Tuesday, October 9, 2018

You just have to trust your own madness

I picked up the powder coated trailing arms this morning - the cost was far more reasonable than I expected.

Overall - they look good.  The inner bearing areas need a little work but that's to be expected with anything that's been through sandblasting and is a surface that's had grease on it.
One of the bump stop mounts that was replaced was welded in off center - so this one will be in the 'sell' pile.  I just don't have the patience to deal with getting this fixed and re-powder coated again.  It's a one hour ride out and a one hour ride back.  To fix something that I paid to have done the right way the first time.

I think I'll be able to find a set I can use for the car and just move forward.  The rest of the stuff will be sold off or put into a storage bin.
The rubber I found at McMaster Carr arrived and I spent a little time working on cutting pieces from it.  I cut three out and they're in 'okay' shape.  I'd like to hone my technique a bit to see if I can get a better looking pair out of it.  That's shelved for a time when I have patience and time to allocate.
The brake line tool that I bought - I've spent some time working with this to test out my capacity to learn how to use it.  After a few failures to follow directions (and get usable pieces) - I was able to get a few really nice looking bubble flares from cut up pieces of the brake line that I bought from ISP a few years ago.  All of the brake line that I bought from ISP was either too long or too short so it was cut up and used for learning purposes.

I bought some NiCopp line locally and will get back to this in a few days.  I'm still hoping to have the brake line done by the end of the week but that's starting to sound ambitious given all of the other stuff going on this week.  I may switch gears and try to dry fit the pan to see how well the hardware holes line up between the pan and body before I get too many things installed on the pan.

I'm reaching a point in this process where I may have to take a very large step back from this car project for a while.  The stepping off point will be determined if I get through the brake line installation in the next week.  I may just stop working on it altogether - stuff it in the back of the garage and leave it all there until I feel like working on it again.  It's a hobby - it should be a source of enjoyment and engagement.  All it has been for the last four months is a source of stress and aggravation (and a horrible investment).  I'm not getting enjoyment, satisfaction or accomplishment out of this project and I may need to step back and figure out if that's due to other factors in life or if it's a direct result of this hobby.  I suspect it's a bit of both and the solution isn't going to come easily or from one place.

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