Space Saving Hints?

[JamesWilson]

With my recent acquisition of a second LBC and the need to do a little work on it I now find space is at a premium.

Any hints or tips for making the most of what little room I've got?

One car garage (roughly 8 x 17 ft area) presently housing a major Big Healey restoration:

I built my own workbench, with lots of shallow drawers for tools:

This now has a shelf under the drawer on the right. And more welding kit is where the small compressor was- and that's been replaced by a bigger one alongside the bench.

I've put enough shelving up to give about 130 sq. ft. of storage space. And a lot of things get hung on the walls.

Things I don't particularly need are also stored in the attic, under the house and in the garden shed.


Anyone have any space saving ideas?

 

[Steve_S]

Making the most of a small garage: https://www.mgnuts.com/mg/garagetips/

 

[tony barnhill]

4-post lift.....check these guys out for price:
[url="https://www.metro-lifts.com/f...ww.metro-lifts.com/four-post-garage-lift.html[/url]. Its the one I've got & I can't think of anything bad to say about the lift, prices, or service.

 

[Steve_S]

I don't think a lift is going to fit in there unless it's subterranean

 

[DrEntropy]

I just keep pilin' junk on top of the Elan. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

 

[DART]

TONY- check the link please, I couldn't get there.

 

[tony barnhill]

Check it now...

 

[GregW]

Hi James,
I don’t have much more space than you, about 10’x17’, so I know your pain. As Steve mentioned on his website, get stuff on wheels. Start with the Healey frame. Put the axle on a 4 wheel dolly and roll it under the frame. I welded up some new shelving while my car is in the body shop. I made the left side shelves start above the height of the car so I could open the door after parking. See 1st attached photo. Seems you could do something along those lines on the same side. Then you could roll the car underneath it to give extra space to work. The second photo shows well, a mess, but I wanted to show you the wrench/ socket set cabinet. It is double hinged so the door with the wrenches opens to access the sockets, then the socket shelf opens to access the shelving behind. Just a couple of ideas to throw around.

 

[Steve_S]

I like the socket rack, Greg. Very nice!

 

[GregW]

Hi Steve,
Thanks, Sears was having a great sale, 248 piece socket set for something like $120. Sans organizer of course. So they had to go somewhere. Turns out they were liquidating old stock, about a month after I bought them they came out with the large label sockets. Oh well, still a good deal.

 

[Steve_S]

The big letters are nice, but I have to wonder how durable they will be over a 20 year time span.

I have all my sockets in a drawer. I got a bunch of socket rails and used rivets to attach them into a giant grid. Then I placed socket clips all over it to hold them in place. It works great, but the labels are hard to see. I've been thinking about better ways to do it. A variation on your method might be a good way to go.

 

[tony barnhill]

WHEW!

 

[GregW]

<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Hi Steve,
I wonder if worn off letters would be covered in Sears lifetime guarantee.</span>

 

[DART]

Tony- did you get the narrow or regular width? Is the space between ramps narrow enough for the cars or did you modify it...and if so, how?? and what is the ballpark $$ for the lift? They are nice and compact, and running on 110v is a big plus for me.
BTW, that is one sweet setup you have, not sure I have that many sq. ft. in my entire lot.

 

[tony barnhill]

Dale - I bought the GM7000N...the 'N' means the footprint is narrower than the standard model....when we installed it, we moved one ramp inward about 9" to ensure Midgets wouldfit comfortably (MGB's still fit well)...total price was around $2000....but, be prepared with a heavy trailer, 2 men & a boy when you get ready to install! Sucker is heavy...real stable also (I walk around on mine in hte 'up' position with a car up there also.

 

[Patton]

Wow, and I am distressed about how cramped my 20x20 garage is. The Houston garage was 24X35 and I was very spoiled.

 

[JamesWilson]

Hi Greg:

Your socket rack is a good idea.

I've looked at the mgnuts.com page and I'm already doing virtually all of that. I've got shelving on three of the four walls, down as far as practical (so I don't knock out what little brains I've got), and the lower wall is used for hanging body panels and tools.

The chassis is on sawhorses because I'm still climbing all over it welding and setting it on wheels would be a little dodgy- its still light enough for me to lift and have a help shift the sawhorses if I need to work on the other side- I just need to plan around the moves.

I've sized the shelving to maximize space available. and have a mix of deep and narrow shelves, and some with more clearance for taller items, and some of the shelves have heavy bracing so I can store a Healey head on it.

About the only "trick" thing I've done that hasn't been mentioned has been to have the builder install a roll-up door so it takes a little room above the door but doesn't intrude into the garage- this allows better lighting, access to shelving along the sides.

I've got nearly a hundred little parts bins for hardware and small items on a wall alongside the workbench, beneath the shelves and above floorspace used for my de-humidifier. On the other side I've hung all my air tools- but that's not been such a good idea and I think I'll try to get some kind of roller blind cover for them to protect them from the debris that comes off the stuff I'm mis-treating in my vise.

I'd also thought about using a suspension system with ropes and pulleys so that I could use the space above the floor too. But I didn't do that- it interfere with the lighting too much and I could see myself doing damage to the parts stored and anything beneath them too.

 

[DART]

Thanks Tony, just what I needed to know. Now, if I can find 2 men & a boy somewhere.....at least I have the trailer.

 

[apbos]

James
My garage is about the same size 10X20. I've now got my body on saw horses and the frame on a rotisseri made of two engine stands. In good weather I can move the frame out to work on the body or rotate it and work on it in the garage. Not too expensive to build here in the U.S. (about $65). Did a google search and found the plans for it on the net.

Paul

 

[David_DuBois]

I would like to make a suggestion to all who have show pictures of their garage/workshops and the items stored on the walls and such. To you on the East Coast, Central US and James over in Scotland, this is going to sound silly, but hear me out. Make sure that everything stored on the wall and over head in the garage is secured against being dislodged by an earthquake. Yes I know that the East Coast and the British Isles are not considered earthquake areas, but there is no place in the world that is totally immune to earthquakes Some of the worst earthquakes in this country have happened on the East Coast and the central portion of the country and all it takes is one moderate quake to knock unsecured items off the wall of from overhead storage on to those nicely restored cars that we all have poured blood, sweat, tears and money into, completely ruining your day. Steve S and I and most everyone living on the West Coast have witnessed first hand what even a moderate quake can do, not to mention "the big one".
Cheers,