<VV> Winter Storage followup

[Bill Elliott]

A couple of months ago, we had a discussion concerning winter storage for Corvairs (and other cars) and I mentioned I had decided to go with the cheap 
Harbor Freight garage:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42211 at $199 delivered.  

The local HF store had it at the same price, but just recently ran a sale for $169 (not including tax).

Actually I bought two of these and put them end to end, making one long narrow garage.

So what have I discovered?

The frame is a LOT lighter than I had anticipated (having visions of those Hershey and Carlisle tents) and the bits just slide together instead of a positive joint 
while the vinyl is a little heavier than I'd guessed.  The only modification I made to the design was to use some 1/4" rope to hold the frame (and the two 
garages) together tighter than they would otherwise be. Besides helping with rigidity, this also enabled me to overlap the fabric on both tents for an unbroken 
roof.

Assembly was easy and straghtford, requiring no tools.  Even with all my fussing and stuff, I got both garages up in about 4 hours. Next time I could do it in 2 
or less.

The anchors might be decent for pavement but are usless for dirt. I plan to buy some building anchors and/or use concrete anchor points.

For the time being, I used boards that I had lying around... placing them over the bottom frame  and them parking cars and tractors on them.

This week, we have had temps in the single digits and winds of 30-40mph for three days straight. Stuff was blowing around all over, but the garages 
remained stable... the only weakness being the rod that the zippered door hangs on coming loose because the attachments are weak. I'll reengineer that a 
little bit, but otherwise, for the price ($398 total delivered) I have a pretty decent 9x33' garage. Even if it only lasts a couple seasons, it will have been worth 
it.

I'll report back on the first heavy snow...

Bill Elliott