Setting up an automobile repair shop: What do I need?

Filed under: Classic News |
If you’re a dab hand at repairing vehicles, you’ve completed your mechanical and diagnostics training and have had experience working in a shop or dealership, you may look to eventually open up a repair facility of your own. Whether you invest in a premises, or open up at home, there are a number of pieces of equipment you will need to get started.

What is an automobile repair shop?

Simply put, an automobile repair shop (also known as a garage or workshop) is a business where cars, vans, motorbikes and other vehicles are repaired by mechanics and technicians. Day-to-day employees can be working on a number of automobiles with a variety of problems.

What equipment is needed?

Hoists

A lot of repair work done to vehicles will be when they are raised up. No matter the type of mechanic business you want to be, you’ll more then likely need to use hoists on a daily basis. With that in mind, it’s worth investing in some high quality ones that will withstand the tests of everyday use.

Clear floor hoists will give you the best access to the parts of the car you need to work on, because there will be nothing between the two sides restricting your path.

Shot Blast Cabinets

When undertaking works on vehicles, a shot blast cabinet like those from SGS Engineering will come in extremely handy. These help to remove surface rust and other corrosion to give a bright new finish to metal components. Ideal if you’re wanting to get the underside of a vehicle looking and performing as good as new.

Spanners

You will need these in abundance. It would be easier if nuts and bolds were all standardised however, they’re not. There are a huge number of different sized bolts which are use on cars, meaning you’ll need an equally huge number of spanners to remove them.

Tyre Changer

If your new establishment is going to stock tyres for customers, you’ll need a tyre changer. Relying on your own strength will often leave you tired and frustrated; it’ll also most likely make the job much longer than it should be. With the sheer amount of tyres you’ll be changing, it is well worth investing in this piece of kit; it’ll make the job less labour intensive and much faster!

Among other things you’ll need a tool box or tool drawers to keep everything together so you can find bits when you need them. You may also want to invest in body shop management software to keep a track of all the jobs coming in and getting completed. This skilful career can be very rewarding, as long as you invest in the right equipment from the offset.