Hey All,
This winter I have way too much crammed in my 1.5 car garage.
Two cars, three motorcycles, and two spare engines.
I had to relocate some tools and cabinets to the basement to make that happen.
Trying to work away at my miata's rear subframe, and it makes me SO nervous working beside the freshly painted E30.
I hung a moving blanket from the ceiling between the cars, but that won't stop a breaker bar if it comes free while I'm disassembling the rear suspension.
Not to mention the two motorcycles leaning towards the E30 propped up on wood blocks...
Anyways, the garage is 1.5 cars wide in the front, but narrows towards the back with a couple of notches out of the wall.
I've measured it out, and it looks like a compact 4-post lift like the Peak 407-P (https://www.babco.ca/Peak-407-P) would fit taking up slightly less then half the available space.
Something like a single-post would also work, but they are prohibitively expensive, and would probably make me just as nervous with the car stored on there.
The other big problem is the 9-foot ceiling.
Even if I install a "high lift" garage door, I won't be able to stack two BMWs with the sedan-type roofline.
The numbers are REALLY close to being able to store something with a low roof like a miata or C5 corvette underneath. It would come down to lift lock position, if the cars are lowered from factory height, and perhaps a set of storage wheels with aired down tires. Oh, and the garage door would have to stay closed, so the bottom car would have to be slid in from the side.
I really just want to get the E30 out of harms way. I could have it up on the lift out of the range of swinging tools, welding sparks, etc. Even if that means I can't store much under the raised car.
As to where the three motorcycles (and the motorcycle lift) can fit, I haven't quite figured that out yet.
I do have a shed in the back yard, but I would want to insulate it before putting motorcycles with good rubber in there for storage.
The spare engines are another question mark. They take up a big cube of space.
Too heavy to move into the basement, and ground is too soft to take them to the shed. Perhaps I could redesign my workbench and store them underneath?
I suppose the other option is to find offsite storage for the E30 in the wintertime. But I have trust issues now that I've spent nearly 10 years working on it, it's irreplaceable for me. Much more comfortable peaking in on it every morning when I grab my lunch from the garage fridge.
Anyways, that's a lot of rambling and thinking out loud.
I'm looking to hear from anyone who has a cramped working space.
I could potentially look at having the lift put in during the later part of 2024, so I would have a better workspace for next winter.
I REALLY want to tear into the E28s floors, but that kind of project is better suited to working on over a long winter then during the limited nice weather we have in the summertime.
Here are some pics of the garage with various projects. As you can see, I've added a lot of usable space by reorganizing and relocating equipment. (And I think there is more to be had)
This winter I have way too much crammed in my 1.5 car garage.
Two cars, three motorcycles, and two spare engines.
I had to relocate some tools and cabinets to the basement to make that happen.
Trying to work away at my miata's rear subframe, and it makes me SO nervous working beside the freshly painted E30.
I hung a moving blanket from the ceiling between the cars, but that won't stop a breaker bar if it comes free while I'm disassembling the rear suspension.
Not to mention the two motorcycles leaning towards the E30 propped up on wood blocks...
Anyways, the garage is 1.5 cars wide in the front, but narrows towards the back with a couple of notches out of the wall.
I've measured it out, and it looks like a compact 4-post lift like the Peak 407-P (https://www.babco.ca/Peak-407-P) would fit taking up slightly less then half the available space.
Something like a single-post would also work, but they are prohibitively expensive, and would probably make me just as nervous with the car stored on there.
The other big problem is the 9-foot ceiling.
Even if I install a "high lift" garage door, I won't be able to stack two BMWs with the sedan-type roofline.
The numbers are REALLY close to being able to store something with a low roof like a miata or C5 corvette underneath. It would come down to lift lock position, if the cars are lowered from factory height, and perhaps a set of storage wheels with aired down tires. Oh, and the garage door would have to stay closed, so the bottom car would have to be slid in from the side.
I really just want to get the E30 out of harms way. I could have it up on the lift out of the range of swinging tools, welding sparks, etc. Even if that means I can't store much under the raised car.
As to where the three motorcycles (and the motorcycle lift) can fit, I haven't quite figured that out yet.
I do have a shed in the back yard, but I would want to insulate it before putting motorcycles with good rubber in there for storage.
The spare engines are another question mark. They take up a big cube of space.
Too heavy to move into the basement, and ground is too soft to take them to the shed. Perhaps I could redesign my workbench and store them underneath?
I suppose the other option is to find offsite storage for the E30 in the wintertime. But I have trust issues now that I've spent nearly 10 years working on it, it's irreplaceable for me. Much more comfortable peaking in on it every morning when I grab my lunch from the garage fridge.
Anyways, that's a lot of rambling and thinking out loud.
I'm looking to hear from anyone who has a cramped working space.
I could potentially look at having the lift put in during the later part of 2024, so I would have a better workspace for next winter.
I REALLY want to tear into the E28s floors, but that kind of project is better suited to working on over a long winter then during the limited nice weather we have in the summertime.
Here are some pics of the garage with various projects. As you can see, I've added a lot of usable space by reorganizing and relocating equipment. (And I think there is more to be had)
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