Hot Rods My Garage is like a Human Bug Light!

The guy across the corner has a nice 33 Chevy coupe, across the street are a couple old jeeps, down the street is a sweet 61 chevy snb pickup and a 70 Z camaro, around the corner is a primer black 61 ford convertable, next street over guy has a nice old shoebox ford, other direction guy has a sweet 66 GTO, 2 blocks down the road a gal has what looks like to be a 30-31 huckster style pickup. I'd say in a 4 block radius, there probably are at least a dozen rods of some sort so my roadster project doesn't really draw a helluva lot of attention. Except when my friends show up with their coupes or roadsters. Interestingly enough, the bugs seem to just love anything at all I'm working on. I've had more comments on my trike than my car actually. Go figure...

 

I've got about 4 regular guy's that stop in. Friday mornings are the worst, it always turns into "lets see what Nate's been doing." Some guys actually help,others, well are good for leaving empty coffee cups on the workbench.

 

i never have anyone come up to my garage or driveway to see my old cars. what they seem to do a lot of is drive by and rev their engines. the police even do this.

 

Mainly just people spotting the cars as they drive by and then try to stop in to buy one. Gets hard to resist when they get up to 2 1/2 times what I have in them. But.............

When my wife throws out a yard sale, the girls look at her stuff, the guys just walk over to the cars. Yep, more offers.

One cool stop by a couple of months ago was by a young guy who just had to say how he'd been watching my main ride change and progress over the last 10 years and how he'd wished he could be driving something vintage. Fell in with the ricers with his friends, but still appreciates what he feels are real hot rods.......

 

I use to live in a newer development with all kinds of POA rules and would always get the head guy of the POA come telling me I cant work on cars in my garage. He would tell me people were complaining that Im making to much noise, etc, etc, etc...
After several heated verbal excanges I told him what he could do with his rules and Im gonna do what ever I want in my garage that I own.

Finally sold the house and moved into the place im in now, A small hidden older neighborhood with about 20 homes. No more listening to "complaints" from other people and most of my new neighbors have told me they like seeing the old cars coming through the neighborhood (my cars and my other buddys that stop by).
Ive had a few people stop in and see what im working on, like the UPS or Fed-ex guy when droping off parts, a couple other random strangers, and my next-door neighbors dad (on old retired mechanic) likes to check out what im doing when he visits. Other than that, Im glad I dont get to many "drop-ins". I like working alone, I get more done.

 

I've had a mixed bag, some complaints, some work sent my way, & a few lines on parts....it's a shame that most of us that live in neighborhoods(esp w/HOA's) have had at least a few bad experiences.....I have had more than one person ask me about a project when I'm out walking the dogs, but were afraid to stop in.....

 

I'm lucky as hell. I've got great neighbors that have never crabbed about my late nights in the shop.
The best part is that I'm only a few doors down from the local "cop shop" & they only flash a thumb up when they see a rod out front.

 

My shop is in the woods not far from the Gulf of Mexico in central Florida. When I work at night my biggest human pain in the ass is all of my buddies who are attracted to the light, the Budweiser and the cars (not in that order) and have never ending advice on how I am screwing up. I'm the only one with buddies like that...right?...I have found that running out of Bud is like turning off the lights; the bugs go away. So, I ration the Bud to the refer.

Apart from that my usual night visitors are every bug known to mankind, deer, black bears, snakes of all kinds, 39 cats, 12 dogs bunches of armadillos, raccoon's (who also like Bud and get the last drops out of the cans) wild hogs, big owls and the odd possum.

Other than that the lights don't attract anybody.

 

Luckily i don't have that problem. I do everything to avoid it as I'm not keen on folks knowing my business. Although i live in an okay area my car is very rarely parked on the driveway for any amount of time and my garage doors are never left open displaying the contents of my garage to anyone that wanders by. The least amount of people that know about my car, tools etc etc the better. The dogs normally around and he won't let anyone on the driveway which helps. Apart from a mate helping me out or club get together, visitors are banned if i'm in the garage and the doors are locked shut so i can work in peace. Don't get me wrong, i'll chat to anyone when i'm out and about but when it comes to the garage and my car i'm a little protective and anti-social.

 

I rent from a retired machanic, there are two shops, stuck in a residential neighborhood. The old man that worked there for years was great, honest guy. The problem is I still get guys seeing the doors open looking for the old guy to get work done. So I have to explain that I only work on my work trucks and projects at night. I don't mind usually they see my cars and strike a conversation. It just sucks when your under a truck and you get disturbed.

 

Dr. Frankenstein's shop was lit up pretty good too...and drew large crowds.

As long as they aren't carrying torches...lol.

 

My four car shop faces the alley behind my house so there's not much trafffic passing by. One time some kids playing and riding bikes in the alley stopped and stared into the shop for a while. when I said HI to them one of them asked..."what happened in there?"

 

Here,s one for you guys. I had a blown big block fiat street rod. One day i had the garage door open and here,s comes a local cop pulling up in the driveway. I thought oh shit here comes my first of many problems with the police. He said i just wanted to check your ride out. He loved street rods. He stayed for 30 minutes. He even turned his radio off so we can talk about the car. About a month later he was fired. I hope it wasn't because of me.

 

I used to hear voices in my truck, enough said.

 

Wondering if mothballs or dryer sheets might work on insects,I dont know if it works,

 

i once worked with a guy that lived across the street from me, he thought that I was a dope dealer with all the cars coming and going with Quebec, Ontario, Vermont, and New York plates, he was surprised when he finally met me,they were friends and customers dropping to check on projects or drop off or pick up parts. and the project vary from motorcycles and inboard hydroplanes to feds and oval track cars and hot rods. looking back over what what I just wrote when am I going to start making money?

 

I used to have people stop by, but then I stopped opening the door hard to get anything done when every 2 minutes someone you don't know is standing in your garage yapping.

I will open the door up during the day, but once the sun goes down and the lights come on the door gets closed, have a ton of unknown cars cruising the street looking for scrap.