Hi Driftworks community, I am a student studying Product Design at the University of Huddersfield. I am finding problems and frustrations for working on cars (particularly at home) - this may be a task/process or to do with an existing piece of equipment. (Tedious tasks?, Jobs that take longer than they should? Any painful jobs to carry out? Any tasks where you have to improvise tools? etc) By answering this post you are giving me permission and agreeing to me using your comments albeit anonymously. None of the information will be shared outside of my university report. Anything you post will be of much use, thank you.
Biggest thing that stops me working in the garage is sound. A lot of the time I can't get stuff done because i need to use a noisy electric tool while people are asleep. Drilling holes in steel is probably the biggest one. After that is lighting. I've started using headlamps to help but they tend to be too bulky or when used as a normal lamp won't stay put and end up rolling over and blinding me. Tiny, high output LED lights would be awesome, and with the ability to attach with velcro (carpet), magnetic (engine bay) and clip would be ideal. USB rechargeable would also be ideal. Would need to be no bigger than a golf ball. Then it would be getting the car in the air. Even just getting the car up to change a wheel is a multistep process. I've wondered whether you could take a slim air jack, fit a compressed air hose to it and feed it compressed air to lift the car up. Could slide it under the diff, or under the front subframe. Issue would be the range: you'd need to go from 30mm to 120-150mm. Ideally 200mm so you could throw a jack stand (or even better, wheel stand) under the car. On the other side, i've been frustrated with wiring in the past but not anymore. Auto wire strippers, solder heat shrink joiners and adhesive heatshrink have made electrical work a cinch. Rivnuts are also a godsend, and for someone without a mig at home it helps bolt things together
Having the tools - Recently I have been doing some work with a lift and some correct tools and it makes the job 10000000x easier. Working out of my crappy garage at home is horrible in comparison.
My annoyances are: going up and down, up and down, up and down; back and forthe, back and forthe, to get parts and tools. The ultimate time killer. But hey..as a skinny guy with some fat its a good workout! i see a bit more definition in my core for sure. But i still hate it! lol. Doing Murphy's all day. Ugh !
Not so much of an issue now, as I have nowhere to work on my car, but at my old place it was finding a flat enough section of the road (One way with parking on one side) to jack the car up onto stands safely. It sloped off toward the kerb badly. As others have said, noise is another big one. Having understanding neighbours really helps, but few people are that fortunate. Another one for me would be disposing of stuff properly, oils/ rags etc. Too easy to just chuck rags in general waste, and oil is risky. My local tip has a disposal area for it, but that means putting the bottles in my car and trusting they don't leak everywhere. Last one would be having lots of tools/ parts on show to the public, having to hide stuff or pack it away when you wanted to go grab some lunch etc. Far more hassle than just shutting a workshop door and too many little scrotes running around trying to pinch everything people work hard for.
Cold/wind/rain, being fat and lazy, decent access under the car Jobs that take too long because something has been stupidly designed Jobs that take too long because someone already fucked it up Parts that don't fit right Parts that do fit right but are shit Dodgy electrics Rust
Using Axle Stands on a cobbled drive, on a hill... I have had a car almost fall on me once because it was unbalanced once engine came out... Jacking cars on a cobbled drive, the wheels sometimes get stuck and the jack can start leaning whilst lifting the car. BMW Diff Bolts... I cant find a Torx Drive that fits between the CV Boot and the Diff Cup, and I keep bending torx spanners that are not designed to do that amount of torque. Every time I do a diff or driveshaft swap, I have to go buy a new spanner. Rain. Gazebos blow over in the rain and the wind, and "Portable Car Garages" are expensive and take at least an hour to build... Mentioned already, but hiding tools whilst making a cuppa gets boring. A small lockable box or something like that would be useful... On the tea front, a battery powered kettle so I can make tea outside .
Bills and Taxes. Friends that rather play Candy Crush than build a race car BUT THEY SURE WANT TO DRIVE IT! (not happening) Having a cheap welding machine that sticks like a magnet even on the highest setting. Waiting on parts.
Thank you all for the replies. Some interesting stuff that i havn't been able to find or think of. The security of your tools is an interesting one - especially if you're working on the road.
Packing up all the tools because you need to go to the parts shop... Then coming back and getting them all out again. Lack of electricity meaning no mains power tools. Stripping the car down to fix something and finding out you can't complete the job because you need a grinder... So re-assemble it and take it somewhere where you have power. Being alone, sometimes it would make the job 10 times faster if you had someone to hold/push/turn something.
When i need to drain my balls and no fine ass sexy model chick is here to get in the position i desire at the time and i'm just left with my dirty greasy hands. * Fuhk!* Say what you want. We can all relate.
getting the car in the air the need to keep quiet, due to neighbours lacking proper equipment/tools such as MIG, gas bottles and a decent air compressor and last but not least is the amount of space in the garage
Having a wife and 3 kids , start working then you’ve spent to long in ur garage or ur kids are asking every question under the sun and don’t understand ur answers so they start hitting the car with something like a hammer or ratchet lol.
