“It is possible that longing for something is better than actually having it. I’ve heard it said that satisfaction is the death of desire.”

Pulled out the rear cargo door panel out of storage and discovered that the vinyl is pulling off of the board.  The board is broken but I decided to push forward and glue the vinyl back down so I can put it back in the car.  It'll work until I'm ready to dive into a complete restoration.  It's one less part on a shelf and one more part on the car - that's a win in my book.

Right side door is completely put back together, the inner rear fender area is cleaned and painted and ready for the fender to be re-installed.

I'm hoping to get the right rear fender back on the car tomorrow (along with the rear bumper) and the exhaust support brackets.  If I can get the right rear fender on the car - the interior panels can go back in the car.  Lots can happen once the interior panels are back in the car.

Shocks are coming, brake lines should be done soon and I'll know what's up with the axles by Tuesday.  I think that's all I'm waiting on to get this show on the road, so to speak.

"Your patience will be both appreciated and rewarded"

Progress today included tearing apart and rebuilding the driver's side door - the window regulator support has four tiny spot welds - two of them have popped off and they're no longer supporting the arm.  I took the door apart, cleaned everything and dug out the two sets of window regulators I squirreled away some years ago.  After I spent nearly 90 minutes cleaning them up - I discovered that of the two left-side pieces - one was on the verge of self-destruction (the aluminum press fit spring holder/pivot was pulling out of the spring steel bracket) and the other one was broken in the exact same place as the original regulator.  I thought about pulling out the welder but decided against it in the hope that I could simply make progress elsewhere.  So I put the door back together and moved on to something else.  The window works okay - it doesn't bind - but I know it's not 100%.  I'll have to save this for another day.

The other progress includes - the left side fender is back on the car - the left side parking brake cable is installed, I've ordered Koni Red shocks for the rear and the clutch is adjusted.  I prepped the right side of the car for under fender paint and started working on the passenger's side door.  But that's where I stopped.  I then took a VW break and installed the new horns in the Volvo (success!) and broke the headlamp washer door in the process - they're made from the world's cheapest plastic because they break VERY easily.  I knew I should have bought both of them two years ago...oh well, one step closer, I suppose.  I'll have to get the little door thing on order with Volvo on Tuesday since the part number on the part seems to have been superseded and the new part number is a closely held secret.

I'll wrap up the inner fender paint and the passenger's side door over the next couple of days - along with the right side fender going back on the car (and perhaps the bumper!).  Once I can get the parking brakes are worked out, the floor mat can go back into the car (the rear half).  When the brakes are successfully bled, the front floor mat piece can go in the car as well.  Then the seats and holy shit, it'll look like a car again.  Just in time for snow, probably.

That reminds me...I wonder where those axles are that I ordered from Sway A Way several weeks (actually, a couple of months) ago...they were on backorder but I figured they'd show up by now.  Axles and CVs are something I definitely don't want to do twice.  If the back order isn't filled soon - I'll probably have to order EMPI axles and hope they don't suck.