Current progress so far
Links to parts and information websites
Where I will be building my diablo
Where most of the important bits come from
The stuff it all bolts to
What makes it go
What makes it pretty
The cars nervous system
Where you sit
The gubberment bit
 
Who really cares?
Stuff that will not fit anywhere else
Other diablo replica websites
 
Workshop construction

This page shows you the progress I am making with my workshop. I intend to do all of the construction of the replica in here, and put a pool table in after I am done...


This is construction in early October 2004. The base is roughly eighteen feet square. Two openings are at the front for a window and a door, one at the side for the main workshop doors. Brick laying here is at the second course level. A third course needs to be layed before the larger aerated concrete blocks can be laid. The cement base is six inches thick laid over a hardcore base of bricks, concrete lumps and old engine blocks and heads a neighbour needed rid of. The base was laid in four sections due to its size over a period of two days. Excavation of the hole was done with a digger I borrowed in easter to dig a pond.


November the 5th 2004. Just before guy fawkes night. Another two courses of the concrete blocks need to be layed and the lintels installed before the apex roof can go on.


A few days later, just before the concrete lintels are due to be installed over the doorways and windows. The reason some of the blocks are different colours is because I got some reclaimed ones from my mechanic mate Danny, who was demolishing a shed made from these same type blocks in his back garden. The old cement cleaned off easily enabling me to save significant money, those blocks arent cheap!


Here is another front view showing the window and the lintels installed. The happy guy in the window is Duncan. He has just finished installing the window. The wooden beams across the top are bolted down into the blockwork up to two blocks deep. The roof rafters screw down into the timbers, preventing the roof from blowing off in high winds.


Here the roof rafters are installed. Duncan has laid the first roof board. I am using 18mm OSB board to line the roof, underlay and then felt placed on top to weatherproof it completely. The cool looking dude is me.


Almost all of the roof boards are laid here. The roof is very sturdy. You can jump up and down on it and its does not budge an inch. Duncan really knows how to do this sort of stuff.


Here is another picture just before christmas showing the cladding. I will wait until the weather warms up before painting the timbers. If I paint them now, when they shrink in the summer, they will show unsightly unpainted bits. The feather edge board the workshop is clad in is secured to the blockwork by battening over damp proof membrane.


Here is a picture of the main doors. They are hollow doors filled with loft insulation to reduce noise transmission. I want to be able to bash about or use power tools without disturbing anyone.


The french doors are from Wickes and cost around £279. This is one of their cheapest doors and lets me bring big things in and out of the workshop without needing to open the big doors. The window was reclaimed from a job Duncan did earlier on in September 2004. The french doors are quite easy to install and are screwed and foamed into the building structure.


January 2005. Here you can see all the wiring is in, I have two double power points on each wall, all RCD protected. The walls have been sealed and painted with smooth masonry paint. Do not bother with the 'one coat' stuff, you still have to do two coats so you might as well use the cheaper stuff. I used roughly 12.5 litres of paint. The mutt spreading mud around my floor is 'Dama', our German Shepherd Dog. She presently has a white right hand side as she decided to rub herself along a freshly painted wall. The flat-pack on the right is a fold away workbench. I will be putting some cupboards and other storage bits in, as well as putting some blinds up to stop prying eyes.


January 23rd 2005. Felting is now completed and fully trimmed. Gary came round on helped to finish this stage off. The only jobs to do now are guttering, corner trims and to seal and paint the floor. I will need to install a ramp up to the big doors and to level off the ground surrounding the workshop. I will also cement a step in front of the french doors to stop mud splashing up it.
Heres the chassis in its new home. The floor has been coated with two layers of an epoxy based paint. This stuff is formulated for workshop floors and will make clearing oil spills and the like up much easier.
This is the old garage at the front of the house which needs to be demolished to get the car out. It was used by the previous owner to store a robin reliant, but later a disability car, the garage door at the front replaced with a standard shed door.
This is an internal shot showing the construction. In the middle of the floor is a filled in inspection pit. Rats and mice have excavated underneath it making it structurally unsound. The entire slab needs to be broken up and a new piece of concrete laid.
After demolishing the shed, you can see down the garden much more clearly. The car was extremely easy to get out, and proved to be no problem loading up.

After a few hours with a pneumatic drill, I have broken the base up and using a whacker plate I have smashed the remaining concrete pieces up and flattened the whole area. The base is roughly 18 inches wider than the original, although looks much wider than the original.

The length of the base also incorporates what was a dog-run. My dog no longer needs to be locked up to stop her wandering so I have incorporated the garage base into this old building.

Here the concrete has been poured. Its a very large slab, and took almost six tons of 10mm ballast. It took four of us all day to lay this concrete.

The cables sticking up out of the concrete are the power feed from the house, and one going down to the bottom of my garden.
Framing has begun in this picture. Its on 400mm centres of 2x3 inch timber. Using 18mm moisture resistant chipboard screwed to the framing, the garage sides are very strong and stiff. The whole structure is built onto a single course of brickwork, separated by a layer of damp proof membrane.
The roof is being assembled here. Its a truss design, My neighbour Nigel helped me build and erect them. In actual fact he did most of the work, I just held his tools for him....

Once all the trusses are in place, a layer of protec in stapled to the timbers before battens are nailed on and tiles hung.
Heres the finished article, more or less. There are a few little jobs that need doing, such as ridge pieces and cementing the front cloaking. The reclaimed big picture window means I will be able to stare at my car as I wander up and down my garden, excellent!

The garage door is a seven foot wide door from screwfix, I should have a few inches of clearance either side of the wing-mirrors.