Sunwest to move to former Denny's grocery building

After several decades of making do with the location for Sunwest Automotive Engine at 120 S. Washington St. in Medical Lake, owner Mike Tareski is about to have some room to stretch out.

Tareski recently purchased the former Denny's Foods building on Broad Street and is in the process of remodeling and expanding an already energetic machine shop that specializes primarily in rebuilding Subaru and Toyota engines.

"We're an automotive machine shop and we just rebuild engines," Tareski said. "We've been doing it for 35 years."

Sunwest purchased specialized equipment just for doing work for that specific manufacturer, Tareski said of Subaru. He waits to unveil a brand new $80,000 computerized numerical control - or CNC - milling machine at the new location.

"It's kind of blown up on us," Tareski said. With his present location "pretty crowded right now," Tareski said it was time to find a new location. Earlier in the week, completed engine work awaited shipment to as far away as New York and Michigan.

The former grocery store will offer nearly 10,000 square feet of space. Tareski's current location is just about 6,000, which is "chopped up a little bit," he said.

There will be storage in the center for easy access to engine blocks and parts. "It's going to be a lot better setup," Tareski said.

The building has had numerous suitors over the years since Denny's moved to its new location along State Route 902, a dozen or so years ago.

One of the issues in previous sales or leases was a leaky roof, but former owner, Harlan Douglass, took care of that, Tareski said. "It's got a new membrane roof and that's the only reason I considered it," he added.

Because the rest of the renovation will be a chore of its own, Tareski hinted.

"Everything from the power pole on in needs to be replaced," he said, referring to the electrical infrastructure. There was adequate power going into the building, it was just outdated. "Breaker boxes, everything's gotta' go; we're starting over from scratch."

The floor, which has been cut up and patched, will have to be ground down and sealed. The inside of the building will also include a 20-foot, by 40-foot office and a break room for the employees.

The expanded space also means an increase in the workforce. "We have seven now and we're going to have to hire three more for this shop we're in now, because it's going to be a repair shop," Tareski said. He will add two additional employees when the new shop opens for a total of 12.

The new facility will be designed for the efficiency necessary for the advertised speedy turnaround.

The motors will come in the back and proceed through one continuous process. "They'll come in, get torn down and get cleaned all in one row," Tareski explained.

The waiting area in the office will have a view of the shop so customers can see their motors be run on a simulator called a "sim-test."

"We're in a pretty cool building right now and it's pretty well set up," but the machine shop will move into the former Denny's location and turn the present location simply into engine installation and repair work. "We're subbing that all out," Tareski said.

That will make Sunwest a virtual drive-thru when it comes to automotive engine rebuilding.

"It's pretty much you'll have a 24-hour turnaround," Tareski explained. "You bring your car in one day and the next day it's going to be new motor and out the door."

The transition is planned to take about three months.

MORE INFO

Sunwest Automotive Engine is located at 120 S. Washington St. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. To contact Sunwest Automotive Engine call (509) 299-3200 or email [email protected].

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].