Three years ago, as the world began to change and going places became illegal, we saw the writing on the wall and decided to remodel part of the building in the backyard into an EngineLabs-specific space. It worked out well, and has undergone constant evolution over the past 36 months. But then a realization hit (literally — my elbows kept hitting the alternator on Retro 5.0) as we were wrapping up the assembly of the Retro 5.0 project: We needed more space. It was time for a real renovation.

There was a struggle to find the needed balance between budget and usability, and remodeling the existing building and devoting more of its space to the specific needs of EngineLabs was the final decision. So, once we got back from our trip to KPE Racing in Texas to drop off Retro 5.0, the renovation began. Between our DIY ethos and tight budget (with maybe some overconfidence in our physical construction abilities sprinkled in) nothing was to be outsourced.

Well, as you can see in the video above, nothing about the project went to plan, other than the actual measurements of the new space. Moving a wall turned into demolishing and rebuilding a wall. Snap-together flooring turned into a new subfloor. The only project that ended up sucking only the expected amount was the mudding of the drywall. Originally, Part One of the project was intended to bring you along for a fun adventure. What it actually turned into was a documentary of my difficulties in doing something I genuinely have no business doing myself.

So, I encourage all of you to allow yourself to engage in a little schadenfreude, and be entertained by my constantly growing frustrations and misery as both the time budget and monetary budget go out the window. And stay tuned, because the upcoming installments will actually have some useful knowledge in them, I promise. Until then, enjoy my pain.

The other side of the shop got out of control. Even though we’ll be reducing the space available on this side of the shop, we’ll using the space far more efficiently.