My headache of not owning a garage.

[FLYARMY]

I don't have a garage on my house and it is a real pain for someone who owns 5 cars. When I bought the house in 2005 , I planned on building a 2 car garage with lifts and a loft mancave. My local town denied my application for BS reasons. If I had known that I could not build a garage , I would never have even bought this house. On Saturday, I participated with my Cadillac Club to do the Toys for Tots toy drive. It was our last gathering for the year. In the realm of "no good deed goes unpunished"......just after I delivered my toys, I stopped for some bagels. When I came out , my car would not start. Zero electrical power. My convertible top on my 1967 Cadillac is now stuck in the down position. Since it was the weekend, I had no repair shop to tow it to. I called my cousin to use his tow truck and take my car home and put it on the side of the house . I was hoping it was just a simple fuse. NOPE. It looks like the fusible link has crapped the bed and I need to get the car up on a lift to check it out. NOW, my main issue is that it has been raining and a bigger rain/wind storm is coming ! I had to fabricate a teepee out of my car covers to protect it from getting flooded. I'm just hoping it survives the night and tomorrow until I can get it towed to my mechanic on Thursday. Also hoping the wind comes from the west, so my house blocks the wind and I won't have to keep checking the car.

 

[1Evil55]

Sell a car and get a place to park indoors. Also fuck HOA's.

 

[Speed Racer 007]

Sell a car and get a place to park indoors. Also fuck HOA's.

I own a property management company that manages Condo's/Co-Op's and HOA's and found your HOA remark hilarious. I would NEVER move into an HOA!

O/P good luck man, weather is supposed to be nasty today/night. Good luck brother!

 

[Roadhawk]

My 64 Mustang convertible is near 100% original - including the powered soft top - which BTW works fine (if a bit slow). The zipper on the rear plastic window however has been busted for at least 10 years and while I should just get it fixed I almost exclusively drive the car top down so its never been a priority for me. On the rare occasions when I'm out and have to put the top up due to cold or rain I always make sure to have plenty of towels on hand. In a few cases I've even had to shop vac and then towel out the water that collects in the back well. So far no rust or mildew issues as far as I can tell...so in a pinch.

Your situation certainly does suck though. Good luck getting it quickly resolved.

 

[FLYARMY]

I was up all night and today, repeatedly checking to make sure the covers were still in place. I spoke with my mechanic and he believes the "fusible link" on the starter is the problem. Tomorrow we are supposed to get sunshine and hopefully I will get my baby towed into the shop and get the electricals worked out. This is the first time in 57 years that the top was stuck in the down position and no garage available. I have my security cameras on my cell phone and I just left the phone on all night so I could take a peek and make sure I wasn't getting flooded. We got alot of rain in the 36 hours. We needed it .

 

[ngoni]

You might consider purchasing a few of these until you get a real garage: Products | InTheGarage or Outdoor Car Capsule | Outdoor Car Storage & Car Cover

 

[FLYARMY]

**UPDATE** I had my 67' towed to my mechanic after surviving the heavy rains and winds. He found my wires on the starter motor had issues, replaced a burnt positive battery cable and got the windows and convertible top back up. We work on some more electrical gremlins later. I am just happy my interior did not get destroyed. My cousin towed my car for free, but I think I will put in for a tow claim reimbursement with my collectors insurance anyway. I will have him write me up a bill just as if I was regular customer.
I also put my 22' 5BW away for the winter hibernation. She only has 5793 miles on her and I only put 1728 miles on her this year.

 

[RKS]

When we bought our first house, my wife and I agreed that anything less than a 2-car garage was a non-starter.
Our current neighborhood HOA mandated that garage doors could not face the street for any new builds. The privacy when we have our garage doors open is one of my favorite features.

 

[Brad_TX2V]

Sorry to hear, OP!! We had a "small" 2 car garage then the wife got tired of her "beater" vette (a Grand Sport LOL) sitting outside while my Z06 and Ducati were inside...she said "I want at least a THREE car garage!!" So, off she went...a week later we put an offer on our current place...right down the road in the middle of DFW area, 1,600ft2 garage!! Hope you can get something figured out!

 

[FLYARMY]

I'm retired now going on 3 years and my house is worth more than double what I paid for it and I have a very nice retirement nest egg. I would ideally like to move out of expensive NY/Long Island (my property taxes alone are over 14k a year). My squad partner retired to Delaware and said his taxes are only $1200 a year. He built a brand new home on over an acre and has a huge man-cave 3 car garage. I have 3 adult children still living with me (Millenials) who I will let them leave when they want to, as long as they are saving up their money for their own very heavy down payment. (Maybe get them to buy my house for the family discount and then move down south.) I live vicariously thru you guys with the huge garages. One can dream !

 

[1gturbo]

Your friend is smart. Lol. Only one solution; move! Easy to say of course like you’ve acknowledged. After 21 years old I might put my cars before my kids and tell them to gtfo

 

[FLYARMY]

Here is what I would love to have as a man-cave. Post any pictures that you have of your dream garages. Money is no object !

 

[1gturbo]

Here is my current 2nd garage. Not quite dream but the achievable dream haha.

 

[rubberduck]

Here is my current 2nd garage. Not quite dream but the achievable dream haha.
View attachment 28985

Nice Camaro.

 

[FLYARMY]

A little more work and a few more bucks spent and it will be just fine !

 

[1gturbo]

A little more work and a few more bucks spent and it will be just fine !

Little more progress now vs the last pic.

 

[FLYARMY]

That definitely doesn't look like a factory rear spoiler on the Camaro. Looks like someone could get cut with that thing !

 

[1gturbo]

That definitely doesn't look like a factory rear spoiler on the Camaro. Looks like someone could get cut with that thing !

Weird lighting on the other photo…spoiler is normal lol

 

[OldGoat]

View attachment 29011
Weird lighting on the other photo…spoiler is normal lol

Sweet, looks like it's still not big enough, they never are. Just curious to your location as I see it's not totally insulated. I built a 30x34 and had spray foam insulation, a gas heater and ductless air conditioning. I wish I can go bigger but I'm on 100x100 lot. Just started getting my materials to finally build my loft.

 

[1gturbo]

Sweet, looks like it's still not big enough, they never are. Just curious to your location as I see it's not totally insulated. I built a 30x34 and had spray foam insulation, a gas heater and ductless air conditioning. I wish I can go bigger but I'm on 100x100 lot. Just started getting my materials to finally build my loft.

Dang you went all out with insulation and hvac! You work out there daily? I’m in PA. Two of the cars pictured aren’t mine; the Z is leaving soon. But yes I’m out of room; my 3 car attached garage is full and a truck and fusion in the driveway lol