It may be I'll need to pull my engine in the near future. However, I live in an apartment complex and the manager would freak out if he saw me pulling an engine.
I need creative ideas on finding a place to pull an engine. I'm in SoCal if that helps with suggestions.
Is there such a thing as rent-a-bay? Rent a garage, etc?
Thanks,
Bill
Gawd, don't I wish! I wanted to get something like that going (much like the "rent-a-garage" concept in Stephen King's "Christine", only hopefully without the horror/satanic overtones :) ) here in northern CA, but when I started looking into things, I found out that the Powers That Be wouldn't even consider the concept unless I could produce proof of close to a milion-five worth of insurance (at a premium that was in the high 4 figures per month) before I could even think about applying for (never mind getting) a permit, let alone being approved to open the doors to the public. Needless to say, the idea got scrapped.
Trying to rent some "Bay Time" from somebody with an established shop likewise fell through - Of twelve local places I approached, two were willing to give me a go-ahead - one at $200/hour, the other at (brace yourself for pricing that's so far beyond ridiculous that all I could do was stutter when I was told) eight grand a week, minimum 4 weeks, paid in advance. The rest basically laughed in my face, citing liability/insurance crap as their reason.
Thank you ever so much, lawyers...
Whatever happened to "nobody put a gun to your head and said 'start wrenching or die'"? OF COURSE working on a car can be dangerous. Especially for a rookie. But fergawdsake, people, let's learn a little about a concept called "personal responsibility".
Do-it-yourself car wash... in the middle of the night.
what kind of liability insurance do those Pick or Pull your parts junk yards have. You can go there and pull an engine, what's the diff?
Bill
info.
I've wondered that as well.... I don't know why the disclaimer/wavier people sign to get in those wouldn't work with rental garage space.
If his neighbors aren't tattletales I say just do the work right there at the apartment. Just make sure the car looks normal at the end of the day and clean up any mess. Make it as if nothing was ever done and odds are there would be no complaints.
When I was in an apartment I did a variety of things, though never bigger than changing a timing chain. I just kept stuff clean and kept the car looking normal and nobody every complained to me.
Yeah, I've done a full fuel injection conversion from carb on my jeep. Had the intake manifold, exhaust manifold, front grill and radiator off, etc and got away with it. I have a two car slot at the end where it's a little hidden. Not much. I parked my other car behind it and went to town. This time I'd have to have a engine hoist there so the car would sit a little further back and be even less hidden. Thing is if I get caught I might get kicked out of this rather inexpensive apartment complex. I'm paying 700.00 per month for a two bedroom where everyone else locally is spending over
1200.00. I'd hate to loose that. Gotta be careful.
Probably has something to do with the fact that the type of waiver you're talking about isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Should something actually go wrong, and someone decide to grab a mouthpiece and file a lawsuit, the question isn't "Will we be found liable?", it's "Exactly how bad is the financial damage going to be?"
Hard lesson, learned from the days when I worked livery stables where tourists could rent a horse for an hour or whatever duration ride - All the legalese, info regarding what hazards there are, and everything else that goes into drawing up a "good" waiver means *ABSOLUTELY NOTHING* in a court of law. In theory, you're agreeing to hold harmless. In practice, they exist primarily to FUD the customer into not bothering to sue - "Oh. You got hurt? Man, that really sucks. But remember that waiver you signed? See paragraph twelve, section 2, subparagraph C? Does that not say "We'll do everything we can to make it safe, we warned you it could be dangerous, even deadly, we took what precautions are possible, but in the end, you got on, so you're on your own if anything goes bad"? And is this not your signature? It is? Well, then, very good. Take your claim and stuff it where the sun don't shine. We ain't liable."
Most of the sheeple won't pursue it any further. The one or two that will are way more than plenty to trash your business, because once it hits the courtroom, that waiver means nothing. In some cases, the very existence of the waiver, is considered proof that the operator knows the activity is a hazard, and compounds the damage award.
I watched three outfits I worked for at one time or another lock their doors forever over the years as a result of such lawsuits - In all cases, they hired all the legal-beagles they were supposed to, and left the drawing up of the waiver to the "experts". In all three cases, the waiver, which was *SUPPOSED TO* cover any possible risk other than "gross negligence", was pitched out the window the instant the judge saw it.
Then the question remains, how to self serve salvage yards remain in business?
er...
William Oliveri wrote in rec.autos.tech
There used to be string of places in the Seattle area where you could take your car to work on it. Pretty cheap too. Only thing they wouldn't let you do was brakes. Insurance said no. Unfortunately the insurance on those things are kind of high. And land is expensive, so they could not make a lot of money. A couple of suggestions, sometimes people have a garage that they are willing to rent out for a month or so. Another idea is a storage locker where you can drive right up to the door. Some of them are big enough to rebuild a semi in. You could close the door and work to your hearts content. Of course, you probably arent' supposed to work on your car there, but with the door closed, and if you don't make a mess chances are you could get away with it.
|what kind of liability insurance do those Pick or Pull your parts junk yards |have. You can go there and pull an engine, what's the diff?
So you sue them and win. Whattaya got? A couple acres of bottom land covered with junk cars and EPA liabilities. All the proceeds go to cash in the mattress.
Rex in Fort Worth
|> >> I need creative ideas on finding a place to pull an engine. I'm in |SoCal if |> >> that helps with suggestions. |> >>
|> >> Is there such a thing as rent-a-bay? Rent a garage, etc?
Why don't you look into a self-storage unit? Might cost you $100 for a month. Most have some sort of electrical, even if it's just a light bulb. I'd be up-front with the management, might even offer them a premium or a double-deposit to ease their fears of a grease slick upon your departure. If you can do it without power tools you won't need a compressor, Rex in Fort Worth
The difference is that at a pick-n-pull you don't get under a car that could fall 6 feet down from a lift.
Here's a questi>what kind of liability insurance do those Pick or Pull your parts junk yards
I don't know the answer to that one. I've never pulled one there either but it looks a whole lot more dangerous than a shop bay would.
They just fall 20" off the homemade jackstands, usually two old steel rims welded together.
It depends on the place. I recall the last time I went to my favorite one they had a hoist and some other big tools for rent in the yard.
I belong to the San Diego chapter of SAAC. One of the members has been setting up a garage where you can rent space. The last email I saw, said he was getting ready to open for business. He is located in San Marcos Ca. I don't remember any more details because I was not interested in his services, The price seemed high and I have a separate workshop in my back yard.
Erich
Sounds like you're SOL in cali. Too bad youre not in canada, theres a few places like that here, I did some front end work on a few cars in one. The guys were even super helpful, had three of them out with a steel come along trying to get my torsion bar back in with me! It was also cheap, $10/hr (about $7USD), with full access to their nice selection of tools.
We arent sue-happy like you crazy yankee bastards, and when we sue we dont get 3 million for "pain and suffering", only for actual money that we're out by their negligence. So all the pick-a-part yards here are horribly unsafe, cars teetering on stacks of tires and stumps, engines hanging off bolts with no nuts, etc. This is the way it should be, if you get hurt in their yard its your fault, if you dont have the skills to keep from getting maimed then you dont go to pick-a-part.
Try posting in some local cali forums asking for someone with a garage they will rent out. Theres lots of good people out there that would be happy to give you space to work for $20. Or maybe its not like that down there, I dunno...
The last time I was in one to pull an engine, they had this montster frame-on-wheels thing - you coulda driven a semi under it and had clearance. Heck, for that matter, you coulda threw canvas over it and called it a garage for a semi! Anyway, it rolled into place over/around the car you were working on, and had a 10-ton chainfall on a monorail at the top. Spin the chain down, snatch the engine, roll the whole mess to the front gate, back your pick-em-up under it, drop it, pay, and leave. Presto :)
Yeah, I think I've seen those at pick n pull. Unfortunately, there are no good places to do welding/autowork/etc if you live in an apartment. However, there was an out of the way airport I use to go by that had hangers available for airplanes and whatever other toys you needed to put in there. No electricity, but it wasn't that expensive and you there was enough room to stick a car + tools in there. Plus, it was behind a gate with a key code. And next to piston airplanes, your gasoline air compressor or generator won't attract too much attention.
The self storage place I use would probably frown on auto repair going on in one of their garages. But it wouldn't hurt to ask.
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