Thanks Holly.

Mark was a great guy, he and I had many important conversations and interactions.

Including the time he scared the **** out of me when I was a passenger in his BMW sedan as he ripped up the dragon.

He taught me a lot about what it's like to live with cancer, which he did with dignity for the 10 years I knew him.

He will be sadly missed.

 

Nice I had one of those 15 years or so ago. I swapped in the 2.5 V6. Boy was it a hoot to drive. And that V6 sounds GOOD.

 

KL-ZE is a nice motor!

 

I always wanted to do a ZE swap to a Miata. That V6 sounds so good.

 

How the shop and SA coming along, Ray?

 

I'm mixing and pouring the concrete floor now, 24' x48', 5.5" thick, 6000 psi + fiber.

 

Damn that looks good, well done! I love the red.

Mixing that concrete all by yourself? Wow!

 

That's looking good, Ray! You are moving on that build!

 

Thanks Brett and Tommy, I figure if you young guys can have big garages with car lifts I can too.

I like mixing the concrete myself, I can do it better than those contractor guys.

Special thanks to Robert and Mike, they spent a few days here helping me erect the trusses and purlins.

Here's some interior shots, I've added a loft on one end for storage. Check out that homemade lift!











The shop is starting to take shape:





And added the soffits:

 

Love the loft and the lift too!

 

Ray, are you gonna put A/C in there?

Whats the air power situation gonna look like?

Love it.

 

Lots of progress Ray! Im jealous.

 

James there will be lofts on both ends, at some time in the future I might close in the rooms under the lofts and add mini-split heat pumps to them for AC and heat. That would give us a climate controlled garage on the west end and a climate controlled shop on the east end. But I need to finish pouring all that concrete first, I figure that will take another couple of months. This isn't a project for impatient people.

Robert, stop being jealous and start getting busy. We could break ground on your barn next week. 36x60', concrete floor and fully enclosed climate controlled interior.

And a big sign that says "Robert Watson Rotary Museum".

 

Ray, are you going to leave the shop open or put in bay doors?

 

It will be enclosed with an entry door. I just installed the door yesterday:



The other three bays will all have 9' x 8' garage doors with stockton colonial style windows, look like this:

 

Very Nice!

 

Thanks Matin. I hope I'm inspiring you guys to build one of these yourself.

If you can do most of the work yourself you can cut the cost to a fraction of what a contractor would cost.

Total costs for materials and labor on this 24' x 48' pole barn with doors and windows has been less than $20,000.

I hired helpers for the large roof and siding panels).

 

who wants to be the guinea pig




.

 

Well I'm seeing a casting seem down the middle..... Um how long will it last?

 

I agree James, those rotor housings look squirrelly. How do they do the linings?

Here's an opportunity for you REPU freaks, check out the patina on this unit!

$3500, on facebook in Alabama.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1934269780279431/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A2b1468da-064c-4507-bc01-f722afe908a5

 

'Rust free!'

 

Can any of you GA old guys help this fellow out with a choke part? https://www.rx7club.com/market/1164497

 

I think I have one, I'll check tonight.

 

new technology apparently; no lining needed is what they claimed in the text if you go back and read it.

I don’t see the casting seam on the outer surface as being any concern. That’s just where the 2-pc exterior molds meet together and of no consequence really.
.

 

Always wondered about that. I know the rotor housing and side plate surfaces see very different loads, but I've always wanted to know if something like a plasma spray liner could work like RB did with the aluminum side housings. Maybe without the steel backer, the chamber could possibly shift a bit more under extreme loads, but I guess that's just something to find out in testing