"When you're curious you find lots of things to do"

These are not yet painted - lots of little 'other' things came up and I have not made any progress in a few days.  When I break open that can of expensive paint - I want to make sure I use the whole thing - and it covers a lot of area so there's a lot of space to prep as a result.

I had to take the day off of work today to watch little dude - one of his classmates tested postive for COVID - thus he's out for 14 days even though they were wearing masks.

While I was out running errands - I got the call that the wheels and mirror covers for the Volvo were ready to pick up so I popped over and picked them up.  The mirror covers went on in about 15 minutes after watching a YouTube video - the wheels have to wait for a day where I can drop the car off.

A few days ago, I ordered a repop set of covers (arriving tomorrow) but I'm half expecting them to *not* fit properly.  Tried to negotiate an expensive local set down to a reasonable price but the seller would rather hang on to them so I passed.  Found a set in California that *might* be a good replacement - I have to wait for those to arrive (next week).  I feel like I'd be a lot further down this road if I didn't have to wait a week every time I needed a part.  Such is life in the Midwest.

I almost finished the hinge cover and light installation - the hinge cover is clean and back in the car but the light doesn't work. After jacking around with it for a while, I took it out and spent 20 minutes cleaning the light (clean version here) - it's the original (dated 11/63) and was very oxidized.  I used a metal polish and then DeoxIt to clean any residue out.  I didn't get to test it before it was time to call it quits.  I also found a light in my cabinet that I traded for a while back that doesn't fit the light cover - it's probably going to wind up on TheSamba classifieds.  I don't need to hang on to stuff I can't use.

And then there's wiring the accessory gauges, replace the broken window regulator, clean the inside of the doors, do the painting, getting the doors back together, etc.

“The ego focuses on petty things.”

First thing this morning - I drove 30 minutes to drop off the brake hose contraption so the hose shop could order the necessary fittings to make the hoses.  There's a small chance they'll be done by Wednesday - but I'm expecting it to take a week.

Ran a few errands, did some things and then...I spent nearly an hour cleaning out the cabinet and putting everything back before I got to the rear end of the car.  

And, well, then I got distracted with swapping the horns in the Volvo - but that didn't happen because I had to buy two wire harnesses on eBay so I don't have to cut the original harness - and the stuff I took out of the Volvo went right back in once I'd ordered the required parts.  That was about 30 minutes in total.

Eventually, I got back to the car - the left side (shown) went back together very quickly - less than ten minutes.  The right side took nearly an hour and I sheared off a bit of the powdercoating on the subframe.  I can't really explain why because the FIRST side should take all of the time while it's being figured out but that's not what happened.  I swapped out the typically noisy red urethane bushings for the yellow Saco version - again, first one goes on easy - the second one took 5x as long.  It was also in the upper 90°F temps today with a heaping serving of humidity so being in the garage wasn't pleasant.  I powered through because this car needs to go back together.

I attempted to clean the covers that I got from Jim but they're very pitted so I may not wind up using them.  I'm going to paint them tomorrow and see how they turn out before I decide.

Ended the day by banging out the dents on the left side fender (bottom was creased in) and cleaning the inner fender area on the right side in preparation for paint.  Once that paint is on and dry - both fenders and the rear bumper go back on the car.

Maybe next weekend I can put the car on the ground.

“Responsibility is proportionate to opportunity.”

90 minutes today:  Spent about 15 minutes cleaning up from previous work, started the swap of the bushings on the trailing arms and cleaned up the used torsion covers - then I discovered something leaking in the cabinet - a completely wet shelf and wrinkled spray cans.  So I took everything off the shelf and cleaned up the liquid - which wound up being phosphoric acid that was leaking out of its plastic container.  It can be seen in this picture in the orange bucket.  

I cleaned off the shelf with baking soda and water, then Dawn - wiped down the inside of the cabinet (two cans of wasp killer had expelled their contents as a result of the acid eating the bottom of the cans) and cleaned the rest of the cans and let them sit in a shallow pan of baking soda in water.  The shelf in the photo was in good shape - just a little dirty - now a large part of it is missing paint so I've got to address this at some point as well.

It's all currently drying on the floor of the garage.  I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped...tomorrow is another day.

I'm going to drop off the brake line at the hose shop, run some errands and hope to get back to getting the trailing arms on the car.  Plenty to do - just not a whole lot of time. 

“I’m an early bird and a night owl. So, I’m wise and have worms.”

 I had about 90 minutes today - I took a step back and figured out the rear brake lines (or so I think).  I put the right side trailing arm on the car and dug out some old brake lines as test pieces - and taped them together where they create one template piece.

There's a hydraulic hose shop not far from where I work and they can get the M10x1 bubble flare ends.  Probably a one week turnaround before I can pick them up.  I have to figure out a way to support the brake hose right about where my fingers are in the picture but it'll eliminate an additional connection.

Next opportunity I have a couple of hours - I'll get the rear end installed and get the car back on four tires - the brake lines will happen soon enough.

"Sunk costs and all that..."

Not a lot of time today (or the last couple of days) to work on the car.  I spent about an hour or a little more today putting the engine back together - the pulley shroud, the clamps, the muffler, the modified heat shield, the oil fill boot, yada, yada, yada...the engine is good to go.

The outer bushings arrived yesterday and, while they're tighter than I would prefer, I think they'll work out okay.

I found a local shop that can fab the needed brake lines for the rear end - now I need to find the time to get over to them before they close.  Potentially during the week next week.

I should be able to get to the rear suspension soon...then move to the interior and get the doors rebuilt and put back together.  Soon enough, I hope, the random piles of parts in the garage will be back in the car.

Progress has been slow this week but I'm hoping to make more progress by the end of the week.

"The questions are always more important than the answers"

Finished pictures first, I guess.

Ran the new wiring for the cargo light from the dome light - the stock location is wired to the running light on the tail lamp - meaning it's only going to work when the running lights are on.

The heat shield is notched where it was rubbing on the body and the edge that was rubbing on the bellows boot has been 'coerced in a new direction'.  The final touch was to sand the edges to remove the sharpness.

I prepared the pulley shroud gasket so I don't forget to install it.  Fingers crossed - I should be able to leave the engine in the car for a while.

Another thing that was done - drilled three holes in the pulley shroud for the bolt on lid and test the fit.

I'm not going to bother powdercoating the lid at this point.

Prior to removing the muffler and the heat shield - I took this picture to show just how close the heat shield is to the bellows boot.

Another angle showing the corner pushing into the bellows boot near the clamp.

The test fit of the heat shield indicates that the modifications should help the two parts keep a slight difference.

“Crack an egg on your head. Let the yolk drip down.”

These fucking things...I have a couple of options to deal with what's going on right now:

1. Take them to a new plating shop and have this plating removed and re-plated so the finished product fits the Jaycee torsion covers.

2. Find a set of Type 1 torsion cover plates, buy the outer bushings and see if this whole thing goes together.

If it's not horribly obvious - I've decided to go after option #2.  I measured the OD of the spring plate, found the suitable bushing and ordered them.

In spite of my organization - I cannot find the cover for the pulley shroud.  I have a NOS bolt-on cover that I'll have powder coated.  If I cannot find a suitable replacement for the one I've apparently lost - I'll drill three holes in this cover and swap it over to a bolt-on unit.

I swapped out the rear license plate wiring and the two grommets - and that was about it for the day.  I have the cargo light and the dome light wiring remaining to replace but those will wait until they're necessary - both currently work fine.

I have five days of vacation and then I'll come back and get something done on the car - and repeat that until my ass is in the seat going down the street.

"You cannot make progress without making decisions."

The car fired right up.  There's a minor oil leak at the rocker cover on the right side, the engine needs to be tuned slightly and the heat shield for the exhaust is rubbing on the body.  A few small tweaks and things will be nicely dialed in.

I noticed at some point today that the seal between the pulley shroud and the fan shroud was not installed - shit time to realize it given the complexity of the exhaust installation process.  But given the rubbing of the heat shield, I can potentially fix three things at once.

I got the horn and front trunk liner installed so the front end looks correct.  The hood latch has decided to stop working so I have to figure that out before I can drive the car but it should be a simple fix.  

Got the kid to help me out for a few minutes - he installed the rear engine stabilizer mount.  Waiting around for the next task was too boring for him so he moved on to the next thing.

I started working on getting the spring plates installed but hit a snag - the plating on the spring plates is too thick and they now do not work with the brass bushings on the cover plates.  I have to come up with some sort of solution so that I can keep moving forward.  I can't use an abrasive or a hone so I have to think of another solution.

I might install a trailing arm and figure out the brake lines while I figure out a solution for the spring plates.  I can also finish working on the 'under the fender' things so that I can get the rear fenders back on the car and get the bumper back on the car.  I've also got the rear seat that can go back in the car.  Plenty of opportunities to keep moving forward.

"Don't worry, I'm not in a hurry"

Made a good amount of progress today - fuel tank, fuel line and pump are all plumbed and wired up.  The fuse box is fitted and checked and new fuses have been installed.  The fusebox is set up like a 67 Euro car with a 12 slot fuse box.  I was able to remove three of the piggy back connectors as a result of using a 12 slot fuse box vs. the standard 10 slot.  The additional 30 amp fuse between the battery and the ignition swich/fuse box should help control any issues that crop up.

From the front end - it's looking a lot like a functional car.  There are some front end suspension things to work out before I can drive the car but the rest of it is dialed in.

A random neighbor stopped by in a 1950 Jeep and chatted about the car - we talked about the things that I've done with the car and we talked a bit about his Jeep.  There are a lot of old cars in this neighborhood and it's cool to talk with people about their cars.

All of the engine wiring is finished - at least for this first round - none of the accessory gauges are wired up yet.

Engine is filled with oil, trans is filled with gear oil...

The battery goes in tomorrow and then we get to see if there are any electrical issues or leaks.  I might get to the spring plate installation tomorrow as well.

The only thing holding this all up will be the rear brake lines - they have to be figured out, made and installed before I can bleed the brakes and drive the car.  I'm making a good amount of progress and it'll be nice to turn it over tomorrow.

Micro update

Not a whole lot of exciting news - installed fuel line from the car to the carbs and the exhaust.  Getting that fucking heat shield for the Python installed was a real bitch.  There's a corner on the heat shield that I'm pretty sure is going to poke a hole in the bellows boot.  I am going to try to get the engine bay wiring done tomorrow and then see how close I can get to firing this thing up.

Once I've reached that part - I will work on getting the suspension swapped out and get the car on tires.  I feel like I'm pretty close to getting both of those things done - and it'll be nice to check at least one of these things off the list.

But still - fuck that heat shield because I know I'm going to have to remove the engine sometime soon and start this whole thing over.

“But in order to change a situation one has first to see it for what it is…”

The plating shop called and told me that the spring plates are ready - 2 day turn around.

They look so much better in real life than they do in pictures.  Now I've got more work to do.  

Once I can get the weather to cooperate, I'll have some time to get more shit done on the car.

I can't wait to get this car back on tires and have the rear brake line the only thing left to finish up.

I've got a list of things to do - still targeting this weekend to get the engine fired up.

"It’s judgment that defeats us."

Nothing really to report - didn't get anything done yesterday.

On the way home, I dropped off the spring plates at a plating shop - very weird vibe in that place but I'm optimistic it'll translate into a good product. The weather didn't do me any favors later in the day - I spent an hour in the basement during a tornado warning and then spent another 30 minutes replacing the rear seat center console in the Volvo.

I have to get some shit done on this car...

Evil is whatever distracts

The engine is installed.  I spent about an hour beating the shit out of the already mangled rear apron to make space for the muffler.  I had to make some BFH adjustments to the engine tin to get the J tubes on the back of the engine. 

I spent 20 minutes getting the transmission coupler cover back on the pan and properly seated under the nosecone seal. I rank it up there as one of the worst things to do on a Type 3.

The car should be real close to being able to fire up by the end of the day tomorrow but I'm trying to not to expect too much in case shit goes sideways.

I found another plating shop nearby - I'm going to drop the spring plates off on Monday and they should be done by the end of the week.

My new target is next weekend for the start up - and I may even be able to get this thing back on 4 tires again.

"do it or do not do it - you will regret both"

 The tap arrived today and I promptly put it to work.  After a handful of cleaning sessions and running the tap through the threads with lubricant - I was able to get the bolts into the subframe without incident.  This is good news - I don't have to drill out threads or drop the subframe. 

Now just waiting on getting the spring plates re-plated so I can put this thing back together.

In the meantime - I'll work on finishing up the wiring and getting the things I took apart back together, installing the engine, etc.  I can run the engine without the rear suspension fully installed.

“Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.”

 A small amount of progress this weekend with a couple of setbacks.  The headlights, indicators, sidemarkers and all related wiring is installed.  The fuel pump is installed, the fuel safety relay is installed.  I stopped short of installing the fuel tank and the front bumper.  I need to get fuel hose for the short run between the fuel tank and the fuel pump.  I wound up pulling out a NOS right front indicator housing because the one on the car was different from the left side - and due to a modification - would have required a different bulb.  I'm all about simplicity so I pulled it out of the box and installed it.  The ISP West front indicator rubber seals went on rather quickly once I swapped the wire tails from the NOS pieces that had shrunk too much to install.

I've ordered a new tap to check one last time if I can simply clean out the existing threads on the torsion bar cover plate before I drill out the threads and use through bolts.  The main reason behind this is because the use of through bolts requires dropping the subframe to get them installed...which, of course, is a gigantic pain in the ass and will slow the progress considerably.  I've already pulled the trailing arms off of the subframe so it'll make removing the transmission that much easier if it comes to it. Once I've run the tap through the threads and figured out which direction I have to go - I'll just move forward.  This car has to go back together very very soon.

Speaking of slowing things down - the very local plating shop decided to try and charge me $500 to plate two spring plates so I canceled the job.  The spring plates are now in need of a new shop to get the job done.  I can't really finish the rear end until the spring plates are re-plated.  I do have the ride height dialed in so the swap should be quick once the good plates are back from plating.