New Toys

Been real busy working around the shack the last few days trying to get some things done before the weather turns really cold. I did manage to do a little thinking about the 900 project, even if I didn't get much done. I painted up the back side of an old license plate as a test piece for the color of the bike. I like the color but the finish is not real glossy. However, I'm thinking a few pinstripes on the tank and sidecovers with a clear coat would do it just fine. I'm going to see if Surly will put a little something on it and then I'll shoot some clear on it and check it out. I also looked at a Corbin seat. They've got a real nice one for the old Kawasaki models that would look pretty racy on it. It's their Gunfighter model. Can't go wrong with a name like that, now can you?

My new driving/fog lights showed up the other day. Since I'm now commuting and I no longer have the luxury of a fog delay, a little better light set-up on the truck should help. I've got next week off, so I'll try to get these installed and get a little work done on the 900, the VW and see about repairing the snowblower. The Missus reminded me again about the no shoveling rule that will be in effect this winter. I figure the snowblower job will be like taking your umbrella along when it looks like rain. If you've got it, you won't need it. With the crazy weather we've been having, however, who the hell knows what's going to happen this winter.

Also in the photo is a set of gasket punches. I made a couple over the years for special jobs but they were more of a one time use sort of thing. I need to punch some holes in the bead that goes between the fender and the body on the VW, so on a whim I checked on those at the same time as the driving lights. What do you know? A nine piece set for less than five bucks. Actually I think they're marked wrong on their website. They listed a six piece set for more money and they weren't larger sizes, either. Anyway, it works out to less than $1.25 per fender to punch the holes in the beading. Anything after that is gravy.

The sandblaster was delivered the other day also, as you can see from the photo taken in my mobile photo studio. I've already got a spot for it ready to go but I need to see about the vacuum hook-up. I bought a small vac that will be dedicated to this thing - might take a little bit to get it hooked up the way I want. It looks like it's a little small to blast the VW wheels but I took the wire wheel to them the other day so there's not a lot of paint left to clean up. I want to get those done so I can get the new tires put on and then take a look at the stance of the car. The car has a couple of big-ass tires on the back now for a Baja Bug set-up. Not at all what I'm looking for.

While I'm working on setting up the sandblaster, I want to get my English wheel and planishing hammer set up at the same time. I've got a an old table of the type that used to be real common in school shops. It should be big enough to accommodate those three items and maybe a small sheet metal brake as well. I've got a stake plate that I'd like to have access to. I need to fabricate some type of stand for that before I can use that. It would be nice to have all of the sheet metal working stuff close together. The bad part of all this operation is that there's no concrete in the back part of my shop. Getting all the tools set up before having any concrete is a little bit of cart before the horse but I really want to get things organized and use-able.

The plan, and I use that word loosely, is to work on getting the tools set up so I can use them on the projects. Then work on the VW until the temperature drops to about 40 degrees. Colder than that I'll light the heater in the shop and work on the 900. When it gets real cold, I'll find something else to work on around the shack - no shortage of things to do there. Regardless of how cold it gets, something will be running next spring. Probably my nose.

Have a good weekend.