Shawn S

For you guys lucky enough to have garages for your rides, what is the best overhead lighting for AUTO work?

I have a 24’ x 32’ garage and all it has inside for lighting are (4) 150-Watt light bulbs.
It doesn’t help that they are mounted WAY up on the 10FT high ceiling.
When I’m waxing the car I always have to pull it OUTSIDE into the natural light when I’m doing the final wipe-down.
Of course I can’t do this when it is raining or dark outside.

I have several portable lights I can use for working under the hood or if I need light in ONE specific area, but these don’t work too well when waxing.

Is there something better I can install directly over the car that will correct this problem?
I’m thinking of something like TWO 8-FT long Florescent lights about 8FT apart that would shine directly down the sides of the car.
Or maybe TWO on each side so I can also get coverage past the front & rear of the car.

My dad tells me that Florescent lights are not good in a detached garage with no heat because it can get pretty COLD out there in the winter time and it would be bad for the ballast’s.

Any ideas to share?
What do you have?

Shawn S

SilverBullet_RENAMED

2 8ft florescent lights one over each side is perfect. I plan on doing this myself, but for now I have a 300watt bulb in the garage and it lights the whole thing up for right now. Florescent lights will not change if they are used out doors. The garage temp, if its closed its no different from a house garage really.

gto2050

I have 6 2-lamp fluorescents in the garage. I want daylight! Fluorescent is good for showing scratches, nicks, and dents that otherwise are not visible even under sunlight.

Scrib

Hey Shawn ---

After my car washing experience yesterday, I thought I'd dig this post up and share my lighting experience.

I always hand wash the car in the garage, and this week it was especially filthy. After the wash, I was running some errands, and I noticed a TON on water marks on the hood.

So, this morning I busted out the Meguiars Clearner Wax and Gold Class and went to town on my baby. On a side note, the Cleaner Wax rocks!!! I know everyone is partial to ZAINO, but it's maybe worth to some members to check this stuff out. It really did a GREAT job on swirls, tar, bugs and the water marks. I didn't apply much of any pressure at all to the clear coat.

Anyhoo... After I was done, I wanted to see if the marks were actually removed AND see if I missed removing wax anywhere.

I got out a portable halogen light, and basicaly moved around the car. Everything from remaining wax, to unsightly scratches to paint defects showed up REALLY well. I was so impressed with the results, I may go out an buy something like a 6ft stand that has a couple halogen lamps on it and continue to use the portable lamp for moving around the car.

There are fluorescent lamps in the garage (condo. unit, so I unfortunately just can't put more lights in the ceiling), and I find fluorescent light poor compared to halogen. My Dad has fluorescents on one side of the garage and halogen on the other. We'll take halogen anyday...

Just my $0.02...