PRIN GARAGE:
DIY AUTO REPAIR

Matt Emden, a 2018 graduate, sees it as an opportunity for education. Stanton Ott sees it as a place to fix his bike. Forty years ago it was used to house an old pickup truck while one student was restoring it. Its history can be seen in the scarred concrete, the graffiti on its walls, and the various personal items left behind.

The Community Car Garage is behind Buck house. It is a non-descript two-door garage with a low, earth-colored shingle roof, sitting at the top of a steep wooded hill leading to the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.

There is an entrance on the north side with a heavy brass padlock barring entry. The loaned key easily operates the lock, and the proud lintel surprises your big toe.

Finding the light switch is crucial, yet difficult, as it is a dark building, with only two windows. Once the switch is flipped, the fluorescent lighting starts warming up to a dim light, never fully sufficient. But once the garage doors are opened, the natural light helps fill things out.

The equipment in the shop is grouped to one side of the shop, most of it along the wall with the door. There is an oil drum filled with varying levels of used oil depending on how many have visited to change their oil lately.

Beyond the used oil barrel is a large air compressor with a few air tools to boot. An old and lovingly worn impact wrench may have been handed down from users of the space, or perhaps was donated.

A 225-volt “tombstone” a/c current stick welder sits on a dolly with a flat wheel next to the compressor.

The work bench appears to be a repurposed steel desk, and has a thin film of oil and dirt, similar to the one coating the rolling craftsman tool box, covering some of its surfaces.

Each drawer of the tool box is full of tools from different vintages and manufacturers, and in the corner are some left-behind parts from someone’s small engine rebuild; a carburetor and what appears to be a very small engine block. Accompanying them are a gas tank and seat from a Yamaha motorcycle.

On the left side of the garage, corresponding with the left-most garage door, is a deep pit giving a worker access to a vehicle parked atop the trench. It is approximately 15 feet long and has an iron grate door to the back of the structure, looking down the hill. There are stairs up and out of the pit.

The floor of the pit is covered with sand and grime and dirt, caked on over years and years. There are spray paint markings on the pit’s cement walls, one saying “panther racing,” a reference to the club currently associated with the garage.

The building was constructed in 1983, costing $13,000. At the time, there was interest in having a space for students and faculty to work on their vehicles, and so building #868 was constructed and dubbed the Community Vehicle Garage.

There was a professor interested in teaching students and helping them with vehicle repair and maintenance, and some of the students continued working in the garage for hire. This consistent use of the garage was standard in its early years.

In the later '80s, a few non-traditional students occupied the shop for several months working on a motor rebuild for their one-ton Chevy pickup truck.

The garage is used today by a significant number of students from different parts of campus for different purposes. Students use the garage most frequently for oil changes, it seems. College Head Mechanic John Trevino has seen the evidence: about 15 gallons worth of used oil in the barrel.

One student uses the garage to service his bike, as there is a bike stand and tools available.

Emden, Panther Racing club president, expresses his view of the club as an environment in which to teach students to do simple maintenance and repairs to their vehicles, saving them money that would otherwise be spent at an auto shop.

Emden has a personal interest in bicycles, and has incorporated bicycle maintenance into the club activities. The club has not met this semester other than once early on with the goal of cleaning up and organizing.

Emden says that student interest has varied over the years, but he hopes the club is kept open as an option when interest grows.

The Community Car Garage gets continued, somewhat regular use, and with Emden graduating, it could see a change in usage. Regardless of club activities, it is clear the garage has a few people taking advantage of its convenient offerings.

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