Friday, August 3, 2018

Windowlicker

A few days ago, I pulled a muscle in my back.  I went to urgent care and the doctor basically told me to relax, take some muscle relaxers and OTC pain meds and wait it out...and once I was no longer in pain to do some 'core strengthening' exercises and stretching.  Err...yeah, okay.  I guess getting on the bike once in a while and going for a walk wouldn't kill me.  I do need to get out of the house more often.

Anyhow, not being able to lift or push anything, I went out looking to solve simple problems: new rubber plugs for the body and new 'pads' for the seat release cable lever at the door.  The driver's side pad disappeared and the bare lever has been eating into the door.  It was high time to solve this problem.
While out in the garage looking for something, I slid open one of my cabinet doors and had an epiphany...the doors have glide pads on them.  I pulled one of the doors off, flipped it over and took a look, and noticed that while these specific pads were too big (I thought about stealing them for the car) - I could probably find something online that would work.  So back in the house I went looking for a solution online.

What I found was really close to the correct size - and inexpensive at 35 cents each - so I bought six knowing that I'd trim them down, probably screw up a couple of times before I got it right, and then install the last one when I figured it out.
In a moment of zen, I was able to trim the pin portion down slightly with a sharp box cutter and it fit perfectly into the hole.  The originals are melted in place on the back side - I didn't do that with this one.  I will, however, experiment with doing that in the near future because I have five extra pieces.  I need to figure out how to get something hot in the back side to melt the back down (I don't really want to take the lever out of the door if I can avoid it).

I haven't been able to find a solution to the rubber body plugs yet.  I can say that none of the hardware stores within a 20 mile radius of my house have them.
I called the body shop yesterday to inquire about the pan work - they are a tad bit behind but said that the pan would be done by the 11th of August.  The timing is pretty good for that - given that my back is 'out' and the engine isn't back together yet.

Speaking of the engine - I got a call from the first engine builder to tell me that he's got all of the parts and will ship it out on Monday or Tuesday - meaning I'll possibly get it Friday or the following Monday.

All of the oil cooler parts, except the hoses, are on hand, and the oil filter mount is en route, although I am expecting to have to made modifications to get it to fit.  Once the engine is back together and fired up, the exhaust will have to get welded, then the header wrap installed, then (hopefully) get installed in the car...but that depends on which rear subframe direction I go...yes, I'm still on the fence about the IRS conversion.  There are a few interested parties with regard to the transmission and I think I'm silently holding out hope that one will come through.  I'd really like to get the IRS conversion done so I don't have to take the car apart for a while after it's back together.  The picture to the left is not mine - it's what I'm going to use to guide the end result of what I want in my IRS conversion.

The shop that's doing the pans can do the IRS conversion if I secure the parts and the jigs (which I've already done).  The parts might be available locally but I have to dig into that a bit more next week...otherwise, it'll all have to be brought in from far away.  I'm already putting out the feelers for that as well.  A lot of open-ended things still but it's moving forward in spite of my inability to stretch properly before doing any work.

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