Making my own small dreams come true..

[Tuunikala]

Hello to everyone.

My name is Timo and I live in Estonia. And this thread is actually going to be a mix of 3 different locations, which I will describe. Hopefully it will fit in the forum, despite being mainly focused on renovating an old farm for me and my long-term girlfriend.

The build thread will differ from others, because I'll also try to describe the processes to owning my own home in Estonia, the hurdles that need to be tackled, and in the future, about details in restoration, weatherproofing, sauna building and whatnot. So it will be quite a thread in that matter.

I'll also focus on the family shop. which is a 280 square-meter garage, which is going to be transferred from just a grungy garage to a nice one with a warehouse, offices, car lift and many other things to service our company cars next to forestry equipment, which is the line of work we are dealing with.

And I'll also try to mention my own garage, which barely fits a W202 C-class Mercedes, but it is mine to use, so will try to mention it as well. It needs a lot of work, since the roof is leaking and whatnot, so that will also get the odd mention.

So this is my thread. If it is okay and fitting to the meaning of the forum, then I will carry on.

Until further notice, I'll just include some pictures. They will include my cars as well, since I've used them in car forums before, but hopefully that'll be okay for now.

First of all, the family workshop with my project, a Corrado:

And one of the future home-to-be:

If the thread is okay, I'll try to post more images and also will take more and discuss the plans as well.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Welcome to the forum Tuunikala. Dang, you have a lot of stuff going on there! That shop is to die for by the way!

 

[ConCretin]

Sounds like you'll fit in just fine around here, Tuunikala. Always interesting to see how things are done in other parts of the world. Welcome!

 

[Theodulf]

Tere!

Where are you in Estonia?

My grandparents were Estonian and came to Australia as refugees after WWII.

I have been to Estonia twice and met a number of relatives. There is also an active Estonian community here in Australia.

It will be interesting to read your thread...

 

[driftpin]

You can do a lot w/that beige-brick, high-ceilinged building. Mezzanine offices, plenty of storage and room for whatever size lift you want. Is the Corrado a VR-6 narrow-angle engine?

 

[Paul_VR6]

Sub’d for updates. Always like to see the vw guys. Not sure what motor is for the Corrado I see both a counterflow 8v and a vr6 off in the corner.

 

[Tuunikala]

Welcome to the forum Tuunikala. Dang, you have a lot of stuff going on there! That shop is to die for by the way!

Thank you. Yes, a lot is going on, but all in the hope for a better future.

Sounds like you'll fit in just fine around here, Tuunikala. Always interesting to see how things are done in other parts of the world. Welcome!

Thank you, that's good to know. I'll try to cover as much as possible of the different aspects.

Tere!

Where are you in Estonia?

My grandparents were Estonian and came to Australia as refugees after WWII.

I have been to Estonia twice and met a number of relatives. There is also an active Estonian community here in Australia.

It will be interesting to read your thread...

Tere-tere.

The farm house is in Jõgeva county, and everything else is in Jõgeva, like me. At the moment, I'm living with my parents, in order to fix up the house, install plumbing, new electricity and everything else. Will cover everything in the upcoming thread.

If anyone's interested, I could also cover some history about the country, at least from WW2 to our regained independence.

You can do a lot w/that beige-brick, high-ceilinged building. Mezzanine offices, plenty of storage and room for whatever size lift you want. Is the Corrado a VR-6 narrow-angle engine?

Hello and yes, there's a lot one could do. But, we have to take into consideration some aspects of the workshop, which I'll cover.

So the garage is like this on the outside.

The door is a bit over 4m high.

There's an electric hoist on the ceiling. This limits building things higher, since it has to move about. Lifts around 3.5 tonnes.

These are the machines it needs to fit. We are an official Komatsu Forest service and parts dealer in Estonia. Which also means that the warehouse needs to fit inside as well.

Usually we take them apart quite a lot. Usually bearings, pumps or welding needs to be done. One is coming in on Monday, and another one a week after that, and another one after that etc. So, work is cut out for us.

And this is the large American in some of the photos. My brothers' '73 Ford LTD.
There is actually an old office in the building, but we converted that into a resting room, since it has a sauna. We're quite attached to our saunas..
And we are going to fit a lift in order to maintain our service cars. At 4 tonnes lifting capacity, a Chinese one is on order. Since we use it about 2-3 times a week, we're not looking for any ultra-high quality ones.
But yes, a 12V VR6.

Sub’d for updates. Always like to see the vw guys. Not sure what motor is for the Corrado I see both a counterflow 8v and a vr6 off in the corner.

Hello and good to know.
I'm an old VW nut. Had my first one when I was 14, and kept on buying-selling them. At the moment I'm 23, and I've owned, if I recall correctly, around 22-23 cars. At the moment I have 3, the most I've owned at the same time was 5. Had more cars in front of my parents' house than my parents.
But the Corrado was a 2.0 16V

And a '97 VR6 from an ex-police Vento is in the process of being fitted.

Also fitted Climatronic.
It's a '94 Corrado, which I got, running and driving, for 1200$. At the moment the prices have gone up, so have a small treasure just waiting for me.

 

[Tuunikala]

Also found some pictures and will post them.
I also have a sauna on my farm, so here are some pictures of it:

Warm water is being heated with the furnace itself, and cold water comes from the well outside. So, old-school, at least for us. Many of us remember such a sauna from their childhood or still have a sauna like this at their parents or grandparents. So, a nice bit of history.

 

[Jyzze]

Welcome Tuunikala!

 

[Musicinabottle]

A sauna with a sofa. Now that's the ultimate comfort zone right there!

 

[DougMN]

If anyone's interested, I could also cover some history about the country, at least from WW2 to our regained independence. I am extremely interested in reading about this, thanks, Doug.

 

[Paul_VR6]

Have to say that you have made a great engine choice!

 

[Tuunikala]

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything here for a while. But there have been some big changes, new tools have been purchased, along with new equipment and many more.
The main thing is, that I finally got through banks and everything and got the loan. So, now my bank owns a house in which I can live in.
Lack of updates have been due to lots of work arranging things, starting further renovations and lots more. So, I'm working on a bigger update, but that will take a bit more time.
So, stay tuned!

 

[southalabama]

Welcome back

Would love to see the tools and brands you use.

 

[Tuunikala]

Hello again.
This isn't the large update, because I'm still short on time.
News on the family business front: bought a 7,5kW Ingersoll-Rand air compressor, with a 500l air tank. Also a larger 2-post lift for servicing our service fleet and our own personal cars. But it hasn't been installed.
At the moment all of our energy is going into the business. We're in the middle of preparing our new warehouse and spare parts store. Had some large shipments come in so we could have a decent stock.
So, that's where the energy has been going.
On the tools front: our everyday work is being done out of our service vans: a 2017 Opel Vivaro LWB van, a 2009 VW Caddy, a 2004 VW Caddy and a 2003 VW Transporter. Our main tools are wrenches, since everything is done by hand. We're working on getting some electrical tools for field work, but until then it's all pure muscle.
So, the tools are either Sandvik, Biltema, IKH, Würth etc, when it comes to spanners, wrenches and everything else. Power tools are Metabo, Makita and Würth again.
Size wise, anything from 4mm to 68mm are represented. Not to mention hex, torx and whatnot.
That's what is work related.
Around the house: Fiskars is well represented. Axes and shovels are those. Then there are some old tools fron the soviet times, which I use. Sledgehammers, crowbars, regular hammers, scythe, rakes and some other farm-related tools. Then some farm equipment: an old horse cultivator, a plow, a snow plow and a few other things.
Also bought a small lawn tractor, and am in the middle of aquiring a small tractor for farm work.
Lawn mower and chainsaw are both McCulloch.
Tools is a topic which needs a lot of page room. Will cover everything a bit more in depth but that will be in due time.
But haven't been standing around the house as well. Did some yard work, but the main thing is that demolition work is still continuing. And a septic tank with dispersion trences has been installed. Since the soil is mostly clay, it took three men a total of 27 hours in 2 days to get it sorted. But it's done, so now I just need to strip the floors in order to continue work with the sewage system.
So that's it for now. Promise that the next time I'll update, there'll be pictures and everything. Will take some vacation either this month or the next one, so then I'll have some time to myself..