After having lived most of my adult life in apartments, I bought a small house about three years ago. The house is on a canal, so the lots are small. I have a small two car garage - e.g. my Silverado extended cab is too long to fit inside - but I can squeeze-in a project car.

I'm in the serious hunt for an E36. I liked to do an LS swap. But I'm concerned my work space might end up being my undoing. Because the house is on a canal, the lots are raised to protect from flooding. As a result, my driveway has a pretty good slope, right up to the threshold of the garage. Because the garage is so small, there's no way I'd be able to manipulate an engine hoist without either the car or the hoist extending out of the garage and onto the driveway. This is my main concern.

I can barely place a bicycle on it's kickstand in the driveway without it falling over. I'll only have to pull the BMW engine once, but in all likelihood, I'll have to install and remove the LS engine several times. I can't help but picture this going terribly wrong, especially working by myself. I envision gravity and geometry (the angle of the driveway) creating havoc. If the car is backed into the garage, I'll be dealing with an engine hoist on a sloped driveway. If the car is pulled in nose first, I'll have to back the car part-way out of the garage in order to have enough room to maneuver the hoist. I suppose this would be doable if I backed the car onto ramps in the driveway. But that would mean pushing the car uphill into the garage at the end of the day. I sort of envisioned having the car on jack stands for the duration of the project. Obviously, that would not be possible if I have to roll the car each time I need to maneuver the hoist.

So, am I making too much of this? I'm happy to have a garage but when I bought the house, I didn't give the driveway or a project car much thought. I'm sure many of you have worked with less; single car garage, working outside, etc. I'm just afraid to invest thousands of dollars in a project that won't come to fruition because my work space is working against me.

Thoughts?

Tipsy

 

I've been doing my swap mainly in the garage. pulling the engine and installing it several times. if you don't have anything on your back wall you should be fine. you could move the car back so the back tires are just at the slope and block them. if you have the car on jackstands then make it so its almost to the garage door. i wouldn't back the car in. too much chance of the hoist back wheels getting on the slope.

you could measure your garage length and then get the dimensions on the car to see if it would work.

 

There's physically no way a hoist will fit between the car and the back wall of the garage. An E36 is 175" long. That leaves about 2 1/2' between the nose of the car and my workbench. Even without the bench against the back wall, there's no way I could maneuver the hoist without backing the car several feet into the driveway.

Tipsy

 

my truck is 175" as well. i had plenty of room. you much have a very short garage. with 8-10" from the garage door to bumper, I had 7-8' in front.

 

Yes, it's only 19' deep. And my bench is about 30" deep against the back wall.

Tipsy

 

I think you may have to put the back wheels on ramps then. you could rig some sort of mount to the floor near the back wall and use a come-along to bring the car in. if you need to put it on jack stands be sure to build platforms for the driveway to make it level with the garage floor. thinking of that, make 2 platform extensions about 4-6' long about 18" wide, and you won't have to push the car up the driveway, and you can take them in at night when your done. it may be a PITA but sometimes you have to suffer for the good.

now you have me thinking how deep my garage is.

 

Can you parallel park it in the garage? If its a 2 car garage you should be able to fit 1 long ways. And if you have the car on tire dollies you could roll it around when you need to work on it and then "park" it like normal when its just sitting.

Otherwise you're looking at a Mitata swap or similarly small car project...

 

You can do it!!!

Seriously, it will be a bit of a pain but it can be done. Most of the car stuff I did as a kid was in a house of similar design. Chock the wheels, set the e-brake and make sure to have a friend handy when pulling (or replacing) the engine. I would go rear wheels outside and try to do as much inside as possible or do the whole thing in the driveway with the garage as your prep / storage area.

If memory serves me properly I think we made a small wedge for the engine hoist wheels from wood.

 

You can do it.. just have to be creative on how you get things done. I did the start of both my swaps in the side yard of my house in the dirt.

took the body off and back on the Chevelle by myself using blocks, boards and jacks.

I would try the suggestion of using ramps and boards on the rear. Just roll the car backwards and on to the ramps. A few extra feet should give you room for the engine host.

You might also use the host from the side of the car...

if you have height restrictions.. loosen everything and be ready to removed. .then take the front wheels off and lower the car down on block, then remove the engine.

I've done a lot of engine removal from many restricted areas.. but as I said. .be creative.. work smart not harder.. !

Keep us posted...

BC

 

There's no way the car is going in sideways. The garage is almost the same width as depth. With shelves, tool boxes, etc. along the sides of the garage, it'll actually be tighter.

Thanks for the good feedback. I hadn't given any thought to placing the hoist along-side the car. The more I think about it, the more I think I can figure a way to back the car partly into the driveway...maybe with the rear wheels on ramps to level the car, and work inside the garage.

I think I might be able to rig a winch along the floor to aid in pulling the car back into the garage. I just stopped into Northern Tool and looked at a portable A/C Warn winch. It's only rated for 1000lbs, but I don't think a rolling car would be too much for it to handle.

I'm feeling remotivated!

Tipsy

 

Sounds like a plan.. Just Do It !....

Also... what about trying with dolly on the wheels. then turn the car 45 degree.. would that work ?

 

I'd have to take some more measurements but I doubt it. I have a 22cf Gladiator Freezerator in the garage as well as a water heater. Just not a lot of room to work with.

Tipsy

 

Dude........you have MILES to work with. I'm doing a ls swap into an e30.....I started in a single stall garage with a 36" deep custom work bench at the back. the trick is to roll the car to the edge of the garage when your hoisting stuff.

Trust me, you have room, if I can build a full blow rotisserie in my single stall, you can pull a motor in your twin.

 

IronFreak.. looks like you have some area that are height restricted.. that is one way to work on the bottom of the car without a lift ! LOL..

 

LOL...yeah, it's not so much working in the garage that concerns me. It's the downhill ride on the sloped driveway that worries me.

Tipsy

 

My garage is very similar to yours, No bench on the back wall. I just backed it in, pulled the front bumper and sheet metal off and went for it. I had a cargo strap between the cherry picker and the frame the first several times but in the end was able to do it without the strap. I work alone 99 percent of the time. Good Luck!

 

Where there is a will, there is a way.

 

Step one would be to pull the car in, with back wheels right on the edge of the garage door opening and use some wheel chocks to see what kind of room you would have with a hoist.

It's late, Im still up for some reason on ls1tech so I'll toss out a crazy idea that jumped into my mind.

Didn't feel like opening up google sketchup so MS paint will have to do. Hope its self explanatory.

Use of rubber mat or old tires to get some kind of grip/friction going. As extra precaution you could take another used tire or two, back your truck up against the car with a tire in between.

 

You can do it.
I have a tiny 2 car garage, with one half full of stuff and the depth is short, so it is basically a one car garage. The driveway is dang near 45 degrees. On post #5 the first thing I had to do was create little ramps to give me more space in the garage:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...ies-wagon.html

To deal with the greater issue of the driveway being long and steep -- I can't take my car out until it can move under its own power dependably.

 

Boxcev drawing is what I had in mind with my recommendation, so I would vote for that !...

Just make sure the ramp is fully supported with cross block and other means of support from front to rear of the top ramp.