2 weeks off work and too cold to play retro :(

[joxvox]

must be a few of us here are peed of due to extreme weather as I'm dying to get in garage and finish of bits an bobs any thoughts

[bstardchild]

Dec 23, 2010 10:05:43 GMT joxvox said:

must be a few of us here are peed of due to extreme weather as I'm dying to get in garage and finish of bits an bobs any thoughts

Get a heater in the garage - I use an oil filled radiator - takes a while to get the place warm but if I know I'm going to have a day in there I'll stick it on a timer so that it comes on a few hours before I go in the garage

Not to keen on the blast type heaters as they generate a lot of condensation but they do bring the temp up much faster

[Nathan]

Never too cold, 2 weeks ago in our Village we had 10" of snow and I was still outside fixing the Austin and Capri. Wrap up and keep moving dude. I finish for 2 weeks tomorrow and cant wait to get back into the garage, the Missus even jokes saying I would be in there Xmas day and boxing day if I could.

In my Garage I have a Clarke Space heater that runs of Parafin, OK its as noisey as hell but you can get a proper sweat on, best part it uses hardly any electricity and will run a full tanke of Parafin (about £8 around here) for a full day.

[bmw156]

yes very.
i planned a week holiday 3 weeks ago, so before that i done all the work i needed to in the shed making little parts and planned to fit/weld them onto the chevette on the drive
holiday comes and brings the snow, and its still far to cold to lay on the ground.

not happy!

[popuptoaster]

i was laying in the snow working under the vitara, a garage would be a luxury

[bstardchild]

The other thing that makes a huge difference is making sure you've maximised the insulation in your garage - it was -10 outside the other night and with not heating in the garage it was 1 deg C - OK cold but a little heating goes a lot further when you are not letting it go to waste...

Nice spring/summer job - bit late for this year

[dave21478]

I rebuilt a Fourtrak gearbox on the dining room table last week. Nice and warm.

[bstardchild]

Dec 23, 2010 10:45:54 GMT dave21478 said:

I rebuilt a Fourtrak gearbox on the dining room table last week. Nice and warm.

;D - reminds me of before I left home 30 years ago rebuilding a motorbike engine in my parents kitchen........

[prey]

What? No excuses, that heater of yours is hotter than the sun itself!

[Dez]

my workshop is currently -3, and ive been spending about 12-14 hours a day in there through the snow- been getting so much done!!
i left a mug of tea out on the bench the other night and by the morning it was frozen solid


just grow a pair and get out there!

[joxvox]

would be if it kicked up i reckon the air too cold as it don't work no more and the pure cold is giving me lack of motavation now....

[e21meister]

Dec 23, 2010 12:01:49 GMT Dez said:

my workshop is currently -3, and ive been spending about 12-14 hours a day in there through the snow- been getting so much done!!

just grow a pair and get out there!

+1; wrap up and keep moving, cars don't fix themselves...
NB my w/shop's 23 miles away from where I live, but thankfully its warmer than yours Dez.
Its usually about 2 deg above. Luxury! ;D

[30psi]

I would love to have a garage even if its a very cold one

[Diabolu]

My Galant is out on the driveway BUT... the newly acquired engine is in the garage which I just so happen to have bought a radiator for for xmas

[PandaSelecta]

Even if you have a garage you still end up fixing the cars outside (4 garages, and all filled with non moving cars )

[waveman1500]

If it's any consolation to you it's been annoyingly cold down under as well. Normally at this time of the year I would be expecting temperatures of about 30-40 degrees C every day, but it's been low-mid 20s for a couple of weeks now! I've been having to wear long trousers and even jumpers during the day, very strange for an Australian summer.

[pauldaf44]

Workshop, heating and garages, what are these luxuries? I must say lying in the snow has kind of put me off any not really absolutly neccesary jobs and certainlly not going to try welding as I may end up looking like a 70s 80s pop star

[Roobeh]

aahh the luxury of of road parking. fortunately the micras mirrors turn both ways (if you ask them nicely enough) which is fortunate with the the slow, steady taxi drivers around here.
anyway, happy days. It's nearly christmas afterall.

[sarkie83]

Dec 23, 2010 13:02:13 GMT PandaSelecta said:

Even if you have a garage you still end up fixing the cars outside (4 garages, and all filled with non moving cars )

so true!!

unless it's urgent, I try to stick to jobs I can do in the shed with the heater on. there are times when you don't have a choice though.

last 3 pleasant one's I've had to do:

• last week fixing the rear brake shoe which had fallen off, in the dark, and it was freezing, at 11:30 the night before I had to go to a funeral. plus the bulb in my inspection lamp went, then the batteries in my torch went, so I had to use my phone instead
  
  
• replacing the fuel pump in the dark, in a supermarket car park. I also had no phone/wallet on me, so had to walk 4 miles home to get the spare pump/tools first!!
  
  
• replacing the sump i cracked on a stupid speed bump, while lying in a puddle in the road, in the dark covered in oil.
  

strangely eveything seems to break when it's cold and dark and raining...

[10mpg]

Dec 23, 2010 12:01:49 GMT Dez said:

my workshop is currently -3, and ive been spending about 12-14 hours a day in there through the snow- been getting so much done!!
I left a mug of tea out on the bench the other night and by the morning it was frozen solid


just grow a pair and get out there!

What's wrong with your woodburner...?

My hooge diesel space heater was one of the best purchases I've ever made, 20 mins burning and the workshop has gone from 3 degrees to around 18.... and that's a workshop with 11 cars in it space to work and workbenches storage, ramp ect so not exactly a small lockup..
I get cheap/free red diesel from the farm my unit is on but even if i didn't to keep a workshop that size pleasant inside in this weather wouldn't cost you more than a tenner a day so you can have a very comfortable weekends work for £20 much less if you let it cool down a good bit, i like it to be colder rather than warmer so i use about half that... soon pays for itself in productivity, and dead handy even in other times of the year for painting...

I had to use mine with the door open today (too many cars meant i couldn't get the Range Rover in to do a few small jobs) and even then it was still noticeably warmer and much more pleasant in the area around the space heater...

I'd recommend in the summer months you guys with decent sized workshops buying one for cheaps, esp if you can blag red or paraffin..