pro-touring/automotive garage idea need input

[200horse]

I am thinking about opening up a garage and renting spray both time,garage space,tools and so on for people to work on there toys that may not have a placeorneed a spray booth. My idea is you can rent by the day, or week. Spay booth could be rented by the day or ??

Any input?

thanks

[teamplex65]

i think this has been discussed before. Dont let this discourage you but it seems like it always comes down to insurance and liability.

You may look at making it a club type thing.

[200horse]

yes i agree there just looking at other things ideas to add to my auto paint supply business. I will find something soon lol

[teamplex65]

http://www.silverstoneclub.com/club.html

http://www.portlandmotorclub.com/facility.php

http://www.turbo240sx.ca/

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173342

http://cfbhalifaxautoclub.googlepages.com/

[DarkBuddha]

I think it's a great idea. I grew up using military base auto shops, helping my father do various things over the years. In the last couple years I have casually pitched the idea of a non-profit community cooperative auto shop several times in search of funding and resources, both in Seattle and now in Sarasota. The resistance I've gotten has been threefold: first, finding a location that would be affordable and adequate; second, finding property and liability insurance; third was finding adequate core support from enough enthusiasts to make it worthwhile. That said, it's still kinda a dream of mine to make it happen at some point... I've got a vision for a whole deal with both non-profit and profitable aspects. Maybe one day...

[200horse]

thanks team those are alot nicer than i was thinking on doing wow

Dark I have a friend that talked about donig work on a military base also. Yes the resistance you are getting is real life what ifs !!

[Bill Howell]

Toledo should be a easy place to find the building to do it in. I think insurance and enough customers will be the road blocks. By the time you charge what it is really worth, you may find it hard to sell.
A different approach would be to figure out that number and then ask people how many would pay $XX an hour to rent the booth.

[67 ls1 vert]

sounds like a good idea. I usually rent a spray booth at a local paint shop in town for $100 for the day on Saturday.

[DarkBuddha]

Man, I've thought about this quite a bit: in my version, I'd like to offer bay/lift time, paint booth time, tool rental/loan, secure short term vehicle storage, chemical disposal, tire removal & installation, basic machining, etc... basically everything a working garage/shop does but available for folks/enthusiasts to work on their own stuff. Plus, as a non-profit I would like to have voluteers, like retired machinists, mechanics, engineers, etc. to help with people's projects and offer instruction (like a super basic UTI program or the like). I'd think it'd be a great place for folks that can't work on their cars in their neighborhoods because of deed restrictions, or need access to tools and resources they typically don't have, or help keep the budget down for their race car, etc. Heck, I'd like to hold "work parties" and evening and weekend events like gtg's or car shows. Eventually I'd like to have a profit-making side that included something like a motorsports country club and garage condos. But like I said... it's more than a bit of a dream.

That said, here in Sarasota there are a few locations that would be suitable for a co-op garage. For example, there is a burned out warehouse complex that is just sitting now; it appears very much intact and is across the street from the airport service hangers, so I know noise/traffic/parking/etc. wouldn't be an issue. Plus it is very easily accessible from several local major roads and highways since it's right next to the airport. Or there is a place down the street from me that already has two 1200 sqft. 3 bay garages on it (with a small house); the garage bays have 16 ft doors, it comes with 2.6 acres of cleared land, and it's easily accessible from all directions. It's also right next door to two large strip centers, so again, no problems with traffic/parking/noise/etc.

One day... one day...