Got some new toys

I realize I haven't posted in a while, but its been too cold to do any work on the Volvo.  Once winter sets in, I only do work on cars if I absolutely have to.  Its no fun working with cold steel tools and car parts in a concrete and brick garage only to lose feeling in my hands and to get my knuckles busted open from the slightest mishap.  This is supposed to be fun, not punishment.

Despite the lack of progress on the Volvo, I have been getting some things checked off the to-do list.  First, I finally got a metal shrinker stretcher.  This tool should get a fair bit of use when fabricating patches for some of my Volvo's rusted body parts.  For example, I expect I'll be using it quite a bit to fabricate new sections of the trunk and hood gutters.  Since my car sat for so long, debris got lodged in these gutters which acted as a sponge for moisture, thereby rusting out sections in both the front and back of the car.

Also, I recently bought a blast cabinet.  I've been wanting one for years!  If I'm right, I'll be finding all sorts of uses for it.  I just bought one of the stand up Harbor Freight models, but I also did several of the upgrades you can find online for it.  I bought it knowing that some parts will wear out quickly and will need replaced soon, but for the price, that's not really a concern.  I'll upgrade them as they break.  It takes quite a bit of time to put it together, and even more to modify it, so don't think you'll have it up and running in a few hours if you buy one.  Plus, you may need to plumb it into your air compressor lines and you'll probably want to buy a dust separator so the debris doesn't wreak havoc on your shop vac.

Assembling the blast cabinet.  There are lots of parts of screws to deal with.  

Finally assembled and ready to clean its first part.