Any Driveway Mechanics?

[CherryBomb]

I've recently had two separate conversations with folks who seemed very surprised that I work on my cars with no garage, or even shade like a car port. I guess I never really though about it, but they were under the impression that pretty much everyone who owns and works on classic cars have garages. So now I am curious. Who else is out there with a bag full of tools laying on their back in their driveway or the street to do their work?

I should note, I do plan on joining the garage-having gang as soon as possible. I have been working my *** off for many years and should be just about 2-3 years out from finally being able to build a small shop to work in. I just mean that not having one never stopped me from owning and working on the classics I want to own.

 

[SlingLow]

Yep, me too. I actually have a 2 car garage but there's a couple convertibles in there with the tops down. I also have a carport but it's a gravel floor for now. It's easier just to wrench in the driveway on a nice day. I'd rather be outside anyway.

 

[WileE]

Back in the day, before I worked in a garage, we did anything & everything on the streets of Brooklyn... even engine swaps ! A buddy and I a few months ago installed a dual exhaust ( custom ) system on a car in his driveway... yeah, even at our advanced age !

 

[BigFlo]

I have a garage, but there really isn’t enough room to do anything major in it - so most stuff is done in the driveway. This poses its own challenges sometimes because the driveway is sloped - gotta be extra careful when more than one wheel has to come off the ground, lol. Some minor things can be done in the garage if space allows

 

[copper67sat]

Our first house had a 1 car garage. It was full while I was restoring my Satellite which wasn't moveable for a couple of years so I had to work on our other vehicles in the driveway. Our HOA frowned on that. I couldn't leave cars on jack stands or have tools, etc. laying around. Maintenance work wasn't much of a problem, but a few repairs took multiple days so I'd have to put everything away and take the car down every evening then restart the next day.

We have a 3 car garage now and it's still full (2 classics - 1 not running plus parts, tools, lawn equipment, etc.) so I continue to work on the daily drivers in the driveway. The 3rd bay opens out the back of the house and has a concrete driveway. I use that instead of the pavers out front for all but the simplest things, plus it's closer to my tools and air compressor. We have a few acres so neighbors complaining isn't really a problem now.

 

[Coelacanth]

My driveway has a bit of a slope, so it's unsafe to work there except for seasonal wheel & tire changeovers. I do 90% of my own mechanical work in my 2-car garage though, everything other than body/sheetmetal work or internal engine work. Fact is, I simply don't trust anybody or any shop to know how to do proper service on my Charger, or even moreso, my '86 Grand National, which is a very odd bird. A mechanic who's not familiar with the Turbo Buicks could do more harm than good if they don't know what they're doing. All the bolts are metric, for one thing, which isn't normal for a domestic car in the '80's.

 

[440 4 speed]

I my younger years we only had the driveway. Last two-three haven’t got a lot done. Car is certainly safe.

 

[Rishi]

My garage is too narrow to really work in. A single-car width with shelving down one side, means I'm walking sideways just to check the mail slot. But I don't want my car exposed to scrutiny, so projects in the driveway are often limited to those I can complete in a day.

 

[Armyvet25]

I use to own a shop long ago, now it's driveway/garage repair, one in the garage several in the driveway, but without heat I'm a fair weather mechanic now.

 

[#41]

Garages/shop are for hot rods and there has never been an available space for a driver, so all maintenance on them has always been done outside. As I change oil on wet 40 degree concrete, I always find myself thinking "why the hell am I out here?", but nothing has ever changed. That said, I have am actually having thoughts of a plan to put a lift in the shop and have an always-available indoor work space. Maybe this will be the year?

 

[Photon440]

Driveway work here for my regular cars, but my road runner and a couple others are inside a barn.

 

[cosgig]

My garage is full of cars, so most of my work is done outside. Here is a shot of my neighbor in classic “shade tree mechanic” mode, pulling the engine out of a Coronet with a chain fall and a tree limb!

 

[c body convert]

even when I owned my shop and did this for a living I did most of my work outside when weather allowed it...I HATE DROPLIGHTS !...

 

[Runcharger]

Never happen....

 

[OneWheelPeel]

Driveway mechanic here, wish I had a shop. I’ve even used the curb in front of my old house to brace an an arm as I pounded out a bushing and pounded the new one in. I thought that was the height of street side work for me, then I had a neighbor who wanted to body swap a blazer from one frame to another, we did it on the street in front of his house.

 

[moparedtn]

Never had a garage to work in until I built my own a dozen or so years ago (so, say over half my life).
Not sure that's something beneficial over having one (it isn't) or worth bragging over (again, it isn't)?

 

[RR Fan Dan]

1/2 and 1/2. A garage with a gravel/dirt floor.

 

[Outlawd]

Like most of us I started out with no garage and done everything in the drive but now I got a shop with a couple of lifts in it but in the summer I still enjoy working on the cars out in the driveway.

 

[YY1]

I started working on cars at age 12 in 1980.

Since then, I've only lived in a house with a garage for three years 1999-2001.

During that time I was focusing on my IT career and the only things I did mechanically in that rented space was change a clutch cable on a motorcycle, and drill holes in the plugged cat on my Dakota.

...and didn't have another covered workspace until I bought my "shop complex" in 2012.

 

[Hey-O]

My first engine and transmission swap was on a gravel driveway. Two tree stump chunks of firewood to help hold it up. That was so many years ago, times have changed.