Building in a one-car garage...

[Stangrob]

Hey guys,

As I'm reading through everyone's build threads I'm seeing some awesome garages, with two or more bays to get the job done. I'll admit I'm a bit jealous, as I have a small one-car garage. It has served me well, and my recent Falcon wagon restoration just fit. Thankfully the 289 FIA car I'll be building is quite a bit smaller ;)

So, I'm wondering how many guys are also working with a one-car garage? My biggest concern is managing all of the parts. What did you guys do that was helpful while building in a smaller space?

Thanks!

Rob

[Aleinsteingenius]

I decided that I wanted to do the build in a nice big shop so for the last few months instead of doing the build I have been building the shop (shrug). There is something to be said for just getting it done.

[Stangrob]

I decided that I wanted to do the build in a nice big shop so for the last few months instead of doing the build I have been building the shop (shrug). There is something to be said for just getting it done.

LOL - I wish I had that option. As it turns out before I bought my house 25 years ago the original owner turned half of the garage into a den. My wife loves me but she's not going to let me reclaim that part of the garage :D

Rob

[john42]

Hey guys,

As I'm reading through everyone's build threads I'm seeing some awesome garages, with two or more bays to get the job done. I'll admit I'm a bit jealous, as I have a small one-car garage. It has served me well, and my recent Falcon wagon restoration just fit. Thankfully the 289 FIA car I'll be building is quite a bit smaller ;)

So, I'm wondering how many guys are also working with a one-car garage? My biggest concern is managing all of the parts. What did you guys do that was helpful while building in a smaller space?

Thanks!

Rob

I'm in a 1 car garage with a low ceiling. Can it be done? ya.. My 2 young sons sure learned a lot of great words at an accelerated rate though! I didn't build my car initially. I bought a retired challenge car and unretired it. Rebuilt most of it at this point. Engine out, engine in. Redid the front suspension. Body off to redo all the wiring. Rearend out to redo control arms and bushings. etc etc. At this point I often think to myself I could have just built one from scratch, I've had everything apart and back together again on it. I did take it to the traveling builder for the engine out and in. There was no way with my low ceiling to even come close to lifting the engine out. Anyway... can it be done.. ya. Likely your living room will end up as part/box storage. You can store the body outside. I tip toe around my car with 15 inches from the car to the right wall on one side and 20 inches to my tool chest on the left side. I can have either 3 feet in front of the car or 3 feet behind the car. So I end up rolling it back and forth as needed. And man is there a lot of swearing when I need to crawl between the wall and the car to get underneath it. It's doable. It isn't pleasant.

[egchewy79]

Look into building an elevated body buck on casters. This will allow you to fit everything in the space w/ the body off. Just wheel the buck outside when working on the chassis. You can also build a shelf on the buck that can hold all the boxes.

[Ford & Jeep Fan]

Maybe I can make the OP fell better about his garage.
I have the opposite problem plenty of room (40X40/ 40X32 useful/ 40X20 level floor) BUT it is a pole barn with mostly a gravel floor. Thankfully the Animals are long gone. And the roof leaks in some spots.
But i am making it work ok. Like doing alot of sub assembly here at my house in the basement.

[AndrewIdaho]

Look into building an elevated body buck on casters. This will allow you to fit everything in the space w/ the body off. Just wheel the buck outside when working on the chassis. You can also build a shelf on the buck that can hold all the boxes.

I had only 1 bay of a garage available for the build and I did as egchewy recommends and built the elevated buck on casters:

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I wheel it out each time I am going to work on my MK4 and the process works fine. I got very larger casters so it would roll easily over the joints in the concrete.

Best Regards, Andrew

[jrcuz]

My garage is only 11 feet wide and maybe 20 feet long and I did as Chewy said and built an elevated body buck. I kept the boxes of parts in my basement and all went well.
JR

[Al_C]

Chewy's solution is an excellent choice. The body buck on casters works really well. I took that approach as well. I have a two car garage, but I promised my wife she'd be able to keep her car in the garage throughout the build.

[Mike.Bray]

Spare bedrooms work well for parts storage:)

[JeffP]

I built mine in my shed... granted its a 14x24 but with all my lawn equipment and other random crap. and a 6' door. But it worked!

[MaxVmo]

I used a sort of basement/storage place for the boxes of parts. Dolly and then wheels on skates. No need to keep parts all over!

[Sarcasticshrub]

I'm in a slightly larger than a single-car garage - more of a barn, to be honest. I built shelving all around the perimeter and two work benches on rollers with shelving, and rolling small parts bins. Many of the larger items in the garage that tend to get in the way got the roller treatment too (HF dollies are great for all of the above). Ceilings are too low for the high road for the high body buck, so when the body came off, it was rolled out under the covered part of the side of the barn where the hay for the animals used to go. Pullies and ratchets work well to do the body on/off shuffle.

[John289]

You could save space by keeping the body outside. It’s actually recommended for the curing process.

[weendoggy]

Back in the day, when the kits were shipped in crates, a builder out here built his in the "BOX". aka: The Box Build

[Jeff Kleiner]

Back in the day, when the kits were shipped in crates, a builder out here built his in the "BOX". aka: The Box Build

Yep! One of those great stories those of us who have been around here for decades remember :D Ariel Ayubo built his Mk1, which came to be known as "The man in the box car", outside his apartment in the wooden shipping container (this was in the days before Stewart Transport). As he tells it as soon as the paint was dry he jumped in and drove it from Southern California to New York City...and then back!

Jeff

[Stangrob]

You could save space by keeping the body outside. It’s actually recommended for the curing process.

I'll likely end up taking this route - I don't think I have enough room to hang the body in the garage, and I use the driveway for my truck so rolling the body out into the driveway will be a PITA. I'll bet my wife wasn't expecting to have a Cobra body in the backyard when she first blessed this project :D

Rob

[egchewy79]

I'm sure others will chime in, but I recall seeing pics of someone who stored the body in his living room during the build.

[Stangrob]

I'm sure others will chime in, but I recall seeing pics of someone who stored the body in his living room during the build.

LOL - must be single....

Rob

[KayzDad]

I'm in a one-and-a-half car garage. As mentioned by others my body buck is on casters and stays outside most of the time. Having my chassis dolly on casters, and then having the chassis on wheel dollies, lets me move it around to give me a bit more room when needed. Having a good low-profile floor jack made a big difference, as its fast and easy to go back and forth between jack stands and the wheel dollies. Adding an extra light or two made a big difference.

Another thing that helped was investing in some good quality shelving units for the boxes of parts. I put mine along the back wall and was able to store almost all the boxes. Marking the contents on each box when I did my inventory has saved much time too.

[Stangrob]

I'm in a one-and-a-half car garage. As mentioned by others my body buck is on casters and stays outside most of the time. Having my chassis dolly on casters, and then having the chassis on wheel dollies, lets me move it around to give me a bit more room when needed. Having a good low-profile floor jack made a big difference, as its fast and easy to go back and forth between jack stands and the wheel dollies. Adding an extra light or two made a big difference.

Another thing that helped was investing in some good quality shelving units for the boxes of parts. I put mine along the back wall and was able to store almost all the boxes. Marking the contents on each box when I did my inventory has saved much time too.

I didn't think of the wheel dollies, but that definitely sounds like a good investment! I luckily already have a good low-profile floor jack (my wife drives a Miata). Thankfully the lighting in my garage is solid - I have an LED ceiling fixture that makes my garage feel a bit like an operating room :D

I'll definitely need to look in to additional shelving - thanks!

Rob

[Nickjj]

I have a single car 12x24 foot garage and just had a 4 post lift installed. The body on the buck is sitting up top for now while I’m finishing up the go cart. Before I got the lift I had a hoist and lifted the body and buck as high as I can go in the garage. I still have bumps on my head from ducking around the body the last year. I am fortunate to have built a tall garage where I had a storage loft up top. I also recommend a quickjack 5000 to lift the chassis which served me well. Still using it.
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[Stangrob]

I have a single car 12x24 foot garage and just had a 4 post lift installed. The body on the buck is sitting up top for now while I’m finishing up the go cart. Before I got the lift I had a hoist and lifted the body and buck as high as I can go in the garage. I still have bumps on my head from ducking around the body the last year. I am fortunate to have built a tall garage where I had a storage loft up top. I also recommend a quickjack 5000 to lift the chassis which served me well. Still using it.
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Wow, that's a really nice setup! You managed to pack a lot of functionality into a relatively small space!

Rob

[JMD]

Great setup, Nick. I also second the quick jacks. Just bought a set a few weeks ago and they are great.

[Nickjj]

Thanks guys for the comments on my setup. I can tell you it didn't start out this way. I have hung the body from the ceiling, and raised the body buck. Although they did work for the longest time I can tell you it was painful at times as I bounced my head off the body. Not saying I won't do the same with the 4 post but the underside LED lighting I added is much better and the 4 post is mostly flat underneath. I also got the 4 post because my son's Mustang Bullitt will be spending the winter up top starting in the Fall.

It has been an evolution to get to this stage. But completely doable in a single car garage.

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