Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerH860
The cold weather is really depressing me. There's so much I want to do to this car, but I can't be outside for more than 5 minutes without feeling frozen to the bone. It may be time to invest in a heating/air conditioning unit for the garage.
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Lol.. you need some winter advice!
The key to working in sub-freezing conditions is two things, first: adequate clothing. Use long johns, double pair of socks, good shoes, triple layer clothing on your upper body and a hat. Thin gloves is enough to insulate from cold tools and parts, as long as you keep using your hands. Second, keep moving. Standing still makes the cold get you very fast. You'll be amazed how much you get done when you have to keep working constantly just to keep your self warm.
From there on, you can keep adding winter bonuses to your garage. Get a heater, either the one Jimmy suggested or a torpedo heater such as I have (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gti6UoxMRCA). Our heater is quite loud, impossible to have a normal conversation when it's running, on the other hand it's enough to run it for about 15 minutes per hour to keep the 2000sq.f. shop fairly warm (+50deg.F). Get a coffee machine or something else that supplies you with something warm to drink. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, all tastes very good when it's cold. Access to hot water is great, our shop doesn't have that so it's a really bone-chilling experience to wash the dirt off at sessions end, but I thought about using a radiator, some plumbing and a 5 gallon drum with the torpedo heater to supply our shop with warm water good for washing hands.
Remember there are things one can't do when it is too cold, paint dries impossibly slowly when it's sub-freezing for example..
And there are things that can only be done when cold, when the roads outside are covered with ice and snow your test drives after wrenching gets all the more fun! lol
Good luck with your winter wrenching, it is character-building, makes you feel very manly and gets you up a few notches on your friends "insane people"-list!