Garages

[Guest]

Thank you Mickie    

I'm currently building my car in my parents' garage but once completed it's going to become my everyday car & I don't have a garage for it to live in    

After all that doom & gloom I was getting kinda worried....but now I can go back to being happy (& possibly stupid ) in thinking that it'll all be ok

- Dan.

[jezmilligan]

I had the same deliberations over buying my Westie.  I live in a terraced house in London - no chance of renting a garage here.  I've kept mine under a waterproof breathable car cover for the last 9 months and apart from a cat deciding to sleep in it I've had no problems.  The car cover is great as it locks underneath and is shaped to fit - I got it from Cat***am for £130.  There's not a lot to rust and the bits that do can be replaced cheaply.  My plans for the winter are to either persuade a mate to stick it in his garage (your mates become putty in your hands once you've taken them to a track day.)  Or otherwise I'll buy a plastic sheet to go under the car so I can wrap it in a 'cocoon'.

If you dont buy one you'll regret it every day the sun shines!

[Si Stocks]

I agree broadly with the last few posts - I kept mine outside for a about a year and half come rain, wind and snow, under a breathable lightweight Covercraft cover - this was pricey (c.£230) and others may argue not worth it, but it's done exactly what I hoped it would i.e. it's nigh on 100% waterproof and didn't leak even when I had the cover on without the roof up and there was a torrential downpour - the cover basically filled up with water and nearly filled the cabin, but it didn't leak a drop!

However on the other side, common sense dictates that something outside and somewhat exposed to the elements is unlikely to emerge as unscathed from the winter as something kept in a dry garage.  I therefore now "borrow" a garage for the winter months.

All of that said, it's not going to fall apart if you keep it under a decent cover and providing you run it when you can to try and get rid of the damp, in my experience you'll be fine.  Now, if I'd have built mine myself I suspect I'd be a little more sensitive to any deterioration, but there we go...

Si

[Peter Cox]

"yes"

[peterg]

One possible solution...although slightly biased  

Buy my SEiW and covered tiltbed trailer then you can keep the car under cover but ready to go in a few minutes and all it takes up is a parking space in the road  

1990 SEiW with 1800 Zetec on twin 45 DCOEs with Quaife 5 speed straight cut close ratio box and LSD. This spring it had a new wiring loom/switches and carbon dashboard fitted, new Willans harnesses, new ETB instruments. It has Westfield race seats and the FIA/RAC braced rollbar. Avo shocks and front anti-rollbar. It has a set of Compomotive ML wheels with well scrubbed 185/60 x 13 Bridgestone RE720 tyres (used on the hillclimbs) as well as another completely new set of these that have done just 5 miles (to the MOT station and back )

The car is mechanically sound although cosmetically it has a few scratches etc. (but has not had any accidents, it's just wear and tear over the last 12 years). I won the novice up to 1800cc class at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in May this year (my first ever meeting! and it has recorded 0-60mph in 4.83 seconds on an AP22 performane meter.

Plus a PRG Millenium covered tiltbed trailer for easy storage, see separate ad in Parts for Sale or view it at www.polarbare.plus.com  

All this for less than £10k - you can have it for £9k if you take both  

[Hanslow]

Pete you sly dog Good try at the sell though mate

I'm still looking around for what I want at the mo. Not even sure on getting a daily runaround as I'm enjoying cycling into work at the mo  

I'm looking into getting one of those metal collapsible garages at the mo, which can replace our shed. Basically we have the driveway next to the house which ends at some fencing with a gate in it and we have our shed directly behind the fence. So my thoughts were, remove the shed, remove the fencing, put a big metal shed/garage thing in and then basically have the car in there. Got to draw up some plans though to see whether it will fit and not hog the garden too much.

I think I want a garage rather than just a cover, albeit not a brilliant garage So I'm going down that route at the mo.

Thanks for all your info folks, if you have any more, please post it!

Can anyone see any problems with something like one of these shed/garage things?

Cheers

Steve

[JimNoble]

Can anyone see any problems with something like one of these shed/garage things?

Planning permission?

I know of people who've had trouble getting permission for a garage, but have some very substantial carports..

Jim