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Thread: Small Garage Scenario - Possible?

  1. #1
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    Small Garage Scenario - Possible?

    Hi Everyone,

    I'm a new enthusiast and very excited to build a roaster. I'm wondering if some of the current builders out there can help me understand if I can successfully build one in my fairly small, city based, garage. It's a basic space (rectangular floorplan, garage door+opener, currently empty) but it has a few challenges that I can foresee. I realize that a small garage is not an ideal situation, but I have a can-do attitude about it all. Thus, i'm looking for show-stoppers, not necessarily telling me what I already know-- that it is going to be harder or undesirable. This I already know. but impossible?

    1) Small floor plan.
    The floor space of the garage is fairly small (177"x120") while the vehicle is 158x70" per the brochure. I'm thinking I can work around this in a few ways.
    a) Store later boxes of parts in a friend's garage and pick them up as I need them.
    b) Situate the frame not on jack stands, but a rolling 2x4 stand I would build so that I could shift the frame from side to side if I need more space to work. Since the vehicle is 158x70" when fully constructed, this would mean i could make up to 50" of space on the sides to work. The front and back work space would be less limited because I could open the garage door and roll the frame forward.

    Again, I know this small. But might it be possible? Are there particular steps that noticeably required much more space and would be unthinkable in the described space?

    2) Ceiling height

    Unlike parts, the body will have to be stored in the garage and there is no yard. However, the home is part of a small community with a shared private driveway, so i'm thinking maybe I could make a body buck that stacks on top of the frame for storage but wheels outside when working. Unfortunately, the ceiling height is also pretty low, about 96". However, because the garage door consumes some of the ceiling space when open, its more like 80" at times. I'm thinking maybe I could construct my body buck to straddle the frame of the car, but just BARELY clear the frame. I may even need to construct this buck so that the platform is sort of suspended by a pulley system that allows me to angle the body and bring it up and down slightly. (I can draw out what im thinking) Anyway, this gets me wondering about the absolute smallest dimensions required to stack the body on top of the frame.

    I see that the height of the car from the brochure is 48". ..But could someone share with me with height of the frame (when on jack stands or wheels) at the tallest point? and the height of the body? If the two can physically fit in the allotted 80 inches I think I can build something to make it work.

    In addition, the low ceiling would also seem to be a problem when installing the engine as the engine crane would likely go pretty high. Do people think it would be possible to do this with the 96" of clearance that I have? (I can remove the garage door that day so as to get around the extra space consumed when open). Another thought: It seems like most people insert the engine over the course of 1 day? Given the possible height restriction, would it be possible to actually do this step outside?

    Any thoughts from you experts out there would be well appreciated. I'm hoping with a bit of ingenuity I can make this work!

    ..or is it wishful thinking?

    Mike

  2. #2
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    A 1.5 car garage is enough space for the build, but storing the boxes as well would be very tight.
    The frame is much smaller than the finished size, making it much easier to work on in progress.
    Some people have built rolling chassis and body stands that allow the body to be stored above the chassis and rolled out of the way to work.
    Installing the engine outside in an afternoon should be possible, depending how understanding your neighbors are.
    Do you get snow? Take into account how much of the year you would actually be able to work outside without freezing, baking, or getting rained on

  3. #3
    Senior Member Jdav's Avatar
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    Your floor space is a bit smaller than mine, but still doable. As you mentioned, storing some parts elsewhere will make it much easier. I also ordered other parts (engine, trans, etc) only just before I needed them. I had mine on a chassis dolly and then on wheel dollies, but found that there were actually few occasions where a needed to slide it over to gain more space.

    I did have my body in the backyard so I can’t comment on the height
    MK4 #9028 - Coyote - TKO600
    Delivery: 1/30/17 First Start: 7/23/17 Legal: 10/5/17 Graduated: 10/15/18
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  4. #4
    Senior Member John T's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jdav View Post
    Your floor space is a bit smaller than mine, but still doable. As you mentioned, storing some parts elsewhere will make it much easier. I also ordered other parts (engine, trans, etc) only just before I needed them. I had mine on a chassis dolly and then on wheel dollies, but found that there were actually few occasions where a needed to slide it over to gain more space.
    The engine and transmission will take up space so it is wise to plan to have just before installation. I have a large garage but still keeping two cars as well as body and parts is doable. I just don't have room to store the engine transmission until I'm ready for it.

  5. #5
    Senior Member jrcuz's Avatar
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    Hi Mike, I've built mine so far (since 3/17) in my single car garage with no problems. I did build a chassis dolly for the frame which passed on to another builder. The plans for the chassis dolly I got from this forum from a builder whose forum name is chrisarella. Maybe you can search for his thread where he posted the plan. I also have an elevated body buck which I roll out of the garage every time I work on my roadster. Just make sure if you build the elevated body buck to make it wide enough for when you have the wheels/tires and side pipes installed. I see no reason why you couldn't put the eng/trans in outside of your garage. Actual install time for my 347 and TKO 600 went very quickly, less than 30 mins. Good luck!
    JR
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    Mk4 complete kit #9059 ordered 1/19/17 delivered 3/23/17, 2015 IRS, Fortes/DART347,TKO 600, hyd clutch, P/S, 12.88 wilwood brakes front and rear, heater/defrost and vintage gauges
    First start and go-cart 4/11/18. Taken To Whitby Motorcars Greensboro, N.C. 2/5/21 for body/paint

  6. #6

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    Read this: https://www.ffcars.com/FAQ/bodybuck02.html

    And here are some photos of ours:
    Attached Images Attached Images
    I'm not getting gray, I'm adding chrome....

    “Under-steer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and over-steer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you.”
    -- Jacques Schnauzee "World Famous Racecar Driver"

    "If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower."--Mark Donohue

  7. #7
    Senior Member phileas_fogg's Avatar
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    Lots of guys have built their cars in tiny spaces; ScottieC and JRCuz have one-car garages and have nearly completed theirs. One guy even built his car in the shipping crate!

    Also, if you have a deck, you can suspend your body underneath it.


    John
    MK IV Roadster #8631
    Ford 302, Holley Terminator EFI, T5z, 3.55 Rear End, IRS, 17” Halibrand Replicas (9” front, 10.5” rear), Nitto 555 G2’s (275/40ZR17 front, 315/35ZR17 rear), Fast Freddie’s Power Steering, F5 Wilwood Brakes, FFMetal’s Firewall Forward, Forte’s Hydraulic Clutch & Throttle Linkage
    https://www.ffcars.com/threads/phile.../#post-4776313

  8. #8
    Senior Member Hotyacht's Avatar
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    I have been building mine in a single garage space - like many I set the body buck up on stilts so that I could roll it in and out of the garage when I wanted to work on the chassis which has been either on jack stands or it's wheels. Make sure that you build your buck wide enough that the legs can roll past the wheels on the chassis. I have been severely restricted on height - only 80ins! and I still managed to fit the engine and trans with a crane by myself.....it was VERY tight though. Immediately outside the garage is a sloped drive down to the door and so I had to make two of the legs on the body buck telescoping so it could 'kneel' as it passed through the doorway. I have a base to the underside of the buck so the alloy panels were stored on that and I have stored the boxes in a separate space though which was very useful.

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  9. #9
    On a roll Al_C's Avatar
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    Go for it! Get creative where you store stuff. I have doors in one closet and a hood and trunk lid in another. Your ceiling height is plenty high enough as a "roll over" body buck would normally need to clear an overhead door anyway. The boxes can be stored on a body buck shelf, or elsewhere in your home. (mine were in the basement). The faster you work, the quicker the boxes go away...
    Mk IV Roadster - #8650 - delivered 7-17-2015 - first start 7-28-2018 - first go-kart 10-13-2018 - licensed and on the road 9-9-19: body/paint completed 3-17-2020.
    Complete kit / 2015 Coyote / TKO600 / IRS / Wilwood brakes / Mid-Shift mod / Power Steering / Heater and Seat Heaters / RT turn signal / Breeze radiator shroud and mount

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    Quote Originally Posted by phileas_fogg View Post
    Lots of guys have built their cars in tiny spaces; ScottieC and JRCuz have one-car garages and have nearly completed theirs. One guy even built his car in the shipping crate!

    Also, if you have a deck, you can suspend your body underneath it.


    John

    That’s right! Mike, you have plenty of room and your plan is solid. In fact I think my garage is smaller. Suggestion... in order to build the body buck so it a a little shorter (my garage is silly short), don’t go building a fancy wood dolly for the chassis. Go to harbor freight, and buy two moving Dolly’s. They fit great between the frame rails, keep the chassis nice and low, and you can adjust them as you need to work on certain things.

  11. #11
    Senior Member Barrel's Avatar
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    The 50" of space on the sides (which you have to work in) is likely to cause you frustration over the years it will take if you are larger than a jockey.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by phileas_fogg View Post
    Lots of guys have built their cars in tiny spaces; ScottieC and JRCuz have one-car garages and have nearly completed theirs. One guy even built his car in the shipping crate!

    Also, if you have a deck, you can suspend your body underneath it.


    John

    Ah! the "One guy even built his car in the shipping crate" story.....By now it sounds like an urban myth......but it really happened !!!! Kinda falls into the "How bad do you want it" category...da Bat

  13. #13
    Senior Member Mike N's Avatar
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    Here is my build stuffed into a single bay. You just need to get a little creative with the space.

    DSC_0147.JPG
    Mike............

    FFR2100 - 331 with KB supercharger - T5 - 5 link rear 3.08's and T2 Torsen.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by j.miller View Post
    Ah! the "One guy even built his car in the shipping crate" story.....By now it sounds like an urban myth......but it really happened !!!! Kinda falls into the "How bad do you want it" category...da Bat
    Yep, met him when he came up from the Seal Beach area to Madera for a wiring harness I wasn’t going to use. Traded a set of his door panels for it. Wish I could remember his name��
    I'm not getting gray, I'm adding chrome....

    “Under-steer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and over-steer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you.”
    -- Jacques Schnauzee "World Famous Racecar Driver"

    "If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower."--Mark Donohue

  15. #15
    Senior Member Presto51's Avatar
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    You can also expand your working space by utilizing an Easy Up canopy just outside of the garage door.

    Ron
    "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the Devil knows you're dead"

  16. #16
    Senior Member Avalanche325's Avatar
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    You will be good. You are not doing anything that hasn't already been done by forum members. You only need to poke the nose out to install the engine/transmission. It is good to have the rear of the car higher than the nose. My wife and I had mine in in <30 min.

  17. #17
    Not a waxer Jeff Kleiner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ray View Post
    Yep, met him when he came up from the Seal Beach area to Madera for a wiring harness I wasn’t going to use. Traded a set of his door panels for it. Wish I could remember his name��
    You're thinking of Ariel Ayubo who built his Mk1 outside his apartment in the wooden shipping container (this was in the days before Stewart Transport). As he tells it as soon as the paint was dry he jumped in and drove it from Southern California to New York City...and then back! "The man in the box car" as it came to be know was sold to James Creasey who continues to autocross it very seriously. It's just one of those great early FFR stories like the one day build, the John Phillips/Ralph Button/John Hannaford "Stooges Across America Tour", Dino's infamous group build weekend and John's Phoenix build after his #1152 self immolated... It was a different community back then; as great as it is now I kind of miss that sometimes.

    Jeff

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Kleiner View Post
    You're thinking of Ariel Ayubo who built his Mk1 outside his apartment in the wooden shipping container (this was in the days before Stewart Transport). As he tells it as soon as the paint was dry he jumped in and drove it from Southern California to New York City...and then back! "The man in the box car" as it came to be know was sold to James Creasey who continues to autocross it very seriously. It's just one of those great early FFR stories like the one day build, the John Phillips/Ralph Button/John Hannaford "Stooges Across America Tour", Dino's infamous group build weekend and John's Phoenix build after his #1152 self immolated... It was a different community back then; as great as it is now I kind of miss that sometimes.

    Jeff



    Ah ! Back in the day...….BUT I COULD SWEAR WE JUST STARTED DOWN THIS ROAD....hair....WAIT ! I had hair when I got started......and I could see......and I could work 14 hours a day....and....and....and I'M GIVEN HER ALL SHE'S GOT CAPTIAN ! SHE CANNA TAKE MUCH MORE
    (heavy sigh) well, I USE TA COULD !!!!!...da Bat

  19. #19
    Senior Member TDSapp's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al_C View Post
    The boxes can be stored on a body buck shelf, or elsewhere in your home.
    A shelf on the body buck was going to be what I suggested. Even though you are storing most of the boxes at a friends place you are still going to have boxes and parts around while working on the car.


    I have 8' doors on my garage and with the door open I was able to put my engine and transmission in without having to move it out side. I have done it by myself two or three times now and it takes less than an hour. Outside with a friend then 30 minutes or less.
    Tim Sapp
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  20. #20
    Member aks801's Avatar
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    Back when we'd read stories of people whose hoods flew off because they forgot to secure them with the pins (i.e.before the advent of hood hinges).
    Alan

    "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
    - Pete Townshend

  21. #21
    Senior Member Yama-Bro's Avatar
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    I'm building in a 2 1/2 car garage, but I have to keep one stall free of car parts so my wife can park her car. Like others, I built a rolling body buck with a shelf to get around my lack of storage space. It rolls over the top of the frame and holds a lot of boxes. I beefed mine up due to the extra weight it is holding. I have detailed drawings for it in my build thread (Post #101) if you are interested, feel free to check it out and use them all you'd like.
    Last edited by Yama-Bro; 07-19-2018 at 12:30 PM.
    Started dreaming of a Cobra around 1987
    Purchased Complete Kit 6/9/2017, Delivered 9/4/2017, Rolling Chassis 3/30/2018, Engine Dyno'ed 3/4/2022, Engine installed 8/27/2022
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  22. #22
    Senior Member 42Bfast's Avatar
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    My build space is only slightly larger than yours. I do have some additional storage available but even with that I have been sleeping on my windshield for a few months. (It’s under my bed)

    Be creative, space is not a show stopper. Sometimes the extra space just tends to collect more tools, boxes, and non-car stuff anyway. If you can dedicate the space to only the project at hand, you have enough space. I agree with the earlier post, how bad do you want it?

  23. #23
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    Thanks for all the advice everyone! This community is excellent. Bought my kit a few days ago...!

    Mike

  24. #24
    Senior Member Big Blocker's Avatar
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    Wait . . . aks801 . . . that was me . . . MKII, no hinges, short test drive after a test-n-tune adjustment . . . lost the hood at 25 mph in traffic . . . luckily, no one got hit with it as it landed.

    Ahhh , those were the days (hinged now).

    Doc
    FFR3712K (MKII) in Lost Wages Nevada.
    5.0 w/tubular GT-40 EFI, E303 cam, Custom 4 into 4 headers, T5, 3-Link 3.73 rear. Full F5 tubular suspension. Drop Butt mod, Dash forward mod, custom foot box air vents, custom turn signal system. 13" PBR brakes, Fiero E-Brake mod, Flaming River 18:1 rack w/ F5 bump steer kit on Breeze bushings. 17" Chrome Cobra "R's" w/ 275 fronts and 315 rears. MKIV seats. FORD Royal Blue w/ Arctic White stripes.

  25. #25
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    Mike,
    Your ceiling height of the garage is the same as mine, along with the garage door impedance. My body buck just cleared the frame dash hoop (measured with frame on jack stands), and then I built a shelf above the body buck (with body on the buck). It was a GREAT use of space that helped a lot. I stored 4 large boxes, the windshield, wheels, radiator, trunk lid, hood and doors up there on that shelf during the build.

    Hope this helps, and CONGRATS on the order placement!!

    Dave

    Garage Shelf by D. R., on Flickr

    IMG_1542 by D. R., on Flickr

    IMG_1546 by D. R., on Flickr

    IMG_1539 by D. R., on Flickr
    Last edited by DadofThree; 08-16-2018 at 10:03 AM.
    Dave
    Mk 3.1 - #6882 - 5.0L 302 - FiTech EFI - 3-Link - 3.08 Ratio - 15" Wheels
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