What do you guys do?

[Chevyholic]

I've got a pretty straight 71' longbed, but have rust issues in the floor pan due to a leak in the cowl settling down below. For the people that have a standard two car garage, how do you manage space and parts when pulling apart a truck? Due to my workbench on one side and refrigerator/freezer on the other side, my two car is more like a one car garage. I can't believe I'm the only one in this situation, so you guys just leave parts in the back yard when pulling apart? I'm dying to fix and paint my truck, but just doesn't seem practical.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

[my67chevytruck]

depnds on the repair being done. if you just want to repair the floorpan, you dont have to tear down completely, just remove the door, cut out the bad spot( make sure no wiring etc in the path of your cut), and weld in the replacement panel. Now if you want to tear down to restore. take the front clip off, and store it in the back yard on a wood frame etc to keep it off the ground. with limited space you could restore in sections. for instance wit the front clip off, pull motor/tran. spray frame with oven cleaner from the dollar store let set for a few hours then powerwash, and coat frame with por-15, install engine/tran, then work you way back. It's hard to do but manageable. you learn to get creative quickly.

keep in mind it's much easier to plan and do sections at a time that can be done in a week, or a weekend, as many people that do a full restore end up getting burnt out or taking way longer than anticipated.

Good luck. start a build thread when you start to tackle you truck.

[vegaschevy]

The woman and I have two quads and a double jet ski trailer in the 2 car garage. I was hoping to fit the ski trailer in storage but it is going to have to be the quads. SO it will be very tight. But Ill manage

[Shyguy]

Very good advice, I myself was wondering the same thing.

I have two trucks I am working on at times and I tend to lose focus.

Keeping straight which parts go to which truck gets to be a problem at times since one is a '67 and one is a '71.

I have a car trailer with wood decking that I rarely use and I have finally realized I can use it as a work platform.

Danny

[bobjob]

YOU got a garage???man i'd kill to have one..i do all my work outside in hot Arizona heat,, big black ants biting me.. scorpions.. rat's ,, and the occasional Rattle snake under and in my cars...

[ChevLoRay]

Originally Posted by bobjob

YOU got a garage???man i'd kill to have one..i do all my work outside in hot Arizona heat,, big black ants biting me.. scorpions.. rat's ,, and the occasional Rattle snake under and in my cars...

Fits in with the adage that said, "I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."....

My 2-car garage is half mine. The wifes half has been overtaken by the stuff that belongs to my middle daughter and her husband and their stuff that hasn't made it to storage, yet.

My half? Tool box, bench, truck parts, and miscellaneous "stuff". Oh, and the back half has shelving and "stuff" that I considered to be keepsake/collectible but now know that will only be fought over to see who has to take it before it gets thrown away when I die. Sucks.

[mclairmo]

I put up a metal shed in the backyard on a raised wood foundation and stored old parts in it. New parts went inside the house. Big painted sheetmetal parts went outside up against the side yard wall. Only put one car in the garage to work on it at a time. Welder and other rarely power tools were stored upstairs in my room.

[Chevyholic]

Thanks for the feedback! I wasn't actually complaining. I feel fortunate to have what I have, but figured others are in the same situation and they work through it. I've never restored anything before, so am left a little puzzled as how to make it all work. I really like the idea of doing it in sections and will try to make that work.

The big brown truck should be here today with the rest of my lowering kit and sway bar, so I guess I'll start up front.

Thanks again!

[69GMCLonghorn]

In terms of the truck itself, invest in a really GOOD water resistant cover. I have 2 cars that I actually keep in the garage. We refuse to keep "stuff" inside and cars outside... except my truck, which doesn't fit anyways because it's a Longhorn.

So yeah, no easy answers. There was a house out here in a really bad neighborhood in Los Angeles. It was an average 2 bed 2 bath house... with a 21 CAR GARAGE!!! It turned out to be a drug house, but holy crap!

[my67chevytruck]

Np.... keep us in the loop on your progress.....

[redbaron69]

it wouldnt matter if you had a 5 car garage there is NEVER enough room. me and my dad work out of his 60x40 shop and betwwen his cars and my trucks we always looking to save a little space. one thing we have found to work pretty good is parts such as fenders, doors, hoods etc... that you can hang on the walls will save you a little floor space and you dont run the risk of having more dents from banging stuff in to them to fix. just be sure they secured good. just a suggestion hope it helps and good luck!

[mr48chev]

One car garage with two tool boxes, two welders, three engines and two (maybe more) short blocks plus a bunch of stuff I don't need to have in there. I work outside and use a large sheet of cardboard to slide under the truck or what I am working on.

I was working on rearranging the garage and hauling stuff to the dump today to make more room.

[dan42]

I have a two car garage with a small shop area to the side. I had room for a motor in the shop area, but it's tight. Like they said, you have to get creative and kind of plan on when you're gonna work on your truck so you don't have to leave parts outside - but the bed is a good parts holder as well.

[extd56]

Originally Posted by Chevyholic

I've got a pretty straight 71' longbed, but have rust issues in the floor pan due to a leak in the cowl settling down below. For the people that have a standard two car garage, how do you manage space and parts when pulling apart a truck? Due to my workbench on one side and refrigerator/freezer on the other side, my two car is more like a one car garage. I can't believe I'm the only one in this situation, so you guys just leave parts in the back yard when pulling apart? I'm dying to fix and paint my truck, but just doesn't seem practical.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

I have a 3 car garage ad a metal shed outside that is 12x24 which is my work area. I also use my daughters house to store a car. My wife has not parked a car in the garage in about 17 years.