Hi All,

Just posting a few pics i took yesterday.

The garage is nearly finished now, just need to paint the floor and fit my work bench/storage cupboards at the top end. This will probably be nearer the end of September now for other reasons.

Nice to have the garage reasonably tidy now and you can see the car again!

Still at the mock up stage, i have plenty of changes to do, so any suggestions you lot can see would be much appreciated!

I fitted the oil cooler and intercooler to the chassis just to see what they looked like, it’s going to be a beast.


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Cheers, Rob

Garage is looking great!

So is it basically a Locost book chassis with an extended rear section to take the coupe engine?

Is it in wood still or metal now? Sorry I can't tell from the pics!

Hi GRRR,

Thanks about the garage, I have been working on it over the summer and its about 85% finished now. Got the floor to paint, refit my external light, label up my switches and build my proper work bench. Managed to get a full kitchen set off my boss for free, just got to help him remove it. Going to fit a dish washer too for cleaning engine bits. Should be quality when it’s done!

Well, it started off as a standard book locost about 18months ago, I marked out the bottom rails of the car in 25mm masking tape on the kitchen floor, this then was changed into 2D CAD drawings, which I still have to complete. The car was shortened around 400mm from the front end to the start of the passenger compartment. I have widened the whole lot by around 80mm and made the transmission tunnel narrower, basically all that needs to run through there is the gear linkage, fuel/brake/coolant lines etc. I could have got rid of it altogether but I think it makes for a nice strong structure the way it is now, and I think bending could be an issue with that heavy 5 cylinder lump stuck in the rear. The rear end has basically been developed around the rear suspension and engine layout, it needs looking at as I am not happy with a lot of it, the engine sits too high on the subframe and so need to get it a bit lower. This will be a winter job, so hopefully in the new year I can begin the actual build, in steel!

Yes, this is still wood and plastic.

[Edited on 9/8/11 by b14wrc]

Don't take this the wrong way, and sorry for the hijack, but the floor paint is nearly guaranteed to peel or bubble and unless the floor is prepared very, very, very well, it's going to be a big disappointment. I ended up using a large sheet of carpet.

My floor paint has chipped quite a bit where I've dropped heavy things on it / dragged engine cranes about etc, but it's still well worth doing compared to not, IMO. Much easier to sweep and mop up. A fresh coat after the build and she'll be apples.

Hi Guys,

Totally appreciate the advice and warnings. I have read into floor paint and get mixed views. My boss has painted many workshop floors and never reported a problem. Maybe I need to open this up as a new topic??

Not sure if I want carpet in the garage, will get dirty easily but would add to the warmth in the winter. My Girl friend would not be happy with me putting carpet in the garage, doing my house up and not got carpet in there yet!

I was thinking an Epoxy two pack paint? Red to match my wood work? Or light grey/blue to contrast?

Car wise, I have some issues with the rear end, I don’t think it will be strong enough as it is at the moment. I have crammed a lot of engine into typically the same space as a standard locost, I checked last night, the overall length of the locost rear section is about 720mm and mine at the moment is about 750mm. Wheel base will be about the same though even though I have shortened the front.

Rob

I'd definately go for the epoxy stuff - it's supposed to be much harder than normal paint. Only reason I didn't was because I didn't have a damp proof membrane under the concrete, and it's apparently rather sensitive to damp. In the end, I used damp proof paint from Johnstone's, with normal floor paint on top. As it happens, the damp proof stuff is fantastic, and I think that epoxy would have been fine.

Carpet is useful, I've got a piece by the bench, and it is a bit nicer in the winter, but after a couple of years mine is knackered. I wouldn't use it instead of paint, but it's good on top. Plus if you're getting some fitted to the house, you'll have some handy offcuts

If putting ordinary floor paint onto a new concrete floor mix your first coat 50:50 with thinners. That way it soaks into the floor, then when its not quite dry put the second coat on. Will last well and is easy to just repaint when it eventually wears.

Any Photos of your floors guys?

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Originally posted by The Black Flash
Carpet is useful, I've got a piece by the bench, and it is a bit nicer in the winter, but after a couple of years mine is knackered. I wouldn't use it instead of paint, but it's good on top. Plus if you're getting some fitted to the house, you'll have some handy offcuts

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quote:

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Originally posted by b14wrc
Any Photos of your floors guys?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Doug68

quote:

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Originally posted by The Black Flash
Carpet is useful, I've got a piece by the bench, and it is a bit nicer in the winter, but after a couple of years mine is knackered. I wouldn't use it instead of paint, but it's good on top. Plus if you're getting some fitted to the house, you'll have some handy offcuts

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I wouldn't put carpet in areas where I weld - grind it'll go up in flames one day.
Been there done that

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Hi All,

Just reading through the post. I have been away in Cyprus for the last week – first day back in work and first chance to look at the forum over lunch.

Thanks for the photos of the floors, both impressive photos. Car and Engine!

Not sure if I like red or grey best now….

Anyway, I am collecting my Kitchen on Friday afternoon, so I will finally get some proper storage built into the workshop which means less mess and it should look tidier. I have just started doing my MSc part time, so not really going to have any more time to play with the car until the end of September. I intend to get the floor painted then. So still can’t decide if red would better than grey??

Rob

Just my 2p.

I painted my floor and while it looked OK, everytime I dropped something it either broke, disappeared or shot off under the far side of the car.

I fitted rubber tiles a few years back. Now when I drop stuff it just lands there ready to pick up. Also using black tiles makes small nuts and bolts, easy to see.

I've got 11mm black rubber stable matting in my workshop, - very comfortable to kneel/sit/lie/stand on and suprisingly warm too. It doesn't like brake fluid being spilt on it (swells up), but it does appear to be quite difficult to ignite with weld spatter! Search for it on eBay.

Ed.