anything happened, so no longer causing a issue) and there is no financial loss to seek any recompense for.
kiethton said:
Panamax said:
That is completely wrong. Almost all communal developments have enforceable restrictions on what you can and can't do. In exercising your own "rights" you must also respect the "rights" of everybody else - who probably don't want their neighbours repairing cars on the front lawn.
Not always, I was a director of our blocks management company until 6m ago and we had no such rules. I do not know of any (after asking the management when it did come up after one complaint) and was advised of the same and as per the above - as long as it's not a commercial operation and the work is not causing a nuisance there is little that can be done.Even then, we were advised that words of advice were our limits (viability) as the time and cost taken to enforce anything will significantly exceed the time taken to do any simple car repair job (so work - each job being a different event - would have stopped by the time anything happened, so no longer causing a issue) and there is no financial loss to seek any recompense for.
Thanks all for the responses.
I guess they cant really stop me, but I dont want to piss anyone off, plus when the shorthold tenancy is up, they might not want to renew and effectively kick me out that way.
Liked the suggestion of renting some space somewhere and a friend gave me a number of a garage that might help me out with that on an hourly rate.
I guess they cant really stop me, but I dont want to piss anyone off, plus when the shorthold tenancy is up, they might not want to renew and effectively kick me out that way.
Liked the suggestion of renting some space somewhere and a friend gave me a number of a garage that might help me out with that on an hourly rate.
Eric1066 said:
Thanks all for the responses.
I guess they cant really stop me, but I dont want to piss anyone off, plus when the shorthold tenancy is up, they might not want to renew and effectively kick me out that way.
Liked the suggestion of renting some space somewhere and a friend gave me a number of a garage that might help me out with that on an hourly rate.
Know any small garages that don't work Saturday PM or Sunday? Around here I've been known to chuck one such garage £20 to get the kids a maccies or whatever and used his ramp and basic tools of an evening.I guess they cant really stop me, but I dont want to piss anyone off, plus when the shorthold tenancy is up, they might not want to renew and effectively kick me out that way.
Liked the suggestion of renting some space somewhere and a friend gave me a number of a garage that might help me out with that on an hourly rate.
Have a driveway big enough now luckily but back in the student days it fell to one of a few options
- Drive back to my folks and do it there, dad has/had a lot of tools and was my preference
- In the street with my own tookls - if i had to leave to go inside I'd just chuck everything back in the boot and lock the car up
- Council Garage - eventually got one in the area after being on wait list - tho there was no power/lights it wasn't terrible
- Drive back to my folks and do it there, dad has/had a lot of tools and was my preference
- In the street with my own tookls - if i had to leave to go inside I'd just chuck everything back in the boot and lock the car up
- Council Garage - eventually got one in the area after being on wait list - tho there was no power/lights it wasn't terrible
Having to work on your car in the street is a disincentive, I think that's a fair point by the OP. I'm in that position myself, and bad weather can be off-putting too, besides the other difficulties mentioned. It must be much more appealing taking on a major repair or restoration project if you have a nice warm garage where you can leave the car in pieces between sessions, with all the tools you need.
But a surprising amount of work can still be achieved out in the open, and if I need to pop back in the house to use the toilet or fetch more equipment, I just chuck any loose tools in the boot and lock the car.
But a surprising amount of work can still be achieved out in the open, and if I need to pop back in the house to use the toilet or fetch more equipment, I just chuck any loose tools in the boot and lock the car.
Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff