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Well, when we moved into our new shop two years ago this January, it was a mess. It was basically a 4 year old building that needed a complete remodel and update to make it a clean, modern, efficient speed shop/repair center with a functional showroom and office. We also remodelled the front restroom for customer use. This shop has two restrooms, one is used by employees in the shop area.
We started by remodelling the farthest bay from the showroom by ripping out the makeshift cieling-tiles-nailed-to-the-walls covering and installed 2X4's for mounting insulation and then drywall. We also had to put 2X4's in the cieling for mounting drywall and then blowing in isulation.
Ben put in 8 large lights, a gas filled bulb that is very bright. They light up all the bays like daylight, it's so bright I kid that we'll need to work in sunglasses. A bright area is also a safe work environment.
After the walls and cieling were finished, we started sanding and prepping the floor for paint. It took many weekends and weeknights to get the floor prepped and ready for the paint. Ben, Kurt and I worked many late hours running the grinders and working on getting the primer, base and then clear on the paint. It did turn out very nice though!
Tommy and his Dad came in and taped and mudded the walls and stomped the cielings so we could mount the dyno and the 4 post rack that went with it. It took us a long time and a lot of hands to get that huge thing into place and the rack set level and square too. Everything went together and we were making the first pulls in late February/early March. Everyone was excited to see the dyno finally work. It was a blast to put my car on it and make some pulls and get the first hp numbers out of it. It is a DynoJet 224 XLC with a loading cell and 4 post lift that we can use for other things like suspension set up and pinion angle adjustment when the dyno isn't in use.
We then moved onto the middle bay where we had to start the same demo and cleaning up. In that bay we also laid out walls and built and engine assembly clean room so I could assemble engines and keep my projects in a clean, organized area. It als gives me a nice area with a U shaped nearly 36 feet of counterspace to lay out parts and my measurement equipment. Makes putting an engine together much quicker and more efficient.
Pictures of the inside of the nearly finished engine room:
Pic of the closet for water heater and storage, roughed in:
We then moved onto to focusing on the walls, we put in the 2X4's in the walls and cieling just like the end bays, but this one went much quicker because the engine room had walls already prepped for drywall, and it took up wall space too, making the rear wall very easy to do, with such a small exposed space left, the middle dividing wall was already done from the other bays, so it just left the small spots between garage doors, and the wall against the showroom was already prepped for drywall as well. It went a lot faster and was ready for taping and mudding in much less time. We got all that done then started sanding the floors again and then began painting them. Scott, Ben and I laid the primer and paint on, and it turned out very nice.
It was time to get new racks for the shop so I began shopping around for a deal. Found a good deal on two racks and had them shipped to the shop. Ben had them up in a week with a little help from me. He wired them up and we lifted some cars up and down to get the adjustments correct and they were ready for duty. That gave us 4 racks so job turn around is sped up because we don't have to worry about a vehicle being stuck on the rack waiting on parts. It helps the customer by ensuring a speedy turnaround.
Ben then ran airlines from the other bay where the air compressor is to the middle bay and we mounted up air hose reels so the hoses won't lay on the ground. We have the same thing in the dyno bay as well. We also ran air lines to our trans bench, porting bench and to the dyno area.
The showroom and office area is the last part of the building's remodelling and it is coming along nicely too. Ben is back at it, putting the 2X4's in the walls and cieling of the showroom. Then he wired up the outlets and put lighting and the recepticles for the track lighting as well as the wires for speakers and the LCD Screen where we will play race videos and other media for customers. He then put slat board on the walls so we can hang product and put up shelves for displaying products in the showroom.
Andrew and Andrew are putting the finishing touches on the showroom drywall taping and mudding the screws and seams. They will be stomping the cieling as well in the next week or so. Once the front showroom is finished up with drywall, taping and mudding and then paint, the office will be vacated and the last section of remodelling will be done in the office area. We are putting a new heat pump with gas backup in to heat the office, the showroom and the engine room.
Keep checking in for updates on the showroom and office projects! |
