Hey guys,
Hope everyone here at the site is doing well as the cold and bitter winds as well as sleet, snow, and chilling rain slaps the northern and southern areas. Still hard at work on my custom cab, even out in the crappy weather, but making progress. I'm looking, as you will have so obviously guessed by reading the title of the post, to enclosed my ford from the awful weather, rain or shine, but unfortunately, barely making $7.54 an hour isn't exactly going big guns here so I was hoping you guys might be able to possibly give a better form of insight as to whether it might be for feasible to build an shed or makeshift garage myself, on which I haven't even calculated the cost of all the lumber needed, as well as the insulation and tin siding, or would it be better to get a carport, where all I would have to add to the structure would be the tin siding, insulation, and maybe a few 2x4's to make the doors. The cost of the carport at the cheapest would come to $695 before taxes, so I suppose there are a few the figures I need to go through, but I really wanted to get some advice from you guys from your own experiences. Also, I've finished the grinding, cleaning, and priming and painting of the water pump, thermostat housing, fan, fan pulley, carburetor linkage, and every bolt and washer that's come from the fan and pulley assembly, thermostat housing, intake and exhaust manifold, radiator(which is soon to be prepped, primed, and painted, as well as flushed thoroughly). I need to find a good used exhaust manifold, as the old one is so rust eaten and pitted that I believe that grinding it would only thin the extremely oxidized channels of the manifold. I also seriously need some input on whether to save the original style side bed, of which there is extreme damage to the drivers side having been crushed in, and it's hard enough finding a short bed at that. I'll send the pics of the newly refurbished parts as I go. Thanks again for all your help, and I hope that I can be of the same assistance to you guys as well.

Greetings from sunny(and chillingly cold lol) Texas!

 

If you are looking for a low budget shelter, how about a tent? Get some EMT or similar tubing or pipe about 3/4" in diameter and make hoops tall enough to cover the truck and wide enough to give you room to work. I like EMT (conduit) because you can use the connectors for EMT to splice pieces together to make the lengths you need. Drive rebar into the ground to suit where you want the hoops placed and put the hoops over the rebar. Tie the hoops together with some more pieces of EMT to stabilize them and rig up some tie downs to keep everything in place in the wind. Cover it all with a big (or several) poly tarps. You might even find used pipe or EMT at a scrapyard to help keep the cost lower.

You can even make a wood frame and do the same.

And I have also seen kits that have the tubing, connectors, and other pieces. With clear poly sheeting they are used as low cost greeenhouses.


A few years ago, I added a lean to on the back of my pole barn to keep a truck under cover using four 4x6 poles, home made trusses, t111 siding and steel roof panels, but it was not very inexpensive.

 

Out on the river we use 2x4's, 2x2's and VisQueen, a fiber reinforced poly, that comes in huge sizes. Those sheds hold snow weight, and stand up to the wind all winter with no problems. This can be done very cheaply, if you can find junk lumber.

 

Google PVC Green House, for low cost Quonset Hut style cover.

The clear poly sheeting is not UV stable so lasts only about a year.

The Henry's 287 White Elastomeric Coatings will stick to the sheeting and give it a longer life, let in work light, and keep it cooler in Palm Springs.

You can brush, or roll it on, but you need something like a Graco 733 to spray it.

Do not know what it will do in -40 with that white stuff you guys like.

C