These pictures I'll be sharing are courtesy of Scott Burel of Burel Photography, Scott is a member of the Athens VW Club who attended a tech day/ dyno tuning event here last weekend as part of a mini- grand opening that we had for the locals.
The goals for the new facility were:
-Add a chassis dyno to complete our R&D capabilities and to provide testing capabilities for our work with the Porsche M96 engine. The chassis dyno was also added so we can further evaluate aircooled test engines once they are applied into a test vehicle.
-Add an area for Customer's engines to be installed since we have had serious issues with engines being installed incorrectly over the past two years or so.
-Provide another spotlessly clean environment for engine assembly. This area can double for aircooled assembly or M96 assembly.
-Add a presentation room for our training classes at the "Aircooled University".
-Add an area for video production, as well as an area for recording the Radio Shows. The presentation room can double as a video production room as well, when not in use for classes.
- Add a break room for Employees that doubles as a break room for those attending our classes at the Aircooled University.
- Add a waiting area for customers that stop by from time to time, so they can visit without being in a hazardous workshop setting. For years we were not open to visitors because we had no proper area for them.
-Add another "project control" room for the M96 components that are awaiting assembly.
- Add an office for yours truly so I could move out of the dyno control room and actually organize my things the proper way.
When I started this project the original plans changed very quickly and my "do it all the way now" traits kicked in.. Lets just say that meant adding another 2,000 square feet to the project and stretching the second floor the full size of the ground floor!
The pictures below are the result of a ton of effort from our entire team as this entire building was built with our own hands, the same hands that build engines, fill orders and make things happen here. As a matter of fact, the only thing that I paid anyone to do was the drywall work, because I HATE drywall! Our team worked by day on our normal obligations and then we'd put evenings and weekends into the shop, we did all of this in under 3 months time! The only way I can be pleased is to do something myself and lets just say this entire shop is built with overkill engineering applied everywhere!
Here are the pictures... We'll be doing a video of the entire construction of the shop soon as well as a video tour for the website.
Here is an outside shot of the Mountain Power House.. Still in need of landscaping that we'll be doing as soon as the rain stops for a few days!
Here is the main body of the shop area. The lift for doing installs doubles as a quick and easy way to make changes to test vehicles that are being evaluated on the chassis dyno. Its very quick and easy to roll the car off the dyno, make some changes and get it right back on and ready foir a re-test!
We have plenty of room to test vehicles and do installations at the same time.
Here is the heart of the Dyno-Jet chassis dyno
This area is the clean room used for engine assembly for the M96 engines primarily. All work benches are built from 2" thickwall box tubing covered with 11 gauge stainless steel built at RAT!
On the bench is a 3.2 Boxster S engine going to 3.6 liters and just over 300 HP..
Now lets climb the "Stairway to Heaven" to the second story of the Mountain Power House.
This is the customer waiting area/ lobby.
Here is my Office...
This is the Presentation room where we will soon be sharing our knowledge with others in one, two and four day workshops on a multitude of subjects.
Here, Charles from LN Engineering prepares for a presentation on modern oils for the Athens VW Club.
Here is the break room
And here are a few more good shots from some other various areas of the RAT Compound.
These are the controls of both our engine dynos, shared in what was my office for almost a decade.
The aircooled engine assembly area
This new facility has taken us to the next level, a level beyond the scope of most general engine production facilities. This is an area where we not only produce, but we research and develop and now we can teach and share as well. All of this happens in a small town in the Mountains of North East Georgia where we enjoy watching wild life right out our office windows along with the ability to go fishing when things get a little too crazy paced with a quick walk to our Pond.
A few weeks ago an Atlanta area Client that brought his 996 to us for some work asked me "Why are you so far out here, Jake?" I replied "Listen".... He waited a few seconds and said "I don't hear anything."..... I then told him that he answered his own question.
Thanks to all our Customers, friends and believers. Without you there would be no reason for this facility and I'd have to go find a job...
The addition of this facility now completes the RAT compound. We have everything we need to do anything necessary to construct the World's most Researched and Developed hand crafted engines.
I don't see any piles of parts on the floor or on the benches 
I am proud of you, because you did it with your own hands.
