A New Beginning: The Scrubworkshop

[Scrubworks]

This is a bit of a long one, so make a cup of tea. Otherwise, there’s a TL;DR at the end.

If you’re one of the people who’ve followed my witterings on this forum for the past few years, you may have noticed that I have a rather frustrating pattern with my “fleet” threads. I’ll buy a car, write a slightly long-winded introduction to it (like I’m doing right now), and provide some pictures and witticisms to enthral you with. There will then be some casual banter, followed by some update posts in the thread as work progresses steadily. The updates will then stop for several months, before a couple more make it onto the thread. The thread will then quietly die. A year or so later, a new project captures my attention and some of my bank account, and the cycle starts again. The Merc, the Moggy, the Demio, the Pajero, they’ve all fallen victim to this.

There are several reasons for this behaviour:
1. AuDHD (a rather cunning acronym used to denote the potent combination of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and ADHD).
There are no doubt a few others on this forum who have this condition (I mean, you’re on this forum), and it does have the unfortunate characteristic of forcing initial enthusiasm in *a thing*, but then being unable to sustain that enthusiasm long term, ultimately being subsumed by enthusiasm for *a new thing*. That’s not to say I lose interest in the cars themselves, but it’s no longer enough to overcome the second reason;

2. My working conditions.
Whilst I am hugely fortunate to have the space I do have, and the freedom to use it, it’s just not suitable for my needs, and the needs of the work I have to do. It won’t have escaped your notice that I manage to buy cars that turn out to need welding, usually more than I bargained for, and welding on my back has become just too difficult. My helmet (the welding one) gets stuck between the axle and the exhaust and the chassis and the ground, and I can’t look at the right angle. My LED torch falls over or runs out of battery and I can’t see what I’m doing. One arm gets stuck in the suspension. The temperature is either too hot, or it’s raining, and I risk hypothermia or electrocution. Half the year is next to useless as there’s not enough daylight. And that’s just the actual welding. To make a repair section I have to get up, cut, lay down, offer it up, get up, grind it a bit, lay down again, get up again…. ugh. Also, I have no workbench, and my wheelie bins don’t really make good substitutes.
It is, in short, an utter misery. This is the main reason my projects grind to a halt, I just can’t carry on with the welding.

3. Life.
The usual reason we’re all all-too familiar with. More important stuff gets in the way, your mental health takes a dive, you get invested in something besides cars, and of course the need to maintain one’s daily driver takes priority over discretionary projects. Most of my car work in the last 6 months has been on the Volvo S80 that I actually drive.

Don’t worry, this diatribe does have a point. My love of cars was multi-faceted in its formation, but the thing that set me on the path to wanting to work on them for a living was when I got my first Morris Minor nearly 15 years ago. For the first six or so of those years I worked for other people, through my apprenticeship, and then as a full technician, and, quite frankly, I suffered. The car-repair industry can be a fucking horrible place to work, for reasons you can probably guess, but I won’t go into here. In 2016, my mental health pretty much collapsed under the weight of a Royal Flush of undiagnosed issues. It was bad, and it took me a few years to really make progress on it. Fortunately, I finally met a doctor who knew what he was doing, and he put me on some anti-depressants that, in short, have been life-changing. I can now do *things* and sometimes even *stuff*.

Since then I’ve been doing several things to keep my head above water financially, and also progressing my mechanical skills. The irony is I’ve learned more through self-study and working on my own than I did through most of being on the job, though a month spent working with a professional engine builder did teach me irreplaceable skills. What I then realised a couple of years ago, is that my skills are now being held back by my workspace that I alluded to earlier. To progress as a mechanic, I need a proper workspace. I need a workshop. Not a workshop just for jollies, but one to become my own business. If the mechanic industry sucks, then I’ll just make my own one, out of steel plating and M8 fasteners. And, if I can find the time to use it to finally get on with the backlog of rusty shite on my drive, that’s just a neat little bonus, and not at all the reason used to contrive the whole thing.

Now, smaller commercial premises are notoriously expensive, due to demand outstripping supply far more than in the residential sector. Local councils also hate granting usage permission for use as a car workshop, if it doesn’t already have it. So, when you come across a workshop for sale that is the correct size, and has the correct usage permission, and is at the cheaper end of the market, competition is fierce. Compound all this by the fact I was looking for somewhere within commuting distance of my house in Buckinghamshire, a stone’s throw from the M1 corridor and Silverstone. This is motorsport country, and that pushes the price up.

The upshot is, over the past couple of years, I tried to buy three workshops. The first I was outmatched on by another buyer (probably for the best in hindsight as it was tiny), the second went to a sealed auction that the utter twat of an estate agent thought was a good idea (and that I didn’t win), and the third was bought for way over the asking price by a property investment firm, who then graciously offered to rent it to me for 20 fucking grand a year. Next time you’re wondering why it’s so expensive to get your car worked on, this is the main reason; no one can get premises.

I had to then make the decision that I was never going to be able to afford a workshop near my house. It’s just too expensive, and the longer I tried the more my savings would be outstripped by rising prices. So, I opened up my search to the rest of the UK. It took a bit of searching, but eventually I lucked out, and found a place down in the West Country, oo-arr. For once, my competition in buying the place was basically non-existent, so negotiations were swift. The purchase process was less so (is it ever?) but eventually contracts were signed and money handed over.

The final hurdle was that, as a former warehouse, my new unit didn’t have the correct permission from the council for use as a car workshop. Fortunately, the planning consultant I employed said that it would basically be a shoe-in, since there were already two other car garages on the same estate; the council would have no reason to say no. A few days ago, my change of use application was approved. I’m in.

So, here it is on the day I got the keys, taken from each far corner, Volvo S80 and inherited office chair for scale:

I won’t give you pictures of the outside, because I’m not a fan of advertising my exact location, and geo-locaters can be disturbingly accurate these days, but it’s not much to look at. It has pretty much all the right qualities for a workshop though. It was built in 1980, which means it’s old enough to have good, thick floors and walls, but is new enough to be of simple construction, and it’s even *just* managed to avoid having asbestos in it. At 2200sq/ft, it’s also far larger than any of the units I looked at back in Bucks.

This is a more recent picture; you can see I’ve already moved in several of my patients; that Micra I snapped up for £200 from a friend who was leaving for Australia. I couldn’t say no. It then turned out to need welding, because I clearly don’t fucking learn.

I’m now in the process of moving things, besides the cars, to the workshop, alongside the usual fun admin stuff that comes with a new property. Eventually I’ll have to do this buy-and-sell dance twice more, as I’ll be selling up my house in Bucks and buying a flat locally to the workshop. More fun-like though, I’ll be sorting out the installation of a compressor, and that most hallowed of tools, a two-post car lift. Also one of the bogs is feral and needs demolishing.

“That’s lovely, Scrubworks, but, why are you telling us all this?”

Because, now that I have the workshop, I will be finally able to resume those dormant projects that some of you seem to have been interested in. Not only will the speed and quality of my work increase, but also the level of repairs and modifications I can do with a dedicated indoor space. I will have to put personal projects to the side for customer work, of course, but despite that, I’ll hopefully be able to post more updates, more often, both on here, and, eventually, on Youtube.

The amount of projects and other potential machinations buzzing around in my head is huge at the moment, and all things being well, I’ll be able to create them in the metal, and much joy will be had.

If it doesn’t work out though, I’ll just rent the place out as a yoga studio or pottery classroom.

TL;DR after years of being a mechanic for other people, and then on my drive, I’ve finally been able to buy my own workshop, so I can set up my own classic car mechanic business, and finish welding up the rusty shitboxes I’ve bought over the years. Standby for *content*.

[Matty]

Nice to see you back 👍

[warninglight]

Best of luck with the new venture, very envious of that space!

If possible I'd look to get a 2nd lift in there, perhaps a 4 poster or at least another 2 poster. Each one gains you a parking space, and having a car blocking a ramp whilst waiting for parts gets old quickly!

And put in twice as many lights as you think you need!

[Scrubworks]

5 minutes ago, warninglight said:

Best of luck with the new venture, very envious of that space!

If possible I'd look to get a 2nd lift in there, perhaps a 4 poster or at least another 2 poster. Each one gains you a parking space, and having a car blocking a ramp whilst waiting for parts gets old quickly!

And put in twice as many lights as you think you need!

I could put in another in the corner occupied by the Demio, it would be nice (the first will be going in the opposite corner near the fire escape). I'll have to see how my remaining budget looks once it's kitted out with one lift. Since I'll be working on classics, I anticipate the works needed will often take longer (ie, welding, bodywork, engine rebuilds) than your typical modern car repairs will, so parts delivery will be less urgent, and the need to get cars in and out a lot won't be there. I'm going to try not to create too much of a backlog of customers as well, as a solo mechanic. I'm playing it a bit by ear though, so you may turn out to be completely right.

I agree on the lighting, although it is already very good. Having the skylights redone will bring in tons of natural light too.

[Scrubworks]

A recent acquisition for the workshop, this chonky steel table:

It was £200 from a farmer on eBay. The surface is 2x1m, and 12mm thick, and the legs are 10cm square box section with 5mm walls, so this thing is heavy. It will need to be wire-brushed back to remove all the old paint, and the random bits welded to the surface cut off, but other than that it's perfect for my needs. Fortunately the farmer had a forklift with which to plop it on my trailer, but after I took this picture back at my mum's farm (where it's living for the moment) it took three of us to barely tip it off the trailer. I'm going to weld some caster wheels to the legs so it can be winched on and off the trailer.

I was going to build a workbench like this from scratch, but when I priced up a 2x1m 10mm steel plate to form the top, that alone came to £900. So £200 for one ready-made is a bargain, even after the diesel to move it.

[Tickman]

Congratulations on the workshop, hope everything works out how you want and it doesn't need to become a yoga studio.

[dave j]

Nice workshop! Good luck with it. What part of Devon are you in?

[High Jetter]

Blimey, that's a(nother) big journey you've been on! Workshop looks great, I wish you all the very best with it. Keep posting!

 

[Matty]

Is the Mog on the road now @Scrubworks?

[Scrubworks]

5 hours ago, Matty said:

Is the Mog on the road now @Scrubworks?

It was, although I was having suspension issues with it, and it really needs time on the ramp to sort both that and a centre crossmember replacement. I also managed to run it a bit low on oil and slightly knacker the rod bearings, but I can change them in situ and I'm sure the engine will then be fine 😅. It's just fallen a bit by the wayside in recent months, like the rest of my non-daily cars.

[Scrubworks]

7 hours ago, dave j said:

Nice workshop! Good luck with it. What part of Devon are you in?

The best part, Somerset .

[Westbay]

Good Luck ! 👍

[2flags]

On 29/08/2026 at 23:02, Scrubworks said:

The best part, Somerset .

I have to agree with that!!!

[Scrubworks]

4 hours ago, 2flags said:

I have to agree with that!!!

Going down to the workshop one time a month or so ago, I missed the turning, and so had to proceed to the next one to turn around, where I saw the most Somerset thing ever: a giant white sign with black, all caps letters and an arrow pointing saying, "CIDER 1/2 A MILE"

Ooo arrr praper jaaaab!

[2flags]

The best thing is you can buy it by the gallon!! Be careful, it robs you of your legs first!! Hilarious, as long as it's not you! 🤣

[Brigsy]

New unit looks great. In for updates!

[Scrubworks]

Spent a couple of days down at the workshop doing things. Firstly I delivered the chonky table. As I said previously, I welded a caster wheel to each leg, so that it could be winched on and then off my car trailer. Winching it on the trailer at my mum's farm was challenging enough with three people, but when I tried to winch it off the trailer at the workshop by myself, one of the legs rolled off the trailer ramp, and I couldn't lift it back on again (this table probably weighs about a quarter ton). So, I just let the winch out and let the table land where it may. Where it landed, was on the floor, on its side. Well, at least it was off the trailer. I then borrowed a trolley jack from the guys at the next workshop over, who are my new neighbours, and spend their time fiddling with lorries and vans for a food delivery firm; really nice guys actually. Trying to jack up the table so I could right it, it then did the opposite, and tipped over fully upside-down. Bugger.
I then had to go over the road to a logistics company warehouse, and grovel for them to come and save me with their forklift. Thankfully they obliged, and didn't even accept a few quid for their trouble, though I offered. So, table finally in workshop, in correct orientation.

As you can see from the supplies on the table, its first use was in the replacement of my guttering. This is what I started with:

The guttering was attached before I took it down, and then decided to take a picture, but it may as well not have been. The people who put up the previous guttering neglected to consider gravity in the work, insofar as, if you don't slope the guttering towards the drainpipe, the water won't actually run towards it. Funny that. Because of this, large amounts of water was pooling in various sections of the gutter, causing the plastic to sag, and, eventually, the water to run over the side, down the building, and rendering the guttering basically useless. Indeed, when I took the old gutter down, it drenched my arm with a litre of dirty water that hadn't drained. You can also see that the fascia boards supporting the gutter were even more rotten than some of my cars. Fortunately new timber was only about £50 from a local builders merchant. My helpful neighbours also leant me a ladder (I think they were as fed up of the old guttering as I was). I've never done this sort of thing, or indeed any kind of construction, but it didn't turn out to be too difficult to put the new boards up. The new guttering was a little more involved, as you need to mount the brackets for each section, making sure they are a gentle slope to the drainpipe as mentioned previously, then fit the actual gutter. My method turned out to be eyeballing the brackets, fitting the gutter, then tipping some water into the gutter to make sure it flowed away correctly, and when it didn't, repositioning the offending brackets. After a couple of hours, I ended up with this:

Much better. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the guttering in the right picture doesn't go all the way to the end. There is a very good reason for this; I didn't order enough gutter 🙃. Fortunately Screwfix has sections of this particular gutter type in stock, so finishing it will be easy. The door on that side of the building is covered now, at least.

Next task is some wiring, and some plumbing. I've got some tradesmen coming around on Monday to quote me for the work, so I'll make sure to wear my finest negligee for a discount. After that, I can order the exciting stuff; lift, compressor, dustpan & brush, all that good shit.

[auntiemaryscanary]

You are right to tackle the guttering first. Water pissing in helps no one.

[Matty]

Lovely stuff. Never had the balls to work for myself. Everything crossed for you here pal.