New toy!

Manged to bag myself this eBay bargain shot blast cabinet over the weekend:

Unfortunately it didn't come with the mesh screen (floor section) and the perspex window was all frosted up, but I thought a quick trip to my local DIY store would cure those minor problems. Unfortunately the shop didn't stock perspex or meshing! However, on the way back to the garage I came across some metal mesh dumped in a bush next to a bus stop - literally the perfect width as well! So, after a quick trim with the angle grinder and the persuation of a hammer to flatten it out, I had it sitting inside the cabinet perfectly snug! 

Now I have just got to get some blast media and it will be good to go (albeit with a slightly frosty viewing window)!  

EDIT (23/05/14): I now have some new Perspex (clear acylic/plexiglass) windows for the shot blast cabinet. I found that it was cheaper to order this stuff as a made to measure item online than it was to purchase a big sheet at a diy store, which would still need cutting down to size! The only real sting was the cost of postage – but I offset this cost by ordering 10 units at once, so this batch should last me some time!

Introducing...

My glamorous garage assistant:

So, I was delighted to got some much needed assistance last weekend in the form of my girlfriend, who turned out to be an absolute demon with the angle grinder and drill-mounted wire brush. Whoooop! Plus, she later confessed that she enjoyed working on the car – so I have a feeling that she is likely to become a regular fixture in this ongoing resto story...

Started with the inside of the rear quarter panels and got them primed up:

Then we began stripping the driver’s side front quarter:

A close-up of a couple of really crusty areas that made me shiver:

As usual there was a lot of filler slapped all over the place and a lot of tatty old repair patches slowly emerged from beneath the underseal:

Whilst my girlfriend battled on with the dirty work I decided to upgrade my front saw horse. Basically narrowed it to about a third of the original width and added some heavy duty braked casters to the bottom:

I actually ended up removing the top angled cross-brace sections as it was preventing the car from sitting back down on it correctly (forgot to factor-in the obvious!). Even without these sections it felt suitably sturdy and as the shell is now almost completely stripped of components I was not too concerned about the weight issue compromising the integrity of the structure.

It feels great to have a bit more working space around the front of the car now. I will get the rear saw horse sorted out next and then the shell should be fully maneuverable at last!