# 20vKarlos' Unit Refurb



## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

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Good morning all

As some of you may have seen in the Projects section, I've just brought you all up to speed of the track car I'm slowly putting together...

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=393072

Well, here's where I build (well, currently dismantle) the car.

I got a call from a local company after I put a brief Gumtree Ad out for a large garage/Small unit.

I went with my son and viewed the building on the same day. 
Went home, spoke with SWMBO and we agreed that it was a good move.

Here's the photo I took of the exterior on the day of viewing.



While viewing the unit, the sliding doors were not functioning and the wooden front was well past needing work.

That evening, I priced up a rough cost to put a new front on the unit, with a lower gradient ramp and a shutter door.
Mainly as this would NEED doing soon and I wanted bartering room! :thumb::

I called the agent the following morning and told him exactly what I was thinking...
"Yes I want the unit, but I am rather worried that the front end of the building isn't up to scratch. What will you do?"

At this point I don't think the agent quite knew how particular I was about tidiness and things looking right. Not only that, it just wasn't air/water tight. 
So I told him my intentions on the phone, and also sent him a a quick email with my intentions once I was in and settled.
Plus I added, what I expected the unit to provide me at their cost, or mine with a cheaper monthly rent.

I took a gamble in doing this, as ultimately it was very easy for them to go and find another tenant... but once a builder had looked at the unit, their (Father & Son) attitude changed quickly.

Well, he (son) gave me a moving in date, and I paid my fees on the agreement and understanding of what needed to be done before I moved in.

A week had past, nothing had changed!
I called and wasn't happy, but I was reassured that the block work would only take 3-4 days and then the shutter can go in.

So, by mid the following week I called again... "NOTHINGS HAPPENED, WHY"

I also explained that I was due to pick up a car (the 172) that weekend, as I'd been delaying it for a number of days, so that I could put it straight into the unit.

Well... you guessed it... the Unit wasn't ready for me.

Roughly three weeks had passed by and the work still hadn't started.
I was very amicable but I needed the car off the road.
I kept getting told it couldn't go in the Unit.. WHY NOT?

Then this happened...



I was FUMING! 
So I got on the phone the following morning, told them it wasn't acceptable and that 'they' would be paying the fine and needed to get the unit open within the hour as I would be coming down to get it off the road.

Plenty of time had passed by now and it was beyond reasonable, so I had to lose my cool.

Good job I did too!

We got the car in, and the works wee scheduled to start mid the following week after I had a meeting with the builder.

We managed to get a few bits done on the car, then put it to the back of the unit ready for the builders to come in.



Just before I went out to work (I work nights) I checked progress



Work got to this point (below) then suddenly stopped. 
It turns out that the foundation that the unit is built on, isn't really a great foundation.
So after the builder demanded a few things and the tight rich blokes saying no, the builder walked away as he wasn't going to put his name on a building that would fall over.



So roughly a week, maybe two went by. And I went to grab a part from the car...
This had suddenly arrived :lol:





They'd agreed with the builder to do what he needed to do. Especially after I had moaned at them again.

The empty space! Foundation poured



Then, this wall just took forever to go up.. nearly two weeks :lol:
Here's the beginning...





Nearing the end...



The ramp went in. 
It might be a little high for the Clio, but the front bumper will be easily removable.





Then two weeks later the unit looked like a unit for the first time!



The following Monday, I picked up the keys. And it was time to get moving with the cleaning and painting.







Once swept I dumped a load of G101 and water everywhere to get the worst of the dirt and dust out.



Then it was time to get the painting done





First coat





Second coat on the walls and first coat on 50% of the





2nd & 3rd coats done on floor and walls





By this point I got bored :lol:





I left a small patch so that I could get to the lights.



Then two days later I moved the car to the other side and got the rest of the floor painted.



Again, leaving the small patches as walkways.



I then marked out what needed another coat the ghetto way, and set about completing the floor





I then pulled the Superb inside, just to see if it would fit inside whilst the Clio was still inside.

Plenty of room 



I then built the shelving for the Detailing gear and the Car parts.



That's all for now guys, but there will be more to come in the near future.

LED Lighting
Installing a Sink
Possibly wall mounted shelving
Exterior lighting (for winter washing)

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## Paul08 (Jun 1, 2014)

Looks a really great space now, keep the updates coming!


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## Jonny_R (Oct 23, 2012)

cracking work so far mate :thumb:


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## Jack (May 14, 2007)

Looks like a good unit now. What a lot of hassle at the start


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## BrummyPete (Jun 10, 2010)

Nice place to hide away mate 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Paul08 said:


> Looks a really great space now, keep the updates coming!


I Shall like be back at the unit later in the week. A few things to do and measure out :thumb:



Jonny_R said:


> cracking work so far mate :thumb:


Thank you



Jack said:


> Looks like a good unit now. What a lot of hassle at the start


I was meant to move in 28th November, I got the Keys 1st April! :doublesho



BrummyPete said:


> Nice place to hide away mate


Thanks bud, I Certainly think it's a nice place to be, especially as I generally work nights, so I get to the unit for 6:30-7pm and work down there until 4am the following morning if there are things I can crack on with.

I don't use any loud power tools at night but there are a fair few things I can do without drills and grinders etc.

Music, Food & water and I'm flat out down there :thumb:

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There will be another update to the unit, coming shortly, but I do need some info as to the BEST or BEST VALUE FOR MONEY, LED strip lights, as I'd like 6 strips on the ceiling.

Water should be installed at some point soon, then it'll be time to install a sink 

Thanks all

Karlos


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

Looks good, my only concern would be the uPvc door, I'd look to cage over it perhaps?


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## Jack R (Dec 15, 2014)

Looking good, I would love a space like that again.


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## SystemClenz (Oct 31, 2008)

Nice one :thumb:


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

sshooie said:


> Looks good, my only concern would be the uPvc door, I'd look to cage over it perhaps?


:thumb:

This is something I am looking into, but my only issue is it'll have to go on the inside as it'll foul next doors shutter if it's mounted to the exterior.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

It's been a while since I posted in here and a lot has happened since I last posted.

Today I'll update 2017 and part of 2018

2017...

By November 2017 I'd stripped the Clio and got it running, so It was time for its maiden voyage! Trackday was booked for January...










2018...

So 2018 came along pretty fast and had many events and problems as to why the project has been slow...

During the first trackday, the power steering pump blew up..










It was at this point that I had a few problems. Do I sell it? Strip it? Plough more money into it?

So I threw it back into the unit and had a friend of mine drop off his 182. He bought the 182 with a snapped Cambelt and it sat in my unit for a little while until he decided what to do with it..
I offered him money for it several times, but he refused my low offers.

I'd planned to make a road legal track car out of his car, but it wasn't to be...










Lots was happening from February to August last year but I'll catch you all up to date throughout the weekend :thumb:

Here's a hint of what's to come










Thanks for looking​


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Continuing through 2018...

So the insurance replacement E Class was very useful at what it was designed to do, carry loads of stuff...
So I filled it with materials from Wickes 3 times and set about making a warmer space.

*** Whilst I knew that creating a room was going to limit the car space, I had this idea for several reasons. ***

1. it would be a warm room for me to tinker in during the winter months
2. It would have plenty of storage for valuable items to be locked away
3. My children have a warm and safe place to play if I was working on cars
4. My wife could eventually move her business here and it would house all of her tools etc.
5. Lastly... if I ever wanted to do a weekend stint down the unit, I've got a warm room to sleep in :lol:

So with that in mind, I set about making things up as I went. I had no experience working with wood before and I didn't know where to start. However, I got that stuck in, that I forgot to take many progress shots.










As you can see in the first photo, there wasn't any cross supports on any of the woodwork and if you see the corner where there isn't any insulation on the floor, you'll notice that if you follow the timber, it doesn't sit on the floor at all. 
The concrete flooring is terrible in the workshop and I wasn't going down the route of screed etc, that would just be too expensive for somebody else unit.

I spent ages, putting in braces, levelling the floor and then finally laying plywood to get it even a remotely good finish :lol:
Having said that, I was happy and packed up and headed home.

The following day I went to the unit to drop a few items there, but couldn't get in!

Everyone in the mews said they didn't know what had happened, but a kind neighbour gave me hours of CCTV footage to sift through.

I spent two days going through hours of events (it's a busy place) then I found the footage.

This had happened...






One call to the Workshop next door and it turns out that it was the apprentice.
He started the car, it was in gear and as he came off the clutch... Hello Unit 5!



















The wall didn't take long to get sorted, but I lost a lot of enthusiasm to get down to the Unit. A lot was going on at Work and Home, so the Unit became a place to just take random stuff and dump it.

I was also having major issues with my electricity.
I'd turn on a couple of plugs and lights then 20 minutes later, click...
The breaker would trip.
Lights would stay on, but all plugs would flick off.
For any normal place, it would be a case of flicking the breaker and moving on, NOT HERE!

I'd unplug everything, turn everything off and try and flick the tripped switch back. No luck!










My electricity metre is in the Unit next door!
1 metre from the electricity metre is my main fuse switch... ALSO NEXT DOOR!

The person that rents next door is hardly ever there, so I have to text him "can you turn my electric back on please" :lol:
It's an absolute joke of a place!

My plan moving forward is to install my own breaker as the one in the unit is shocking. I will run new cabling for lighting and plugs etc.

That's it for 2018... I'll update you all in due course for 2019​


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

2019...

So I got back into the unit in January and really want to get things moving.

So when I get the chance to pop into the unit for an hour or so, it's all hands on deck (terrible wood joke) :lol:

I had a grand plan for what I wanted to build in the unit and I had a brief idea how I was going to continue to build it.

I got so stuck in with the build, that I'd actually completely forgotten to take any pictures from where I left off and just continued with it.

So the first picture I took was this...










shocking picture :lol:

From the above picture, it should be very clear that I'd never plaster boarded anything before :lol:

A brief look around the room



















In the above picture, you'll notice that I've run cabling through the wall.
This is for a socket that'll later get installed.

Overall, I was chuffed to bits with how this room turned out.
Not only had I never done anything structural with wood, but the room actually turned out to be really solid.

I hated the idea of hanging a door! I have no idea why, but it had always been something I just wasn't confident I could do by myself.
I didn't realise when I bought the door aperture, that it had a horrendous bow to it and I struggled with it loads to get it remotely straight. Either way, the door opens and closes without a struggle, and as far as I'm concerned, WIN! 

So with the room built, I set about making a desk/workbench for my wife.

1) It had to be slightly higher than usual so that she could stand comfortably at the desk, but also low enough so that she could sit at the desk and be at the right height for her comfort when seated.
She's a jewellery maker and she works very close to the desk, in fact, the closer, the better.

2) It needed to have lots of potential for storage, and when not in use it could be multi purpose.

3) It couldn't have a low level rail at the front as she wouldn't be able to slide a chair underneath.

Well... here's what I came up with. 
I'd had a few pieces of timber that I'd not used on the room build, some were already cut, so I utilised those and chopped the remaining plywood board in half. This gave me my depth to the desk.










I then thought I was Jesus or something! 
All this carpentry... well, throwing together of wood... hardly carpentry :lol: :lol:

Yep... why not! Let's build a work bench!










Added a shelf on one side.










And then..... this happened!

NO JOKE!!










A car reversed into the wall, the driver knew they'd hit it, and from what I'm told, had another person guiding her back and forth to try and turn around in the mews! 
I can turn my Skoda Superb around in the mews without trouble! 
I'm told the car that hit the wall was a fiesta, but I've not yet had the CCTV footage given to me, but I'll be sure to post it here when I do.

Anyway, they made off without bothering to leave any details. So this meant I've had to let my landlord go through the long winded claims process and I have now been told that I have to go through my own claims process to claim my own compensation.

Basically I was without the unit for 1 month and my wife couldn't get anything done as we couldn't get in!
It's been costly!

Anyway, late August we got the go ahead that the work had been completed, this time I asked for a Steel RSJ type bollard to be put up as I was sick of this happening now and it's cost me a lot of wasted time and I'd still been paying for the space.

I will get a photo of the exterior when I next head down to the unit.

So, I continued with the Work bench and had the idea to put up a tyre rack...










Here's the latest photo I have of work bench. 
To say I've filled it full of stuff is an understatement:thumb:










I then wall mounted a few of the tools that I've accumulated over the years. 
Most of the tools will be replaced in the future but it's nice to have them at a easy reach location.










That's about it for now.

There are loads of things that I've not had the chance to do but here's a list of things to come...

- New fuse board
- New LED lighting
- Lighting in the office/storage room
- New sockets throughout the Unit
- Move light switch next to the door
- Additional security

If I can find a cheap motor, I'd like to motorise the shutter door if i can.

Thanks for looking and I hope I can keep you all up to date with further progression :thumb:

Karlos


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

That looks like a fantastic achievement mate. Well done. A real pity about the damage though. Did you get a reg number from the car? Can you claim back your costs/losses?

Cheers

Cooks

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## BobbyNelson (May 8, 2011)

I can't tell you how jealous I am of your space. Looks great! Shame about the apprentice damaging your unit, but at least no one was hurt...


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Cookies said:


> That looks like a fantastic achievement mate. Well done. A real pity about the damage though. Did you get a reg number from the car? Can you claim back your costs/losses?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> ...


Thank you mate, I appreciate your kind words.

As for the Reg, I 'should' be able to get that from the video footage, I found not I'll be stuffed.
As for claiming, I will only be able to claim, if I have the reg Andy the only way I can do that, is by reporting it to 101 Andy getting the police to proceed with dealings.
I'm not yet sure what's I can claim for, but hopefully I'll at least be 50% Better off than I am now.



BobbyNelson said:


> I can't tell you how jealous I am of your space. Looks great! Shame about the apprentice damaging your unit, but at least no one was hurt...


Thank you mate, I'm very luck you to be in the position of being able to afford this space, but the way I justify it to myself is that I don't Drink, smoke or do drugs, so this is my outlet if you like.

Yeah, when the damage was done the first time, the main thing was that nobody was injured.
I'd been really happy about getting things done at the unit, so when this happened, it was almost like all that enthusiasm had left me!

Then when it happened again, I almost threw in the towel on the Clio track car and was in that state of mind "I'm going to set the lot on fire".
I'm glad I didn't as it's been a great experience but I can't say that I've felt this way all the time :wall:

Thank so all


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## BobbyNelson (May 8, 2011)

20vKarlos said:


> Thank you mate, I appreciate your kind words.
> 
> As for the Reg, I 'should' be able to get that from the video footage, I found not I'll be stuffed.
> 
> ...


If things were easy, they wouldn't be so satisfying when they all come together.

Am looking forward to reading your Clio build threads...


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## sbrocks (Jul 5, 2007)

Looking good, and enjoying the Clio thread alongside this at the same time....excellent!


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

sbrocks said:


> Looking good, and enjoying the Clio thread alongside this at the same time....excellent!


Thanks mate...

More to come with this one once I can get a mate of mine to come down and sort the wiring out :thumb:


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