"I'm not quite sure what level of reality I'm supposed to be operating on."

Getting up to date: Parking brake installed and adjusted, interior panels are installed, rear seat back installed, driver's seat installed, interior vacuumed out.  Once the brakes are bled - hopefully, it's still warm enough out to put the tatters of the floor mat in the sun so I can put it in the car.  If I do that and skip the 'in the sun' bit - the mat will explode into several pieces and I'll have to toss it in the trash.  Either way, it's coming off of the shelf it's been sitting on for the last several months.

I stared long and hard at the seat belt situation - there are a few ideas swimming around in my head - the front seats are going to be the hardest to resolve because the shoulder mount is too low on the B pillar for the system to work smoothly - I may have to figure out some sort of interim solution until I figure out the future of this car.

I received the secondary order of parts today - spent some time trying to figure out the best place for the bung on the muffler for the wideband - I'll likely remove the muffler and drop it off at a shop for that work to be done.  I may clean up the torsion cover and see if they can weld some covers on and then I'll paint them.

There's something weird going on with the transmission - it'll shift into 1-2 just fine but 3-4 are hard to engage - I'll try adjusting them once the car is able to be mobile.  I'm fingers crossed hoping that the trans builder used the correct hockey stick...this is what happens when the wrong hockey stick is installed.  I hope it just needs some adjustment because I am NOT down with pulling the engine and trans to swap hockey sticks...again.  Same builder did this on the Swing Axle trans they built and I specifically called it out when they built this one (and I sent the correct hockey stick to them).  Time will tell but I hope like hell that I don't have to take all of this shit apart again.

Speaking of time - the 2nd set of axles are due to arrive on Tuesday - fingers crossed I'll have a chance to get them assembled and installed by the weekend...although that may not matter because...

...first thing this morning I drove 30 minutes over to the shop that I chose to make my brake hoses and asked about my order.  The initial response was that I'd have to call the same two people who have been left two voicemails and, as of yet, have not replied to me in any way whatsoever...and there was no way to ask them today because they don't work on Saturday.  I asked if there is a "will call" order shelf and, as if a light bulb went on over his head, the counter guy told me that he'd check it.  And he found my order on the shelf in a sealed box.  He opened the box so we could see what's inside: the hoses appeared correctly made and the correct length - my hopes were rising for functional brakes today.  Then I looked at the female fitting and discovered an inverted flare fitting.  Wrong fitting - they're supposed to be ISO DIN bubble flare.  The male end was correct - the female end was not.  Guy at the counter assured me that they'd expedite the order for the fittings and get them done by next weekend.  The brake hoses will be the dead last thing I install on this car before I can drive it.

In the meantime - I'm going to do a cursory alignment on the front end, fix the hood release (it's stuck shut right now), figure out rear seat belts and make a decision about how to resolve the front seat belts.  At the rate things are going - it'll be done before I get those brake hoses.

I may go through the parts stash and start selling off stuff I'm not going to use if I've got more time between getting the car ready and receipt of those brake hoses.