Round of updates

Hello, good people!

A lot has been happening behind the scenes, so a round of updates is in order.

Let's start with the new non-BMW project. As some of you guessed, it's a 2006 Mercedes S211 E55 AMG! I love me a fast Touring, and after the adventure with Maserati, I thought it'd be smart to stick with German engineering.

I bought it on Copart. It was like 1 hour away from Frankfurt, but in all the chaos, I didn't have the time to go and inspect it, so I played it "smart" and bought it sight unseen.
It has what looks to be minor damage on the front left fender and door, and a rusty tailgate.
I haven't had the opportunity to put on the lift yet.

This project will come soon, after or in between Alpina B10. I'm hoping the video will be well-received, and I'm excited to dig into something new and out of my comfort zone.

The new Dojo! This is where things got really out of hand. Initially, I wasn't planning to do a ton of work. But, then I met a nice subscriber called Bane, who's been doing renovation work for over 15 years, and gave me all sorts of ideas and suggestions.

I've filmed everything as part of the Workshop build series, but long story short, we repainted the entire place! Picking the color for the roof and walls was tricky. Even a black roof was on the table, but as I like to work in a brighter space, I decided on all white roof and pillars, and light gray with a hint of blue for the walls. Color turned out to be actually amazing.
It's light gray when the light hits it, but otherwise looks blueish. I also decided on one proper blue wall in the other room, and I'm still debating the color combo for the engine building room.

Anywho, both rooms have now been fully painted, and tomorrow I gotta start cleaning up the 2nd room. I bought a used floor cleaning machine, which makes it a breeze to clean and maintain tiles.

The new lifts should be coming this week, and this time around, we are going with Nussbaum lifts. This means no more Bendpak. That said, there's nothing wrong with Bendpak, it's just that their stuff always has to come from the US, which can take forever, and let's face it, Nussbaum makes about the best lifts in the world, and that's precisely what I want for the new Dojo. Their lifts are made in Germany, amazing quality, and they are only a couple of hours away from me.
A few different models are coming, and I'm excited to have them as the new partner on the channel.

Got a big development on the doors! A rather sizeable German company called Hörmann reached out after I posted the new shop video, and they will supply 2 new doors for the new Dojo!
Proprely good news and a huge help, as new doors are hella expensive. We'll be doing sectional doors as they are better insulated. That should come in about 4 to 6 weeks and will solve the problem of driving into the shop.

The lights. As you know, lights need to be updated throughout, and I didn't realize how expensive proper lighting is. Well, the magic of the YouTube world strikes again, and an Australian company called Versalux is expanding to the German market, and they saw this as an opportunity to showcase their product. They've designed new lighting for each room with great care, and I've actually learned a lot during this process, and just how important good lighting is. I am hoping to have new lights from them soon, and then start installing them asap, as current lights are unbearable for working.

We'll also redo the bathrooms cause they are old and disgusting, we already changed the ceiling in the entrance and hallway area, and new racks and shelves have been ordered from Montac from NL.
I was hoping to kinda spread out all of this work and do it in stages, and some stuff I will, but major work had to be completed while the space was empty.

I've also been working with guys from the Obssed garage, and they've been a huge help. They essentially designed the whole place based on the floor plan and my desires. You can see renders that they made and what the end result should look like.

The old Dojo. I was hoping to end on good terms with my old landlords and do right by them, but they had other plans. I'm not gonna go into too many details, but they are very difficult people to deal with. In 6 years that I've been there, they haven't spent 1 euro on anything. I've always paid fair and square for everything, all work done out of my own pocket, and actually later realized I was overpaying for what that space is, only to have them try to screw me over in the end. After much back and forth, we found a solution to leave on goodish terms, and I'll be leaving that place for good from October 1st. Kinda sad, but it was time to move on.

Baby Gabriel, aka mini me, is now a month and a half old, and progressing superbly! He is healthy and already plotting his first S85 rod bearing job. As for the parents, well, sleeping has been tough. He still didn't find a rhythm, and he loves to scream and not sleep during the night. So, doing all of this while not getting much sleep has been the opposite of fun, haha. But my mom is now staying with us for a bit, which is a big help, and his sleeping patterns are starting to improve.

That's more or less it. It's been a challenging time, but I'm powering through and trying to pace myself. I am extremely excited and grateful for being able to build a dream restoration workshop thanks to all of you.
Once the main things are up and running in the new Dojo, the wrenching videos will be coming at a steadier rate.

The next episode will be on Alpina B10, I finished the front suspension in the old Dojo, and now I am planning to do the interior and other bits that don't require a lift, and I should have enough for one full episode. Not sure when it will come, as I have so many other things to do, but hoping to do some work this week.

In the meantime, I've prepared the "vloggy" video of my Virginia trip to Partee Racing for the Plus channel. I'll be posting that tomorrow.

Thank you for your patience and support. Love you all!