Off to a mechanic’s paradise – your own workshop

Your own workshop

Driving a classic car is one thing. Living with it, maintaining and repairing it is another. Our Do-It-Yourself expert Sven Wedemeyer describes how having your own workshop, well sorted and equipped, can even intensify the desire for classic cars.

Yes, it exists, the fun far away from humming engines and beyond sun-drenched roads. Because even when the beloved oldie is at a standstill, the hobby can continue to pick up speed. A garage, which can also serve as your own workshop, allows the inclined enthusiast to spend even more time with the old car or a quaint motorbike.

PLANNING YOUR OWN WORKSHOP? DOWNLOAD CHECKLIST HERE!

This way, you not only get to know your vehicle better, but also extend the season. Because at the latest when the sun makes itself scarce and salty roads spoil the mood, spanners and workbenches can provide optimism. Behind the gates of the nation’s workshops, the wrenching season begins.

EVERYTHING CAN, NOTHING MUST

Having your own workshop can only strengthen your relationship with your classic car. For example, when a longer trip and thus an oil change is due, the ignition doesn’t really want to work or parts of the interior that have been rattling for years need to be fixed. You don’t necessarily need a professional for that. It’s up to the woman or the man! The private mechanic’s paradise comes in handy.

It’s quite likely that you won’t save any money by doing your own work on the classic car. After all, rent, electricity, machines and tools are rarely cheaper than a competent professional workshop. But most hobbyists don’t have their piggy bank in mind when they go to their own workshop.

Or they want to tackle the next full restoration. Rather, it is the small, less complex jobs that are understandable even to amateurs that put them in a good mood and bring about real progress. Especially since the feeling of having tackled a problem with expertise and a little craftsmanship is priceless. Isn’t there a little mechanic slumbering in all of us that needs to be discovered?

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YOUR OWN WORKSHOP – SMALL BUT NICE

Of course, your own hobby workshop doesn’t have to take on a fully equipped mega hall, new professional tools and fantastic working conditions. For most everyday oldies and a small budget, a little space, light and a few tools are enough.

Then even a dull parking space, an underground garage or a garage yard can be turned into a small mechanic’s paradise – provided the legal situation has been clarified, especially in the case of rented properties.

What else is needed? Not much! A little time, a solid basic equipment of tools and courage. In this way, even the small obstacles of everyday classic driving can be overcome: Replacing the spark plugs, carrying out the aforementioned oil change or greasing the chassis. A real obsession with cleaning can also quickly establish itself, because polishing chrome bumpers in the workshop simply has a therapeutic effect.

More reserved minds who doubt their competence can be helped by friends, club colleagues, the appropriate brand forum, specialist literature and tutorials on YouTube.

Thanks to limitless communities on the internet, getting started in car-taught classic car wrenching has never been easier. Give it a try!

Those who dare to take the first steps will soon discover: Not everything works right away, but with a little patience you will reach your goal. That is enormously satisfying. Especially since learning from mistakes can be a great pleasure when screwing. You just have to let it happen. For the absolute basic equipment, you don’t even need electric tools.

Hurray for muscle power! The advantage of older vehicles is that they have a manageable amount of technology. Screwdrivers, spanners and box spanners as well as a good set of nuts (inch or metric) are good for consistent troubleshooting.

The best thing is to have the workshop manual – or the telephone number of a knowledgeable friend – on the improvised workbench. This can consist of nothing more than sturdy folding trestles and a used tabletop. Let’s go!

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YOUR OWN WORKSHOP – STINGINESS WAS NEVER COOL

Basically, you can’t have your own workshop without good tools. And that costs money. But the expense is worth it as a long-term investment. They are good for body and soul. Anyone who has ever slipped off a bolt in the engine compartment with a low-quality DIY store product and permanently bruised their hands on the metal knows what I’m talking about. Especially a slipped bolt is a real headache.

So the savings are not worth the hassle. But if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on new brand-name tools from Hazet, Wera, Knipex or Gedore, you can find many bargains on the internet under the keyword “Werkstatt-Auflösung” (workshop liquidation), from tiny pliers to huge drill bits. The age of used tools and machines plays only a subordinate role. P

And professionals also know how to work efficiently and, above all, safely. Protection against accidents, injuries and long-term damage may not be a high priority for many hobby mechanics.

But sensitive gloves, a fire extinguisher, breathing masks for grinding work or protective goggles and hearing protection when flexing should be the property of every part-time mechanic. All this doesn’t cost too much and maximises the fun of tinkering.

INTO THE COMFORT ZONE

Of course, there are no upper limits to the playfulness in the workshop. Amenities such as electricity, possibly heating and sanitary facilities or a respectable machine park can be seen as the logical extension of a hobby workshop. Then powerful drills, compressors, grinders, possibly even a lathe or a lifting platform can be operated. This not only creates autonomy and thus the possibility to help oneself in almost any situation.

It also attracts acquaintances and fellow sufferers. One can only be pleased about the lively attendance in such a workshop – and that is guaranteed. Guests appreciate the friendly service on the vehicle. And working in the privacy of one’s own home mutates into a social happening. A beer after the work is done…? It’s not without reason that community garages and self-help workshops are a big thing in the scene. Maybe you can find a hall near you that can be rented as a loose group or club?

With all the technology and the fun of DIY, there’s one thing you shouldn’t forget: No master has ever fallen from the sky. No one becomes a racing mechanic overnight. Or learn how to use a welding machine in a day. That’s why you should always take a self-critical look at your ambitions and compare them with your own skills and real needs. Owners of a VW Beetle do not need expensive special tools. Owners of youngtimers with digital ignition will never have to adjust a distributor with a feeler gauge. And as the driver of a Ferrari with a V12, it is perhaps better to leave the valve clearance to the brand-name workshop.

But regardless of whether you’re working on an everyday classic or a special rarity – if you know your limits, have the courage and are not afraid of setbacks, you’ll soon find your own little paradise in your own workshop. You just have to get started.

PLANNING YOUR OWN WORKSHOP? DOWNLOAD CHECKLIST HERE!

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Text and pictures: Sven Wedemeyer

Author: Classic Trader

Die Classic Trader Redaktion besteht aus Oldtimer-Enthusiasten, die Euch mit spannenden Geschichten versorgen. Kaufberatungen, unsere Traum Klassiker, Händlerportraits und Erfahrungsberichte von Messen, Rallyes und Events. #drivenbydesire

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