Working on the car in the street - yes or no?

Working on the car in the street - yes or no?
Recently had to do the timing chain and valve job on my car, and had nowhere else to do it but in the street. Its a residential no through street. Made a few friends, other people are burning a hole in the back of your neck, you can feel their eyes popping out lol.
Had people coming up to me asking for car advice, and asking if im a mechanic (im not) when they saw as much as a cylinder head cover off.
But now I`m sort of ashamed to keep working on it. Very rarely you see someone with the hood up. Feel sort of like a black sheep now, for 3 weekends in a row did nothing but fix`d postponed problems.
I can not afford to take it to a repair shop for each little crap that comes up. Did not make any mess and didnt leave the car in a unsighty way overnight, I organise stuff in a way to make sure that the wheels go back each evening if they needed taking off.
Fixed accident damage earlier this year (just a front wing and headlight change), but had some brackets to straighten behind the headlight. Shop wanted to charge $1400. Done it in 2 days.
I wouldnt go as far as doing engine swaps though, if I had to do that, I`d rent a garage or something for a week.

I checked relevant laws regarding car repair in the street here, and its legal to do it, as long as the car doesnt stay in a immobile state for longer than 3 days and its not business repairing (other peoples cars)
Whats your status on this?

This is the problem with America these days. The hobbyist mechanic being frowned upon is so fucking disgusting.

I live in a yuropean city, by the law I'm not alowed to fix my car in the street, I can be fined with 400€ or even thousands if I get caught spilling shit on the street.

The law was intended to curb shadetree mechanics who doesn't pay taxes and leave a mess of shit behind whetever they go but, by the letter of the law, I can be fined too.

Because don't like to depen on some policeman day's mood, I prefer to use some garage for fixing the whip.

Had to swap a waterpump and timing belt on the street once. No one had any problems with it because i built a small shelter out of tarps to cover it. No one knew what i was doing in there or else the old cunt that lived across the street wouldve called the cops.

I dont live there anymore, now i actually have access to a garage and the neighbors know me as the "Toyota Guy" now.
The neighbor across the street this time is an Audi Mechanic and one 3 houses down is a Motorcycle Mechanic.
Theres a Diesel Mechanic down the street too, always messing with Fords and Chevys.

Living around Blue Collar white people aint bad.

>No one had any problems with it because i built a small shelter out of tarps to cover it.
Like a tent? kek
That would attract even more attention
But I can totally see how one of those party tent thingies (gazebo?...not sure what its actually called) could be very useful and especially `justifiable` if its a rainy or hot sunny day

>hey buddy..do you need a jump or something
>holding some internal engine component
>no im good

Had a drunk polish guy asking me if I needed a push. At 2am, with car on jackstands and half the engine already out
>thanks buddy, im allright
how kind I thought
>are you sure?
kek

This dude on my street had his whole engine torn apart on the grass (apartment complex). He would jist sit there and be packing bearings and honing cylinders all afternoon. His car was there for about ten days and then was gone, guess he fixed it.

is that guy seriously under his car without jackstands

I have a garage.

And if I lived in an apartment my dad has a garage.

Just fucking get it done, give no fucks.

Yup.
Yeah it was raining too.
Plus keeping everything hidden kept that old cunt from calling the cops. Everyone on that street hated her. She called the cops initially but i told them what i was doing so they told me just to keep everything out of her eyesight so shed stop calling them.

I did an oil change and spark plugs, which required removing an AC compressor and also deleted my smog pump all on the sidewalk today. Some old man came by and said "nice car" and other than that Noone bothered me

>deleted
rip smog pump
how did you manage to destroy matter?

I drive an old chevy and the smog pump seized you causing my belt to eat itself on the stuck pully. I removed the pully last week and re routed the belt but it was still rubbing on the pump it self. Today I removed the pump

Seized up* sorry watching a horror movie over here not paying attention to what I type

I live in a (shitty little) apartment, but we have covered parking, and people frequently work on their cars here. I have replaced only a battery, idler pulley, and serpentine belt while here, but others have replaced transmissions and suspension components.

>smog pump seized
I know a guy who had the same problem, he removed the smog pump, opened it, soaked it in Marvel Mystery Oil, hammered out the parts inside (which he tossed), re-assembled and re-installed it. Now it does nothing but look original.

That's not a bad idea since I still have to smog it

its all good in england, no one really cares. you get the people come and watch and you just tell them to fuck off or ignore them

Same story with me. It's moderately ghetto complex and Mexican guys are always wrenching on their shitboxes. Nobody pays me any mind and the apartment managers dont care, though they probably would if they caught on to how much oil I've spilled and the deep imprints the jackstands make in the squishy parking lot asphalt. They'd probably object if I pulled an engine block with a hoist or something though.

Jewish countries tend not to be kind towards manual laborers

I always did my mechanics in the street.
Just like you, a lot of people come to me to discuss, ask questions. Personally I find it quite positive: I know more about my neighbors.
The only problem is the impossibility of working when it rains.

>live in mexican neighborhood
>we all drive shitboxes
>everybody works on their cars over the weekend
it's not uncommon to see someone with the hood popped up wrenching something in my area. My neighbors are cool and they will sometimes come over and make small talk.

you're so monumentally stupid I don't even know where to begin.

Never had to do any work in the streets, I'm a bit surprised people leave your stuff alone tho.

With a child about to kick out the jack from under it!

At least.. I mean I assume it's a ginger child.

>is that guy seriously under his car without jackstands

Around here, a few people are antisocial. If your jack had a quick release lever, they'd release the jack and lower the car on you just because they like seeing others in pain. You cannot prove they did it if you're still alive.

What sort of hell hole do you live in?

I can't work on my car in my apartment complex.
So I took it out and fucking worked on it on the side of the road leading to the apartment complex.

I got asked by my manager what I was doing, so I said.
"Working on my car in a public road."

"As long as you know what you're doing I guess..."

Then she just walked off and I changed my timing belt.
Wasn't too big of a deal, didn't really do it after though.

>she

REEEEEEEEEEE

>hobbyist mechanic

I do it because I saving 2-300 for a little thing like a ball joint change not because I like crawling under the fucking car

...

haha i had the same dilemma, although i have a full size (ex) auto body repair warehouse under my house, although i couldn't physically get the car in for a while. so i had to change my valve cover gasket out on the street was only there for a few hours but, i had at least 6 people start a conversation, some were more interested about my cat which was having a nap on the roof though.

in my mind you shouldn't feel ashamed for doing maintenance on the street if that's all the space you have, only thing that i worry about is some asshat might take my tools

I've had to replace the serpetine belt once before on the side of the road. Had to move the coolant reservoir out of the way and a couple of brackets to get at it with the ratchet. People came by to see if things were okay and even brought some water to me, while some told me that I couldn't work on the side of the road or in their community, et cetera.

>be brit
>do literally everything either in the street or on my drive 8' from the street
>including engine out/in
>nobody bats an eyelid

that irks me too

>spoiler delete
>muffler delete
>resonator delete
fuck em

>valve cover gasket
>few hours

what the fuck

>pod filter
>hot air intake

why?

Not being a based mechanic in Seattle that does brake jobs in the bus lane. Even though he has plenty of off-street parking. Because fuck the city. I've gotta pile up used tires on my lot.

>What sort of hell hole do you live in?

You must live a sheltered life. I'm from the normal America where lots of selfish uncaring irritable people live. It's really a genuine risk that people might hurt you or damage your car.

Some people deliberately damage cars for fun like in this picture.

>tfw did a transmission swap on the side of a busy highway.

That was the fucking fastest trans swap in history.

>Very rarely you see someone with the hood up. Feel sort of like a black sheep now
I know that feel. but sometimes cool interactions happen.
>be wrenching, replacing radiator hoses for a long trip to a hot place
>live near a school
>cool old gramps walking granddaughter home
>kid is very curious why I'm working on car
>gramps sez thoughtfully
>well maybe he's trying to make it run or make it run better
>kid sees my stickers
>yells across the street COOL CAR
>I slide out from under car and thank kid and gramps
>everybody is smiles

>be another time, getting rotors resurfaced
>car is on stands for a few days, i'm working in engine bay
>when suddenly, the same make and model pulls up next to me, only blue instead of platinum
>says he's seen my car on stands, sees i'm doing the brakes,
>asks how it's going, asks about the vehicle
>complain about some design and p/o stuff but love car
>banter initiated
>talk for like ten minutes
>dude goes and picks his kid up
>good feels

>Made a few friends, other people are burning a hole in the back of your neck
I don't have a lot of neighbors besides the school and a church, so for me it's vehicles who slow down when they see my hood up and those who speed up.
>it's a school road, speeders are the norm
people that actually talk to me are anomalies.
>I use a stolen road cone for that extra 2-3 feet too, the cops have never cared
>keeps asshole speeders from kicking dirt and rocks at me while i'm under vehicles

>I checked relevant laws, what's your status?
It seems that any vehicle that is registered can be worked on in the street pretty much indefinitely, but if it isn't registered or someone complains it will get filed as abandoned and towed a week or so after getting yellow stickered (cited)

>Working on the car in the street - yes or no?
I have a yard that i can pull my vehicles into but it's such a pain to get them in and out if it lasts less than a week I just do the work on the street.

>Very rarely you see someone with the hood up. Feel sort of like a black sheep now

Almost all the freeways here are designated as "Immediate Tow Zones" so you would not get any time to work on a car in any case. If you had not already called for a tow, the police stopping by will call for a randomly selected tow company unless you can convince him you will be driving off in a few minutes. It's a judgment call and the officer can then drive off to give you a break but he'll probably tell you "I don't want to see you still here when I pass by again".

You can always lie to the officer and say you have AAA and they will get a tow for you. The officer will drive off in that case.

Once an officer calls for the tow, you cannot leave because the tow is legally considered "under way". If you drive off to avoid the tow fee, the officer will issue you a citation for interfering with a tow operation and you'll still get the bill for a tow in the mail. Some companies will let it go if they already have other tows to go to in that area.

>Working on the car in the street - yes or no?

Homeowner Association Rules:

a. No parking in street. So no working on the car in street.

b. No parking cars in yard, must be driveway or in garage. So no working on car in driveway.

c. All visible cars must be in legal running condition. So if it needed work to make it run, it would have to be inside the garage.

d. Putting up tent or tarp to hide the car on the driveway while working on it also fails. Those cheap looking temporary type carports or unsightly tarps are prohibited.

e. Persistent Loud noises prohibited. Body grinding and some types of machining would fall into that category. Exceptions exist for home repair and home renovation though. It's never been enforced since no one has ever turned their garage into a machine shop.

The HOA is actually fairly easygoing because it's pretty easy to obey commonsense rules. The rules exist to stop people who collect junkers at their homes to repair and resell them.

inb4 a bunch of teens complain about HOAs

i rented a garage because i was sick of street folk coming up and bothering me with """"""""""shop talk"""""""""""""

but if you wanted to live where people tell you what to do why not just go to prison?

>Homeowner Association Rules:
america, land of the free

Like clockwork

Call me a pussy faggot and while I don't think the car rules are good the reason most of this exists is because dipshits buy 6 untrained dogs and let them out all day and you're living in a quantum bullshit world in which you can't even step 4 feet out on your own property without hearing barking for hours, we have threads on /k/ about this every week. By the way, if you break these codes, what happens, does the x-files monster from that one episode turn you into tar and grass?

>as long as the car doesnt stay in a immobile state for longer than 3 days
Wow, so much freedom you have to regulate working on your cars... I bet you have to keep it clean and tidy or the homeowner's association will have it towed and sell it off.

I do basic maintenance and oil changes in my driveway. Nobody bats an eyelid; this is britain. You don't just walk up to strangers and make smartass comments. It's a fine way to get punched in the face.
In the street as in actually at risk of being hit by traffic? Never. Never fucking ever would I do that. Someone would hit me and crush me against the car, or drop it onto me or something.