ratsun workshop project

[Pedro]

Shit man that is a massive shed, how did you get council approval for something that large in a suburban backyard? I am totally jealous.

[Gary]

https://www.google.com/search?q=australian+money+vs+us+dollar&oq=austrila+money+vs+us+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0.12003j0j8&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

 

 

still lots of money

i was more thinking stuff like this would be cheaper in america. i dunno for sure but steel and wood and things seem cheaper over your way. and steaks too, dammit we've gotta pay $30+ for something decent, and all our good australian beef gets sent over to you fellas!

 

Shit man that is a massive shed, how did you get council approval for something that large in a suburban backyard? I am totally jealous.

fisheye lens makes it look huge, its already full and its not even done yet :( shed dudes handled the permit, i think cos of the size of the backyard it was ok, and i didnt go over an easement which was along the back fence, and i had it 1.5m away from the side fence which i think uncomplicated some things. all in all local council was pretty good, i heard horror stories about NSW councils and thought i was in for some shit

[Gary]

i noticed the bolts for the haunch and column brackets were in the wrong way, with the sheet up i wouldnt be able to tighten them if they ever got loose. took aages to swap them

 

then sorted the sheets

 

started putting them up

 

back wall is fixed in

 

tomorrow will work out the front wall and move a car out of the way so hopefully the hoist can be dragged in. not too far to go

[Gary]

ive moved some stuff in early and the hoist was in the way so i moved it into the shed, then started and finished putting sheets up on the front

 

then stood the hoist up to get a better idea of where i'm gunna put it, not that i needed to yet, i was just procrastinating from getting up and trimming the front and back walls to suit the roof line

 

finally found motivation, got some cutting wheels then got chopping. rough job but the edges are covered by flashing, which its all ready for now. not much fun up there

 

cleaned inside up a bit so i can keep working, also reassembled a quick bench i made ages ago. its made from some 16mm plate i stole from my brother

 

ready to move in really, just need some bigger tools moved in and a couple more cars

[Eagle_Adam]

keep at it man!!! this will be an awesome shop when your done!

[Gary]

little bit more done

 

figured out where the hoist is going, have to be careful or else ill have to choose between being able to have cars on the hoist both ways, or have a mezzanine. with some rearranging this is the plan so far:

 

then screwed most of the front down properly, and fit the corner flashing. looks a bit better than rough cut ends

 

i looked at the hoist posts and realise those bits with the sticker on have to be bolted on top of the post. but theyre the wrong way round, so they had to come off. but the roof is in the way so i had to drop them again. now theyre good. fuckin.

[anth]

Very cool!

[Gary]

finally decided on where the hoist is going, i wanted cars to be able to go on both ways so i rethought the mezzanine and made it higher

 

drilled the slab, hit reo on all 5 bolts on one side, the other side was fine. the posts are even and held down but not to torque yet. also figured out where some stuff like the pump and release system goes, i dont have a manual for the hoist which is annoying. pretty sure im missing a fluid line, and on closer inspection the welding for the hoist is horrible. seriously doubt itd get past its own worksafe certification. ill keep an eye on em and just weld it properly if i need to.

 

ill fill that seam with grout eventually

 

hows that for clearance

 

also fitted the door, which wasnt much fun. long story, but its up

 

reeeaallly need to get my machinery over here, i think ill work on that for the next couple days. having tools and shit everywhere is starting to get painful

[Ratwagon1600]

Faaarrrrrkkk, very jealous!

 

I'm lucky enough to have a decent size garage (albeit without the hoist), though your setup looks great!

 

I know I could Google it, but, any advice on the Cad sort of program for the shed layout?

 

Need to do a massive redesign/clean-up of my stuff.

[Gary]

used to be called google sketchup, now i think its trimble sketchup

 

really handy :D

[Gary]

about time for an update

i got the shed together, just needed sheets screwed down properly and gutters and flashing. i may have lost motivation to get this done, so instead of working on the shed more i focused on moving in.

 

so for moving stuff in nothing i had at the time could tow a trailer, but i needed spares for another car i have and found its dirty twin (filthy lexus) locally for cheap so i picked it up. one wiring fix and most of the car worked perfect again, it was obvious it'd been neglected for a long time though. not sure what i'll do with the bits after my other one is fixed.

 

a few trips later i had the tools in;

 

and a bunch of other stuff moved in

 

aaand the 620 in where it belongs

 

my compressor broke ages ago so i got a new motor for it, for some reason it didn't fit where i used to have it so i had to go all stanceworks and slam it. yes i know the rubber will camber out soon, idgaf #yolo

 

i figured out the mezzanine after a few different ideas

 

then ordered some steel, cut it at work and brought it all home

 

while i was at it, using some offcuts of the UB i made a few dollys for the 620. much cheaper way to go, just the flange cut out of one side at each corner then some castors. they work awesome

[Gary]

the 510 had seized rear drums so i dissembled them and got some spare wheels onto it so i could move it into the shed

 

i can't tell you just how good this felt. safe and off its wheels. i had an old dolly i made ages ago for another car i had, the 510 fit on it good so up it went

 

panorama didn't really work good but here it is anyway

 

i had some plates profiled because i was lazy, they came out nice though. i stacked them nicely to account for each type, brought the rest of the steel into the shed and let it sit there for a while. then moved it toward the back and let it sit there for a while longer

 

i slowly made progress on adjacent things i needed for the mezzanine. the crane i had needed some more strength and stability for what i had in mind for it, and i made a little bevelling guide for my plasma. works ok, not a tool that'd last but it did what i needed it to

 

i got a little more of the shed screwed down and some flashing on. i really didnt want to do it for some reason

[Gary]

a good while later i finally dragged my ass into the shed to get some things made. with work and social life, finding motivation to get welding was hard. i eventually figured out a routine to get some progress in though. time sure flies when you're procrastinating.

there aren't many pics inbetween, but i moved a few more little things in. i started my newfound motivation with preparing the columns for the mezzanine;

 

bevelling bevelling bevelling. my welder does ok but still only single phase so i bevelled where i could so i'd feel better.

 

i wanted the columns as close to the shed supports as possible for more room and so i can bolt into their piles, the back wall had floor brackets in the way though. to save changing them i milled (then ground) the baseplates for the mez columns to suit

 

progress felt good, had me in a good mood

 

column flanges to cap plates i thought it'd be better if i FSBW. i was a little worried about penetration with this welder. my bevelling was a bit uneven but the unimig managed a pretty good few runs for 240A

 

yeah, uh, 258A welder. that's what's written on the front. yep.

[Gary]

510 was there to help motivate. it's really comforting knowing it's safe and dry. i started work on the arches, setout was basic but accurate in the end. concreters did pretty good.

 

had them both within 1mm, mitres were pretty good. if they were out by much it'd hurt fitup of nearly everything else so they had to be alright

 

started work on the beams, i borrowed a mag core drill from work for the holes (22mm). anything above 16mm these drills are great, very fast holes

 

some gussets and flanges. the first few welds were a bit spattery, i cut it down a little as i went on but i was already maxing out the welder so leaning more toward spray transfer wasn't going to happen with the 5mm fillets i wanted

[Gary]

the welder started clipping out on those gussets since the runs were long. a short break after each was annoying but still worked out ok.

 

my MIG was getting a little carried away, its supposed to be good for 240A

 

i was lazy and welded out of position, all groove welds though

 

sure why not

 

assembling a little more, was starting to take shape now

 

wat

 

last bit to get together was the beam at the top, it needed a few gussets i didn't get profiled and some holes i didn't drill previously so had to plasma cut.

 

i thought about it, assembling one piece at a time would be better on my lifting tools, but impossible to do because of the height. and less safe when working that high. so i got a bigger ram for my crane (air operated now which is nice) and bolted the mezzanine together on the ground ready to lift it all at once

 

big lift, so i worked on the hoist a little more and got it working so i could use that. i was a little worried since it was at full extension and only lifting on one end, and lifting to full height too. but i kept an eye on it all and it went up without much of a problem. no progress pics though, i was too busy jumping at every creak made by anything in the shed at the time during the lift.

[Gary]

aand standing by itself. the legs weren't in the right place, i needed to work on drilling the slab so the legs could bolt down. eventually did that and got the second beam up and in. was a bit of a squeeze but hammered it in ok

 

hell yeah mezzanine. looks better than i thought it would

 

structural fasteners to be sure

 

messing around with the hoist, it lifts to about 1800mm clear but since the mezzanine is there some cars are limited to about 1400

 

i swung by a place liquidating stuff from a closed mine. i got a good chain lift and trolley for cheap as, works good. having a lift that high is really really handy. i can work with much heavier things easily now

[Gary]

some olddd sheet steel. i tried sand blasting it but i don't have enough psi to pull it off. nor patience, sandblasting sucks. i kind of like how it currently looks anyway

 

these two will make the floor, like this

 

having storage is gooood. a bike is up there, a spare engine and the sewing machine i used for the 620. feels like i have a whole shed again.

 

moving on from mezzanine i had to work out storm water drainage. i don't like digging. getting there though

[Gary]

yesterday there was a big downpour which softened everything up real nice. much easier digging after heavy rain. i got most of it done

 

just needs gutters up and roof screwed down properly

[tr8er]

This looks perfect

[fisch]

Wow man. Every bit as inspiring and fascinating as a 510 build to me. And the fact that you seem to be a one man army doing this with no extra hands, you are like superman or something!

[maltese]

This is awesome! Love it.

[Draker]

Are you planning on parking a military tank on that mezzanine? 

 

 

The shop looks fantastic! I am so jealous. I'd like to have a space like that to work out of.

[INDY510]

Are you planning on parking a military tank on that mezzanine?

Yeah... I was wondering why it was so beefy, but now it makes sense with motors/bikes/tools up there, and you could even put a car shell up there ... Nice work!!

[Gary]

i'm glad it inspires :) i couldn't find many like this when i was trying to figure mine out. there were lots of nice looking garages and man caves and things but not many that you'd really be able to work out of. i've had help here and there and i've got help available when i need it too which is nice. you sort of get used to doing things yourself and at your own pace

i made the mezzanine heavy because i'm no engineer :huh: should be safe for a few more engines up there and still be able to use the chain lift though

[Mr.Dean_Yates]

little more progress, would have been a lot more were it not for weather

 

some more sheets up, these were small and easy, the roof sheets managed to hold me up there ok

 

damn weather. rain was on and off all day. this pic was taken same time, one side was beautiful, the other was rain and wind. perfect shed weather

 

this side done

 

was raining pretty consistent toward the end of the day, so i put these roof rails together at the right length ready for the top roof. still dunno how im going to do that

 

also since it was undercover i fitted some of these, kind of a draft/weather seal. i just hope it keeps out spiders

I know I'm about 2 years late on this reply but...for spiders any basic pesticide will work. The best two are bifenthrin, and the other is lambda-cyahlothrin. Lambda is what we use in Arizona to kill scorpions...which are alien creatures...but works wonders for spiders. Order a small bottle of it off amazon or what ever, mix it to 0.06% [instructions are in the label package] and spray along the roof eve and along the ground outside and that will keep all spiders out. As well as any other bug that happens by.