Also, I'm not sure how much experience you have with metal work, construction, plumbing etc, so maybe you know all this already, but I wish someone would have told me these things so I wouldn't have had to figure it out myself!
Best shops I've found around town for getting **** done:
1. Soo Mill. Consistently cheaper than Home Depot and with better products, though their selection is more limited.
2. Traders Steel/Soo Foundry. Good prices for general steel.
3. Henderson's. Sells satin-coated sheet metal. Real nice stuff to work with. I used several sheets for covering the windows and patching rust holes.
4. Home Hardware on Second Line. If you are looking for strange and obscure plumbing fittings, this is the place to go.
5. TMS truck shop and Traction Heavy Duty Truck Parts. Big bolts and 8-gauge wire.
6. Praxair. Large gauge wire at a reasonable price. Great for battery connections.
EDIT: Oh! And the Echo Bay garbage dump! Every time I go I find something useful