Club or Communal Garage
 

Hey guys,

I'm not sure if people in this city do this, but is there a club or such that I can inquire with that has a communal garage space etc...

With Vancouver being a place that has lots of apartments and condos I would think there is a group of like-minded enthusiasts out there who are collectively renting out a garage space or warehouse so that they can work on their cars or projects.

The reason I'm asking is I have a 2008 Mazdaspeed3 which I have plans to do full forged engine rebuild, big turbo upgrade and clutch/fly upgrade.
I would need a nice accessible space that I could use to do the engine pull, have my car stored while the engine is going through the machine shop and such and then once back some space to do the engine build and final install.

I am also considering taking on a future track car project as well.

I am definitely not someone who is shy to doing the work and paying my share of the rental fees as well as helping out other guys on their projects.

I have some tools and would buy more as I need, but if a club is open to lending tools (to a responsible borrower) for specialty tools like piston ring compressors, and engine cherry pickers... etc.

Let me know if such a thing exists here.
I used to be part of a club back in Ottawa that did the same thing and kinda miss it here.

Cheers,
Mike

Not that i know of, But hey, You could always start one?

Join a car specific local club,once you get to know the local members,they gladly offer their help or services when it comes to other members.

If you are good friends with some garage owners, they do this too. I know there's a few garages that lends on their hoist for a rental fee, but I don't think they will let you do projects such as this.

Also legal liability issues if somebody gets hurt or whatnot.

^ Exactly. This has been discussed numerous times on RS. I think someone started a garage you can rent time in, but I forgot the name.
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Knew some guys that were renting out a garage for 3 of them and then would let friends use it from time to time.

My friend and I are thinking of doing something similar to this, mostly just for ourselves.

That doesn't work around here.

It's like a hunting/fishing spot. Once you tell one person, that person might decide to tell his buddy Joe. Joe starts talking about it, then Joe all of a sudden brings Mark, Chris, and Steve.

Then Steve breaks in one day with his buddy Vince. and steals your freshly built motor, and your tools.

Either make friends with Shop owners, or start one with your own group of friends. Because it only takes one asshole to ruin it for everybody else.

Did he look like this

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...jpg?1318992465

I am part of the BCMazda 3 guys and yeah, they are a good bunch of guys, however aside from John, there is no one doing this sort of work.

I completely agree that there is always the possibility of that bullshit asshole that would ruin it for everyone and it's probably why some of the guys out there doing this don't advertise and keep it close knit.

Coming into this city, that makes it tough to break into clubs like this.

Anyhow, thought I'd give it a try.
I may just end up renting a commercial warehouse space for the time.

Just rent your own workshop, we're doing exactly what some people are talking about, it's only the three of us, and the scumbag Steve example is the kind of shit we're scared of. That's why you're not going to find a communal shop around here, there are too many assholes, trust is almost non-existent to randoms.

If you can't afford it all by yourself, get a good friend to go in with you.

If you find something like this, post it up. I would join.

I have looked at a few plans for something like this here, but I have never had the time or capital to get it started properly.

There was a place in new west (I think) called “U fix it”, but I don’t think they offered storage. They may or may not still be around.

I think these shops should really be between friends that you meet in person and have trusted for a while, you'll of course be handling alarm and insurance for the shop for any break-ins between your friends just for safe.

Not trying to be offensive against 91civicZC but I'm just saying that meeting someone over a forum to discuss something like this isn't that great compared to actually knowing the person for a while. The communal idea just can't be as open as we would like it to be imo

I think your misunderstanding me. I wouldn’t sign up to rent a shop with a bunch of ransoms.

What I am saying is that if you find a business that rents out storage and garage space in one area for customers, and would have security for those who sign up, I would be all over it.

It really wouldn’t be that hard to do, but it needs to be a business run by a 3rd party. I saw a great example in San Fran that I have always wanted to copy and start here, but as I said, capital and time is the problem. I can only imagine insurance would suck.

Otherwise, it comes down to renting space with your buddies, which is a good solution, but someone always backs out, makes the place a mess, doesn’t get along with someone else, whatever.

In Vancouver people are scared of other people. So this kinda stuff rarely happens. They're scared of lawsuits, damage to property, stolen tools and other stolen things. I used to rent shop space out but dont have the room to do so anymore.

There used to be something like this, and they were even sponsors on RS.

The concept was good, and I used it once or twice, but there were some problems with how they pulled it off:

1. It was run alongside a shady dealership, and a shady bodyshop. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

2. The lady attending had NO fucking clue about anything, and I think she was the wife of the head mechanic of the shady bodyshop. She'd just get you to sign some liability waivers, and sit there and watch tv. You asked her where such and such tool was (which they said they'd provide) and she'd tell you she didn't know.

3. It was dark as fuck inside. Geographical location was good though.


So all in all, there were attempts, and they may have been successful had they been able to procure a loyal customer base.

Set it up as a proper business, rather than some small friend-get-together joint and it may definitely be viable. If you make the business look legit enough, and cover all bases, scumbag steves are just as likely to break into your shop as they are to any other shop.

Was this the "U-fix-it" joint?

I was interested when it started up, but yeah, I dint hear much about it, and never got a chance to check it out.

Id still be really interested in doing somthing like this but in "Co-Op" form. If I could get some investment together I think its an idea that could work.

Yeah that's what it was called.