I like to have a system for things. Plus Nanatechnology

Here is the '58 in the garage. If the '58 has a downside, it is its sheer size. This thing really fills up a space. See how tight it is in there?

That's what she said.


So to give myself some working room, I like to roll the car out of the garage and work on it in the driveway. My driveway has some slope to it, so getting it back into the garage takes some doing. The slope is too much to just push the car in by myself. About 10 years ago I tried that with my dragster (a much lighter car) and did in fact rip out a previous hernia repair so that I needed yet another hernia repair on top of it. Yes really. Too bad I didn't have Nana-technology*.

I then mounted an electric winch to the rear garage wall, and I used that for a while to pull the car back in. Eventually I could see how much the wall flexed while using the winch, so I got a little concerned that I was going to pull my whole house down doing this.

I now use the "tugboat" method. I drive my daily car up to near the garage door, and roll the '58 out until they rest bumper to bumper. I can reverse the cars down the driveway in a controlled fashion, and then push the '58 back in with the daily when I'm done. I chock the '58's wheels if I have to move the daily car.

You can see I have refined this method by placing a tire between the cars to minimize scratching and to add a cushioning effect. The problems with this were that it was difficult to place the tire initally, and it would sometimes slip down and just fall under the cars during the procedure.


My final improvement:

I put a loop of rope around the tire that I can just slip over the hood latch mechanism on the '58. This keeps the tire in place, and is easy on/ easy off.
Here's a long shot of the set-up. Yes, I have to get out of the daily a couple of times while doing this to monitor the side clearances and adjust the '58's steering wheel.

I like to have a system for things. Especially things that I have to do repeatedly, or are dangerous, or are tedious. Especially if it's all three.  But so far this has worked out pretty well. No more hernias. Controllable. Simple. Cheap. It's a good system.

*I hear a lot about nano-technology. I don't know what that is, and I don't know why it is such a big deal. My idea is nana-technology. You know, nana, like your sweet old grandmother. The thing is, individually they're kind of weak, so you have to amass a lot of nanas to get it to work. Think about having like 100 nanas, all working at once to help you out with a task. Think about how much you could get done with the combined power of 100 nanas.

There would be some inefficiencies, like some taking a break for tea, and some needing a nap, and probably they all want to watch Golden Girls when it's on. But the sheer number of 100 nanas means something would inevitably get accomplished. They would have the '58 pushed into the garage right quick. Plus they would be bringing you snacks, and knitting you sweaters, and all the other nice things nanas are known to do. I know, the more you think about it, the more you like it, right? Nana-technology.

Photo source: The internets. IDK who took it.