Hot Rods Have you ever did any part of a build in your house

I stopped by Gary's house on the way home to pickup up a couple of fenders and he was looking at a old photo album of the T bucket he built when he was living in Charlotte, N.C. it was a nice car but I noticed he wasn't building it in a garage, it seems he didn't have a garage but he had a spare bedroom, he built the entire car and assembled it inside the house, when done he took out a exterior wall added double storm doors and rolled it out.

He painted the car outside in the driveway using a vacuum cleaner.

Back before I had a garage I built a 1956 Panhead chopper in our kitchen, I don't suggest doing this but I was fortunate enough to have a understanding wife, I will say she didn't complain about me wanting to build a garage. HRP

 

After buying some ill fitting stainless trim from the truck and car shop in California I decided to try and straighten the original trim myself. It was 105 degrees outside so I took the trim in my house and started pecking away, about 40 hours later I think it came out pretty good. (It was in horrible shape being smashed almost flat in several places.)

 

Yep, recovered the buckets out of my '64 Corvette Coupe.

 

Done a couple carburetors on the kitchen table.
-Dave

 

Oh hell no, I like eating home cooked meals!
And a little something something now and then.

 

My wife is a great cook and would not appreciate metal filings in the kitchen.

 

Back in the day I campaigned a drag bike out of my living room.

 

When I lived by myself I had my tool box on the kitchen, rebuilt a carb in the second bedroom, and
had an engine in the laundry room. My better half did allow me to move in anyway, but allowed me to build a garage also, and refused to allow my 50 chevy trk to come here till the garage was built.

 

Here in Wisconsin, Milwaukee area my Parents had a Milwaukee Bungalow style house, very common, thousands built 20's 30's . Its a 2 story, full basement home with basement level half above grade, back door,walk in turn left, 5/6 steps up to kitchen, 5/6 steps down to basement, straight into basement. Every Fall my Dad would take his Midget race car apart and put it in the basement for rebuild/repair/changes as needed/wanted. He have it all done by Spring, assembled ready to go, disassemble it, take back out to garage, reassemble, ready to go racing all summer. My Mom would get so mad as he would grind, weld, paint, build the engine, stink up the house in general on occasion. I could always tell if she would be upset when I pulled into driveway as the windows would be open in Winter time, other than stinking up the house once in a while, it was the perfect place, no heat bill for a garage, everything always warm. I remember when I was a kid early 50's my Dad painted cars including race car with a vacuum cleaner deal, can't remember name but everyone had them. Another good memory stirred up by HRP.

 

Only when I wasn't married .

 

Well, funny you should ask! While living in Sioux City, Iowa, my 80 yo neighbor Louis and I were in the process of assembling my '50 F1 truck trans on a card table in the living room when my dear wife walked in. The look on her face.......Louis simply said "Oh, oh." and got up and left me trying to explain to dear wife that all the parts were clean and I had put lots of newspaper down on the table. She wasn't impressed!

 

I'v spoken of the '66 Buick Riviera GS, factory dual quad, (only 169 built), I had and sold to finish my 34 in the past. Bought it in 89 with only 53K miles. Interior like the day it came off the show room floor, 100% show quality on the exterior, engine bay looked so bad it was embarrassing.
Wife of 25 years had split the sheets leaving me the house with attached very small single car garage and our 13 y.o. daughter.
I tore into that engine bay and engine with gusto never seen. Removed the front and rear bumpers that I kept in the living room before and after they were re-chromed. The kitchen counteres were my work bench and the garage only had room for the car and some passage around it. Alternator, intake, carbs, radiator , valve covers and heads all lived in in the kitchen. Built a show quality 425 Buick engine like none ever seen in these parts, an award wining piece with all the painting and some part reassembly done right there in the kitchen. Kim didn't mind at all. Went to school, weekends at her mothers and grandparents.
Yup, took about 6 months to do it what the wait for the chroming and the polishing of the "Buick" valve covers. Car did well at shows, receiving 2nd place in the Modified class in the National Buick show that year held here in the area. Oh yeah HRP, been there, done that but would not happen with this wife Of today.

 

Never a full vehicle, but I've done alot of work on parts in the living room.

My dining room has 3 rolling tool chests of tools and projects.

When I didn't have a driveway or garage, I used to clean parts in the bathtub, and sand and paint parts on the balcony, haha

 

. A couple of months ago, it was 105 degrees outside and we were in the middle of remodeling the kitchen and pool room! So the wife had mercy on us!





Bones

 

Only a few carburetors, nothing ever big or heavy. Wife wasnt amused, but at the time it was our primary riding piece, and it had to get done.

 

Back in the 70s I built my VW midget motors in my 2nd story efficiency apt.

 

When I made the decision to close my shop I had 4 engine that I had already committed to and couldn’t finish before I moved out. All the machine work was done so I brought them home and assembled them in the kitchen. I had a boom setup on my forklift that I could stick through the door to get them out. And yes I was single.


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Our basement is where the 5 Harley’s live. We built a ride out door and do all of our motorcycle work in the basement. My old 5 horse 60 gallon compressor is down there and we do bike work in the winter. Before this, when I was racing, 1995-2000, my mom came home from work one day to find me rebuilding a 650 Holley Double Pumper on the kitchen table. Dad hadn’t gotten home yet. She was not amused.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

- did not build it in the house but, did share a house with a buddy that kept his pan head chopper in the living room - was OK when weather was good enough to leave window open - another guy (married) that did final cleaning of oil pan in dish washer - did not smell good in house for a while - another guy needed to paint some parts but, very cold in garage - put a couple of spray cans in oven, without mentioning this to wife - she smelled something in kitchen and opened oven door as cans exploded and covered her and much of kitchen with paint - I only have clean carbs/intakes in house - others that have clean motors for coffee table base, etc

 

In the early sixties, a friend and I decided were were going to make a "D/Altered" drag car. We did it in the furnace room in his folks basement. We got it to "roller" status over the winter. During that time, he also "knocked up" his girlfriend. That was the end of that endeavor. We disassembled the car and hauled it up the stairs and took it to my folks garage, where I finished it as a street "T"-bucket, with a 270" '55 Dodge hemi.

 

Just built a carb for a 8N Ford tractor on the kitchen table this summer. Did all the cleaning outside in the carport, brought the clean carb and parts in the air conditioned kitchen to assemble. Wouldn't have taken but a few minutes to have done it outside, but I wanted to sit in the AC cool a while.....

 

Made my own wire harness on the kitchen table. Even had it working (less having an engine at the head of the table).

 

I completely tore down my old Harley on the back deck. Farmed out some powder coating and engine work then put it all back together 99% right in the kitchen/eat in kitchen. I even ran parts thru the dishwasher

 

Rebuilding a carb in the middle of winter when it was down around zero outside was about it for me. Even then I took the carb apart one night, dropped it off at my buddy's shop where he stuck it in his carb cleaner and cleaned it (well spent 5.00) and rinsed it blew it dry and then picked it up later in the day.
I knew a guy in Texas who built a small block Chevy on a table with casters on it in his mom's living room and then he and a couple of more guys rolled the table with engine on it out the door and down the street to where he installed the engine at a friend's place.
My buddy and that guy's cousin did the other way, after a divorce he sold the single wide trailer he had and made himself an apartment in one stall in his three car garage where he lived and later had a girlfriend move in with him.

 

I have stored freshly painted body parts in our bedroom while continuing to work on the chassis in my small shop. I have also used the dishwasher to clean some parts before painting while my wife was out of town caring for the grandkids.

 

Mostly just finished/restored parts make it into the house for safekeeping. Had the finished 32 commercial grill shell for the Sedan Deliv. on the kitchen table for over 2 months. Have the wife convinced ALL car guys do this.

 

Back in the late 60s, we were living in a one bedroom apartment, on the third floor. I was doing a swap from a flathead to a 292, and soldered up the top and bottom holes of the radiator in the living room, and stunk up the whole apartment during the big first appearance of Elvis on TV. It didn't bother my and my buddy, but if my wife would have been a little bigger, she would have tossed me off the balcony. She was more than a little upset with me.
That was just one of many incidents.
Bob

 

Never built anything to do with my cars in the house, but I did rebuild a motorcycle engine in the basement as well as building the Briggs and associated parts for my grandson's go kart in the basement

 

That' a nice looking car...thanks for posting a pic of it

 

Some people don't agree that the dish washer can double as an additional parts washer. When I first met my wife she thought the two four barrel and intake being assembled on the coffee table was an interesting decorator touch