Where can you work on your car?

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bk7794
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Where can you work on your car?

Post by bk7794 »

If you live in an apartment, where can you go to do things like Oil changes, brake pad changes, engine swaps and other automotive related things?

I also recently became interested in Overlanding. If you're on a long road trip, where can you change your own oil or do any other maintenance while on the road?
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by potownrob »

bk7794 wrote:If you live in an apartment, where can you go to do things like Oil changes, brake pad changes, engine swaps and other automotive related things?

I also recently became interested in Overlanding. If you're on a long road trip, where can you change your own oil or do any other maintenance while on the road?
without a friend or family member with a garage or a driveway you can work on, some condo and apartment complexes are strict about that stuff. i think some people in my sister's old condo complex were able to use a secluded section of the road that runs through the complex to work on their cars. you could also rent a garage or find some abandoned area to work in (always risk of the 5-0 stopping by though). as for on the highway, not sure, but again may be able to find an abandoned parking lot or area to work in, or rent a garage. otherwise, you could have a shop work on the car of course. i like pizza.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

potownrob wrote:
bk7794 wrote:If you live in an apartment, where can you go to do things like Oil changes, brake pad changes, engine swaps and other automotive related things?

I also recently became interested in Overlanding. If you're on a long road trip, where can you change your own oil or do any other maintenance while on the road?
without a friend or family member with a garage or a driveway you can work on, some condo and apartment complexes are strict about that stuff. i think some people in my sister's old condo complex were able to use a secluded section of the road that runs through the complex to work on their cars. you could also rent a garage or find some abandoned area to work in (always risk of the 5-0 stopping by though). as for on the highway, not sure, but again may be able to find an abandoned parking lot or area to work in, or rent a garage. otherwise, you could have a shop work on the car of course. i like pizza.
Yeah, like Rob sed.
Be discrete - park between two vans!
Yanno, it's short trips and stop-n-go driving that are the worst conditions for your engine oil. Contamination with water or fuel from condensation or blow-by tends to evaporate and ventilate out through the PCV system when the oil is allowed to heat up sum. Consider upping the oil change interval mileage if you are driving on long, interstate highway trips.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by theholycow »

bk7794 wrote:If you live in an apartment, where can you go to do things like Oil changes, brake pad changes, engine swaps and other automotive related things?
You might select an apartment with that issue in mind as a part of your decision. I've helped a friend with oil changes, brakes, body work, and a head gasket job in his apartment parking lot...nowhere special, just wherever the car was already.
I also recently became interested in Overlanding. If you're on a long road trip, where can you change your own oil or do any other maintenance while on the road?
Why not make some strategic upgrades/modifications? Add a remote oil filter and an electric sump, and go for ultra-extended OCI with some of those extremely premium oils that have no reasonable application for normal driving. Equip yourself for DIY oil analyzation (a $50 device exists, and I'm sure litmus strips and such are easy/cheap/good too). Run the electric sump while parked at a truck stop or even a Walmart to pump out the oil, close the hood if it takes more than 30 seconds, and dump in the new oil; replace remote filter in seconds without getting under the car. Maybe pipe it into the interior so you can do the oil change without opening the hood or even the door. Maybe even invent some kind of dialysis system for it for continuous cleaning/refreshing/oil replacement. Better still, get a diesel, prepare it to run on waste oil, and continuously pump a little of it into the fuel supply while replacing it with fresh oil.

What other kinds of maintenance worry you?
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bk7794
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by bk7794 »

I never claimed maintenance worried me. I just wondered what solutions are out there for that issue.

I probably would do an extended OCI if I was doing a >10k mile road trip. Get me one of those super synthetic oil filters etc.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by AHTOXA »

bk7794 wrote:If you live in an apartment, where can you go to do things like Oil changes, brake pad changes, engine swaps and other automotive related things?

I also recently became interested in Overlanding. If you're on a long road trip, where can you change your own oil or do any other maintenance while on the road?
At my old apartment I never had any issues with doing work on the car or bike. The maintenance guys were supportive and also did minor work on their own cars. New apartment will remain to be seen, although just about all apartment complexes state that you cannot do so. I think it's mostly to prevent extreme cases where people are abusing this. I'm almost sure that an occasional oil change will not be frowned upon, especially over the weekend when the management and staff are mostly gone.

In regards to overlanding. When on a long rad trip, I'd probably not bother with my own oil changes. It's just too cumbersome for what I'm trying to accomplish. With most engines being just fine with 5k+ mile oil changes, I really don't think that is something I'd do were I to be on a long trip. I'd just change before and go. And if I needed to, I'd pay a shop to do it during. But to answer your question, if I had to do it myself, I'd do it in a Walmart parking lot.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by ClutchFork »

If your apartment has sliding glass doors to the patio, then at night, sneak the car in. All you have to do is pull out the glass sliding parts and block some wood on each side of the track so you don't smash it. Pull the table to one side, roll a rubber sheet out on the floor and bring it in.

I jest, but it is physically possible if you can get the car around to the patio and there are no steps. :lol:
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by bk7794 »

Good Responses guys. Appreciate the insight. That's one thing I hate about renting, you almost lose the ability to be self-reliant.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by potownrob »

bk7794 wrote:Good Responses guys. Appreciate the insight. That's one thing I hate about renting, you almost lose the ability to be self-reliant.
you move out bro?? how's that volvo treating you?? ss meat '17??
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by bk7794 »

lol, nah. Just thinking for the future.

It's alright. Definitely expensive lol. How's the Golf?
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by potownrob »

bk7794 wrote:lol, nah. Just thinking for the future.

It's alright. Definitely expensive lol. How's the Golf?
can't deny it's a nicer ride than the civics, no?? golf is still rolling. oil change coming up. been putting off putting on winter wheels and tires, probably due mainly to coldness. have the feeling dealer will be involved again with winter wheel and possibly tire installation. hopefully won't run off the road or into another car in the meantime. 8)
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by theholycow »

I saw a place today with equipped bays to rent by the hour.
http://gearheadsystemsinternational.com/

It's not cheap though. $15 for a half hour or $20/hour.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

A week ago Saturday I helped my friend keep his 14 year old Kia exhaust alive. We rehung the catalyst and wrapped over the rotting bellows section with some aluminum sheet held in place by hose clamps. He's getting his money's worth from the car. We did it all in the parking lot of his apartment building, between two vehicles and shielded by a pine tree in front. I'm guessing that finishing before 11:30 am on a Saturday also kept our work off most people's radar.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by ClutchFork »

theholycow wrote:I saw a place today with equipped bays to rent by the hour.
http://gearheadsystemsinternational.com/

It's not cheap though. $15 for a half hour or $20/hour.
Good for routine stuff where all should go well, such as an oil change, but what about those complicated jobs where you may run into snags and have to make multiple parts runs, or worse, order a part that won't come in until the next day? At that point, a regular auto repair shop is probably cheaper.
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Re: Where can you work on your car?

Post by bk7794 »

I was in a parking lot and someone was doing a fuel pump. He had the tank dropped and all that. Did not envy him whatsoever. I would fear that once you start the job, they'd tell you to get lost halfway through.
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