It's hard to understand the inner workings of an idiot

Photo from the body shop today when I asked about progress/status.

The rear subframe is painted, the small parts are painted.  This part is done and pretty much ready to go.

The missing braces are pretty fucking annoying but I just have to move on.

The bottom of the pan has presented some 'challenges', yeah?  The top coat bubbled quite a bit.  After contacting the tech support for KBS - they said that the top coat was applied too thick and too soon between coats.

I had to order another can of paint - the body shop will sand it down and repaint it.

The dent at the top of the center section is rather annoying because we agreed that they would all be removed.  There are some discussion points to have about the result of the communicated work vs. the delivered result.

The shit result appears to be localized on the center section of the pan.

The top side looks better - which is kind of ironic since it'll be covered with insulation and carpet.

The estimated delivery date of this stuff is Wednesday...then I have to muster up the desire to put all of this shit back together before the snow falls.

How to divest in twenty easy steps

I went to the final local show of the season on Sunday.  I arrived very early to the swap - as evidenced by the near empty parking lot that would be later filled with over 160 vehicles.  It was an interesting show and I got to hang out with some old friends.

My little Type 3 swap space was far busier than I thought it would be and I sold a lot of little stuff and made some contacts for future sales of larger parts or things I didn't bring to the show.

The goal is to sell everything that's not directly going on the car - so a lot of the NOS stuff I bought and have held onto over the years is all hopefully going to someone else's car.  I'm over the experience of it.

I ran into the body guy at the show and he said that he'd be painting the pan and subframe over the next couple of days.

Late yesterday, I received this photo of the IRS conversion and test fit of the transmission.  Everything fits so far.

A keen eye will notice that the kafer/brace bars that I wanted are not present.  I thought about bringing it up but then also realized that it'd just set the whole thing back another three months and probably add a few hundred dollars to the total.  It's already taken too long and pointing this up now will simply delay my already fucked timeline and I certainly don't want to spend any more money on this project.  If it turns out to be a big deal - I'll find a local welder to do the work and re-paint it myself.  So far, however, my thought on this is 'meh - fuck it'.

I guess this serves as photographic proof that the pan and the subframe are getting painted...so some progress is being made.

The engine has been 'near finished' for two weeks - no idea what the status is at this point.  Jim's on vacation for a week so I imagine I'll find out after that at some point.  I don't ask him because I don't need it right now and it'd just get in the way if it were in the garage.

I posted up a small list of parts for sale on a FB group.  I have a bunch of other stuff that I really should list - but that'll go to another group first.  Even in grip of apathy, I prefer to sell parts to those who try to preserve the cars in their original condition.

Seems like the harder I try - the greater my regret for having made the effort.  I'm no longer in a hurry - don't have a deadline.  I am not excited by the prospect of looking for parts, finding parts or having the parts - I am excited about selling parts and watching the boxes of stuff go to someone else.

I never really knew the feeling of 'self loathing' until I got back into this hobby - and now, several years later, it's become my voice of reason.  The voice telling me that it's time to divest the collection of parts and try to enjoy the car I'm building...and I'm listening.

Trudging sucks. Giving up sucks.

While I was going through my parts, I opened the box for what I thought was a 67 only Type 3 wiper motor - discovered that it was a Type 34 12 volt wiper motor - so it was posted up and sold within a couple of hours.  As much as I loathe Facebook and the groups - they're good for selling parts.  While I'm on this box - I've recently bailed out of over half of the VW groups I belonged to - too much drama and nonsense.  I am burning out on Facebook overall - it's become a platform for people to either brag about a life they're not really living or complain about things that don't matter.

It's been a trying few days...the gauge bracket is painted but my mediocre Dremel work wasn't fully  covered up by the paint...so I'm hoping that the gauges will cover most of it up once they're installed.  I haven't yet reached a point of installing the gauges because of some of this...

The second set of trailing arms that I bought showed up yesterday.  At first glance they looked pretty good - then I got a little closer and realized that the bump stop mount was rusted away on one of them.  I paid a premium for these so they'd be inspected, cleaned and painted (even if only poorly rattle canned).  I'm not at all concerned about the paint because it's getting stripped off but the rusted out bump stop isn't acceptable.

This is a photo of it when I straightened it out - most of it is gone.  I called Chirco (the place I bought it from) and they asked for pictures and told me that they'd send a replacement tomorrow.  The response is exactly what I should expect as a customer - but it's not what I thought would happen based on my numerous issues with other vendors and parts.  Now I just have to wait and see if they actually do it.

The Swayaway parts were picked up this morning from Jim's house.  One has what looks like a rust spot on it at the weld and a REALLY poor zinc plating.  I'm not super concerned about the rust spot or the zinc plating because I planned to strip it and paint it with KBS.

CB Performance states that the spring plates are cadmium plated while Swayaway's site states that they're zinc plated.  I highly doubt they're cadmium plated.

The other spring plate, however, has a really terrible finish on the back side.  I briefly thought about just leaving it alone since it's on the back but then I started to question the quality of the work if it looks like this and was boxed up to sell.

I called CB Performance - who forwarded my issue to Swayaway.  About an hour later, Swayaway called me to say that they're sending a new set that they've inspected.  They seemed a little horrified that this made it to a customer.  In spite of that reaction, it doesn't say much about their quality control and inspection process if this made it to the hands of a customer.

The Jaycee retainers look super nice and the Swayaway torsion bars look great - so I'm 2/3 of the way there...no word from the shop about the pan or subframe.  That means that they have made very little in the way of progress.  Jim is about done with the engine so I'm expecting that he's going to want to drop it off in the next day or two to get it out of his garage.  It'll come here and sit in the garage while I wait for the subframe and pan to get finished.

EDIT: The engine lost oil pressure - the oil pump was pulled and inspected and determined to have an excessive amount of lash in the gears.  It has been replaced and seems to be working fine now.  Jim's going to test it out again tomorrow to make sure the pressure is good and there's nothing else contributing to the issue.

The shop says they have the pan and subframe back from sandblasting.  The subframe needs to be checked to ensure that it's got proper clearance for the CVs at the trans mount horns but we've hit a scheduling snag. The last time the pan/subframe needed to be fit into a paint schedule, the whole thing got pushed back by 3 weeks.  I'm real tempted to just rent a truck, pay for what they've done and bring it home. In the time this stuff has been up at the shop - I've had an engine rebuilt, a transmission rebuilt, two rounds of IRS parts shipped to me, two fuel pumps sourced & rebuilt and I sourced a bunch of other stuff that required research before purchasing.

I found more stuff to add to the pile for the swap on Sunday - hopeful that I'll sell a bunch of it but not holding my breath.  I spent most of the morning today going through the garage and organizing things in preparation for storage vs. work.

The momentum that I had going into this is long gone - the motivation to get it done has transitioned to "getting it done so I don't have to look at a garage full of random parts strewn about" - my desire to drive the car is waning fast.  I've enjoyed the learning process but that's where it ends - the rest of it has been pure frustration and disappointment.

The repeated part quality issues, the delays, the cost and the toll this has taken on me mentally just doesn't seem worth it.  I've decided to focus my efforts on other things and this car will take a backseat to nearly everything else.  The budget I set is charbroiled to the point of not being recognizable any longer - a lot of which is due to paying for parts that wind up being crap and then having to fix them or buy them again.  This hobby has a lot better access to parts in faraway places since the internet came about but most of those parts aren't worth buying because of quality issues.  Pre-internet - the parts were harder to find but they were in a LOT better condition.

Once this phase of the car is done - it'll be a while before I spend any more money on it - this car, and the experiences that have formed as a result of the work I've done, will likely be the exact reason I leave the hobby for the last time in the not too distant future.

Maybe I should have named this car "Linda"...

I'm a masochist - but I've had enough.

“For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured by the person who's waiting

The latest is that the pan and subframe work is done - they're waiting for sandblasting and paint.  The 'new' estimate is the end of NEXT week.  So if there was even a glimmer of hope that I'd be able to get this car back on 4 tires before the show on the 15th, it's now extinguished for certain.  Nearly everything that remains is due at the end of next week.

I'm at a near standstill while I wait for things to be completed - the gauge wiring and mount will be completed on Monday.  I've modified the absolute shit out of the gauge panel to get it to work where the stock radio is normally fitted.  I had to remove material at the edges on the mounting flange to clear the screw that holds the vent lever assembly.  This is going to get sanded down to bare metal and repainted on Monday.  After a week or so of sitting/drying, I'll mount it up on the dash with the gauges installed and the wires mounted.  I'm working on this as slowly as possible but this task will conclude well before it's required.  Not a bad result - considering all I have is a Dremel and the rock steady hands of a guy who always loses at Operation.

It'll be quiet here for a few days/week - while I wait out the arrival of the rest of the parts I need to do some real work on this car.

You need a little bit of insanity to do great things

I went over to Jim's on Tuesday to deliver some new crush washers for the oil sender because he is chasing a slight leak on/near the oil cooler.  While I was there - he discovered that it's not actually the oil sender banjo bolt that's leaking but the oil cooler seals or the oil cooler.  He's got to take the left side apart to resolve the oil leak.  The engine needs a little bit of carburetor tuning to smooth out the idle and running but it sounds good otherwise - the engine itself sounds so much better - not like a lawnmower with a coffee can of bolts sitting on top.  I imagine it'll be next week before the engine is done and ready to go...I suspect that the oil cooler is to blame.

In addition to the engine update - I went ahead and ordered the SwayAway parts - they will arrive in about a week.  I'm on the fence about if I'm going to paint the trailing arms or powder coat them.  I still have to figure out what I'm doing with the axles - I can paint them or powder coat them.  I'd prefer to paint them but the humidity levels here are way too high for painting (75%+) so I can either wait a week or more to pain or I can drop them off for powder coat and wait a week or more for the parts to come back.

I bought a Facet electric fuel pump from NAPA but it's missing pieces and has some odd corrosion on the pump so I returned it and bought a replacement via eBay.  The Facet pump is much larger and heavier than the Mr. Gasket pump (and more expensive) but I'm going to give it a go - pairing it up with the Malpassi Filter King that I bought several months ago.

ISP responded and agreed to take the sender tree adapter back without applying the restock fee - so it's going back.  I'll replace it with two separate sender adapters mounted in-line between the oil filter and the engine block - assuming I can find a good place with a little extra space for the adapters.

The transmission arrived today.  A careful glance will reveal that it's missing the bracket for the bowden tube.  I called them up within 20 minutes of receiving the box to inquire about it.  After an apology for the omission, I was told they'd be sending one in the mail.

The pan and subframe are in unknown state (no reply from the shop working on them) and the second set of trailing arms will arrive next week.  Early on, I sort of predicted that everything would show up at the last minute - but I'm not sure I expected it to be at the absolute last minute in reference to my self-imposed deadline.  With each passing day - that deadline moves from 'stressful' to 'hilarious' because I acquiesce to the idea that pushing harder to make it happen becomes slightly more ridiculous.

There's a laundry list of things that need to happen and a shorter list of a handful of things that need to be ordered once the engine is installed.  I'd need a week after everything is installed to make it.  So my new/more realistic deadline is the end of the month - and, to be fair, that might be pushing the realm of what's possible.  I'm far too dependent on others with zero repercussions for being late to be able to actually stick a deadline.

Your best teacher is your last mistake

The gauges I ordered showed up yesterday - I mounted them in the bracket to see how they'll look.  I have angle rings for them but they're not installed in this picture.

I'm not keen on the silver bezels - I'm thinking about painting them black to tone it down a bit.  By the time I get around to the installation of the gauges and wiring and everything else - I just say 'good enough' and leave them alone.

I will also have to figure out a solution for the cylinder head temperature sender since I don't currently have a tapped hole for it.  I thought about it earlier on in the process but didn't think I'd find a gauge so getting that done got back-burnered to the point of nonexistence...

The comically huge thing on the left is the oil pressure sender that I am working on a location for mounting.

The sender adapter tree thing that I bought from ISP West is not going to work because it's not deep enough for the oil temperature sender.  I will be returning this thing once I've confirmed that they're not going to ding me for 20% restocking fee.

So, I'm going to do what I thought I should have done in the first place and purchase two more inline AN fittings with ports for senders.  I tested the oil temperature sender in the one that I have and it fits great.

I need to spend more time listening to that inner voice of mine - it's always right and I'm tired of being wrong while I try to save money or time.  When I'm wrong - I just wind up taking longer and spending more money.

A test fitting of the gauge cluster indicated that a little trimming was required to get it to fit correctly.  I trimmed it a bit and it appeared that it'd need a substantial amount of additional trimming - so I flipped it around and it fit as is.  At this point, I decided to trim the openings to allow the gauge rings to be used and then I installed the gauges and then I held it up to the dash - it fits and the gauges don't stick out awkwardly.  It needs a little bit of detail work before being painted but it's close.

Speaking of dealing with, again, making a terrible decision - I spent the majority of the day cleaning the stock dual spring plates, torsion bars, and trailing arms.  The spring plates are in decent condition but I'm not quite sure how I'll get paint on the inside edges of the two plates.  The torsion bars need to be stripped and repainted/powder coated.  The axles are clean but, again, need to be powder coated.  I'm wishing I'd just spent the money to get the Sway Away parts because I've wasted a whole day only to decide that I don't really want to use most of this worn out, rusty original shit.

Cleaning the trailing arms revealed that there are several points of damage that require repair before they can be used - as a back up - I ordered another set last Friday.  After a bit of conversation - I was assured that they'll show up in much better condition than the first set.

I'm currently considering tossing this stock shit in a bin and ordering up the SwayAway stuff.  Using the stock parts at this point means that I'll wind up spending another $500 just to get it right when I can spend $600 to buy new parts.  I'll clean up the stock stuff and save the extra set of trailing arms for a future narrowed rear end if I decide that the stock wheels are too thin.

According to Jim, he's going to be done with the engine on Tuesday...then I will get the exhaust welded at the collector...once it's in the car, I'll figure out the oil filter and cooler locations - then buy the hose/fittings and finish that part before wrapping the header.

The transmission delivery update is Thursday - then I'll to figure out the pan, subframe and rear suspension shit...there's zero chance I'll be done before the 15th.

Walk on following a fate line

We're this far - the engine is nearly complete.  Everything is hooked up and, absent the pulley cover tin, the engine is ready to go.

I received the AN fittings and the hose - once Jim is done with the engine, I'll be moving on to getting the exhaust collector welded up properly and then figuring out where to put the oil filter and the oil cooler - which will lead to getting the oil lines and fittings sorted.

There was also discussion about swapping to DCNF carburetors - Jim's got a line on a brand new pair of Berg Specials with Berg manifolds.  I may just pick them up to have them on hand if the price is right.

I pulled the warm air mixing box out of the Evaporust this morning.

The left side is 'before' - the right side is 'after'.  Almost all of the crap on the insulation came off but I left it in the mix too long - after I rinsed it off, most of the paint came off as well.  I may wind up pulling the top hat off and removing the insulation to restore them completely.  It'll be a nice 'side project' once the car is back together.

This is one of the two boxes that I received today - exactly as it was packed.  All of these parts could have easily fit into one box and saved me $50 in shipping.  Sometimes it's a giant pain in the ass to buy online...it's really annoying when people ship super dirty parts.  This is likely going to be the last time I buy from this guy.

The bump stop mount was full of rocks between the rubber and the mount - it's crusty - who knows if it'll clean up.  It is a hidden part of the trailing arm so it's not the end of the world but it would be nice if it didn't look like shit.

Bump stop mount is crusty - the rest of it is mostly straight.  I'm going to pull out the grinder next week and see if I can get them clean enough to paint...or if I should give up and get another set that's in better condition.

Might be hard to believe but this was the clean one.  I cleaned them off with some gasoline so that I could find the clips that hold them in place.  3 of the 4 CVs came out with a little work and the 4th one refused to budge.

I got the trailing arms fairly clean once I got them apart.  The stub axles were bent/trashed, the bearings were super worn and made in China.  I just have to get the rubber bushings out of the trailing arms.

Next week's task is cleaning them up - straightening out the bent section on the shock mount and try to clean up the bump stop mounts.

It took so much pounding to get the axle free of the CV housing that I broke my sledgehammer.  I have beat the ever living shit out of all kinds of stuff and not broken this thing.  FYI: It hurts a bit when the head gets free and lands on your shoulder.

The majority of what remains of what was sent to me.  The torsion cover plates are in Evaporust.  The torsion bars are correct for stock set ups but they'll need to be stripped and painted because the current paint is damaged.

I'm kind of wishing I'd just bought the aftermarket shit - I wouldn't have to clean anything and deal with an endless supply of old grease, crusty parts and sub-par nonsense.

Background Tune: "Circles" by Birds of Tokyo

Pan progress

Here's what Bob Ross would call a 'happy accident'...I dropped the warm air mixing box into some Evaporust thinking that it would clean off the crust on the inside of the tube and the stuff on the outside.  I didn't expect that it'd clean the insulation as well.  The black stuff that remained is undercoating - I can get that stripped off with Bug & Tar and I'll try dipping the whole thing to see what happens.

I stopped by the shop to check on the progress of the pan - one side is nearly done and the other side is ready to be installed.  They communicated that the pan AND subframe will be completely done by next Friday.

The rear end corner of the pan.

This shows the location of the cut on the pan to make it fit properly and deal with the missing hole on the Klassic Fab pans.

The tunnel metal was removed to replace the fuel line.  This is the rearmost area - it's very clean inside the tunnel.  After looking at the routing of the fuel line - I don't quite understand how Volkswagen expects that the fuel line can be replaced without opening up the tunnel.  The two tabs that support the line through the tunnel are very snug

The front of the tunnel - clean paint - but I'll be using cavity coater once it's all back together.

 Middle of the tunnel.

Front of the pan - should look really nice once it's cleaned up and painted.

The engine was started up for the first time yesterday - using different carburetors - I'm going over to check it out and see if there's another option for mounting the oil cooler off of the engine.  The exhaust should be mounted and the carbs could be attached while I'm there - I'd like to get the start up with the Webers and the Python on a short video.

I ordered gauges for the car today - Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, Cylinder Head Temperature - the plan is to mount them in a 3 gauge cluster where the radio normally goes - so the bone stock interior them will be 'off' with this gauge cluster.  Routing the wires is another task that will get added to the list - I may try to do most of it while the car is still in pieces.

Laughing at weeds running out the door

These fasteners here belong in the 'overkill' department.  I bought locking fasteners for the CV joints - made by Stage 8.  I did a fair amount of searching and reading up on the IRS rear suspension while I was trying to determine what I needed and wanted.  One common theme was that people complained about the bolts on their CVs coming loose.  Since I'm going all out on this conversion anyway - it only made sense to add these to the list of improvements.

And while we're on the subject of 'unscheduled purchases' - I stumbled into a conversation on Facebook about fenders and wound up buying NOS rear fenders.  They don't have the trim holes in them but they're otherwise really nice parts.  They are in South Carolina and will be shipped to me in the next few days - and I'll put them in the rafters in the garage to keep them safe.  Nice to know that I don't need to worry about the cost of body work on my OG fenders any longer.

Getting back to the project at hand: I am expecting the box of IRS rear suspension parts to show up on Friday.  The rebuilt transmission should arrive mid-next week and the engine should be rounding the bend and near finished real soon.  I can't wait to hear it fire up with that Python exhaust on it...

The new pressure plate, throw out bearing and clutch disc showed up today.  The AN fittings and hose are due tomorrow.  I bought a trial size of the oil cooler hose and the fire sleeve after talking with the manufacturer - I may see if I can cut and fit the hoses myself to save some time/money.  I won't know about brake lines until the subframe is back on the car so that will wind up being a late in the process decision - along with the location of the oil cooler and the filter mount.

The pan and the subframe are due to be ready for pick up at the end of next week - it'll give me about a week to get it back together before the Crystal Lake show (last of the season around here) - so I think I'll be able to make a bit of progress but it won't be enough time to drive the car to the show...but who knows - maybe I'll have a stroke of good luck and it'll all just go back together.

As my self-imposed deadline of September 15th goes whooshing by while I'm in the garage surrounded by car parts - I have to keep in mind that I'll likely have near zero time to wrench on the car once I start back full time in the working world.  Things are getting close...

Background Tune: "The Wolf" by SIAMÉS

Progress is never linear - more like fluctuating positively upwards

The engine is now at the final mock up stage.  I took the exhaust and the remote oil filter/thermostat over to Jim's to see if the standard bracket would fit/work.  At first glance, it looks too good to be true.

I was cautiously optimistic that the oil filter would simply mount right up to the car given the complexity of the pipes and from this angle - it looks pretty darned good.  The standard FastFab oil filter bracket fits - the thermostat/filter mount fits and it's not super close to the exhaust.

It does appear, however, that the j-tube is going to exit the rear of the engine right about the same place that the oil filter will occupy when mounted here...so another solution may be required.  A test fit with the j-tube will ultimately determine what happens next.  This photo additionally shows the flanged bolts making contact with the engine tin - that was quickly resolved by swapping them out with button heads.  EDIT: The oil filter mount isn't going to work in this location because the j-tube will foul the oil filter (or vice versa) so another solution will need to be found before it can be finalized.

It's hard to see - but the exhaust pipe curves slightly back toward the engine.  That will prevent simply extending the bracket for the remote oil filter - I may have to come up with a completely different solution.

I received a message today that one of the sellers of IRS rear suspension parts is planning to gather up all of the parts and ship them to me tomorrow...which would be a very welcome step in the right direction.  There's a chance I may be back to work in 3 weeks so I won't have nearly as much time to do this stuff once that 'work life' thing kicks back in again.  I would love to be back working like a normal person again.

I was going to order new spring plates for the swing axle torsion bars and see if I could use them in place of the stock stuff since neither of the people I've contacted had gotten back to me for over a week.  I've figured out that the short torsion bars are Type 1, the intermediate torsion bars are Type 3 swing axle and the long ones are Type 3 IRS.  I could use my existing swing axle torsion bars with new spring plates and retainers as a next step.  Or I can go 'all in' and get short torsion bars in a larger diameter, Jaycee retainers and Swayaway spring plates to replicate a cleaner look done by another Type 3 owner.  I like the look but don't know if it would be too stiff so starting with the stock set up is probably the best idea for now.

The next three weeks are going to be busy with job searching, interviewing and trying to get this car back together - pivot and persevere scheduling, problem-solving and multi-tasking are good for my brain.  Most of this will come together pretty quickly but there will be some details that are going to be tough to chase down but I'll get them...the momentum is building.

Background Tune: "Lone Digger" by Caravan Palace

The Wolf

I got word yesterday that the long block is complete with the following information: 8:1 compression, .045 deck, .004 crankshaft free play.  Sounds like the engine and transmission will be done and in my garage around the same time.

The rear suspension part has been a bit more of a challenge.  I received the stub axles and the EMPI spring plates.

I'll be keeping the stub axles and returning the spring plates.  The ends are jagged/crooked.

 Overall finish on them is very poor.

Yeah, I should have known better but I was trying to have an open mind about the possibility of EMPI having improved their quality.

Now - I'm at a junction again - go to dual spring plates and use stock parts (the torsion bars are a bitch to find) or modify the plan, spend a bit more money and get SwayAway short torsions and spring plates with Jaycee retainers.  The rear end will be a lot stiffer but that won't necessarily be a bad thing.

The funny part?  I've had at least four people tell me that the EMPI stuff is better than the Swayaway stuff - but having the EMPI parts in my hand - I can't really see how that's possible unless the Swayaway parts are made from PlayDoh.

Seems like - no matter how dead simple this should be - I'm running into just about every barrier possible.  The self-imposed deadline that's three weeks away is slowly morphing into a wall that grows by the day.  I have to figure out how to get up enough momentum to get over it - and probably at the last minute.

A little bit of progress

A few hints of progress for the various tasks to get the car back together:

Engine: I dropped off the remainder of the engine parts to Jim's place today - he now has everything except the exhaust.  I'm guessing it'll be the end of the week before the engine is put together - perhaps even into next week.

Transmission:  I placed the order for the transmission yesterday.  IRS, SuperDiff, welded 3rd and 4th, 4.12 R/P and .82 4th gear.  It'll be shipped to me the middle of next week because I caught the shop in a small lull in business and I'm a returning customer.

IRS Conversion: Another group of parts is due to arrive this week - spring plates, stub axles, bushings, bolts for the CV joints, etc.  I now have two different shops trying to cobble together the parts for the subframe - one in California and one in Arizona.  Neither one has gotten back to me to confirm they have the correct torsion bars though.  Trailing arms and axles are the easy part - the torsion bars in stock length are, apparently, a giant pain in the ass to find.  I don't know when the subframe will be done but I hope it's soon...

Pan:  The pan is 'almost done' - I hope that means that by this time next week, I can be working on getting brake line and shift rod installed.  I'll be building a new cart for it to get it lifted up to the correct spot for reattachment.  The hardware was cleaned in EvapoRust and came out really clean.  I'll probably save it for the next plating run to conserve cost and use the stuff that was done in Atlanta.

The fuel pump that was rebuilt and then gone over to make it look better turned out really nicely.  I sent another pump to the guy who did this work and this one is being sold to a local guy with a 67 Fastback.

I also found another tail light lens for his car - so he'll have a pair of brand new lenses and they should look real nice on his car while helping me to sell off a couple of parts in the process.

Oil pump and axle tubes

As planned, I pulled the axles and nose cone from the transmission yesterday and posted them up for sale online.  They're a hard sell - meaning that I'll probably have them for quite a while before someone buys them from me.

I cleaned off a shelf in the cabinet in the garage for all of the pieces that are slowly making their way to the house for the assembly process.  I have one order out there somewhere - the spring plates, bushings and stub axles.  I called them today and they're expecting the parts either today or Monday.  Given that it's late on Friday, they'll probably call me on Monday with an update.

The oil pump was too small for the bore of the engine case - so I reached out to engine dude to see if we can work out a trade for something else...Jim has a proper fitting oil pump so he's going to use that for the engine.

Jim has the short block together - it'll sit for another day or two before he gets going on the long block, then the tin, then the exhaust and the oil cooler figuring...

Still no word from the guy with the axles, torsion bars and the trailing arms...he's the least cost option right now - if he flakes out, I'll have to spend twice as much getting the parts and that'll suck for my budget.  I am still selling a decent amount of parts but the 'good stuff' is about gone and I imagine the sales will drop in line with the selection.

Monday is update day for the pan - I'm going to be looking for a due date for it to be finished so I have time to get it back together and get the front end on it...there's a lot to do with it once it shows up so I'm eager to get it back here and get started.