Well, I was temporarily laid off at work. Since I had time and was alone, I got out the chain hoist and mounted the engine on the engine stand. I disassembled the external parts and bagged and tagged the nuts and bolts. Before I started I sprayed some oil in the cylinders and the motor turned over very easily. I see no wear on the cylinder walls or cam lobes. Thinking about resealing motor and letting it go at that since it only has 60178 miles on it. Painting the block tomorrow and sanding and painting the oil pan and timing cover. Decided to try wrinkle finish black on the valve cover just because it looks cool. If I can get Jon back out this weekend with his sandblaster, I can prep the engine compartment and get close to readying it for the motor. I like being off work because I can get lots done. I don't like being unemployed because everything on this dang car costs money.

Well, today I would have liked to get busy on the dash and firewall but instead had to clean mouse nests out of the boat motor and change the lower unit oil. Got to get everything running and ready to leave Saturday night. Had a tree split in the huge windstorm yesterday and had to tie it up, tape the trunk, and stake it sturdily against more wind. Noticed I still need to get the snowthrower off the tractor and the mower deck installed. I sure do love my tractor. So...no work on little spitty.

Well, the first parts I ever ordered from Victoria British arrived today. All my engine gaskets and seals, and the body trim kit with all the body gaskets and seals. I am less than impressed with the cheesy punched out gaskets, but am extremely happy to have them. I have to say, however, that anyone who uses packing peanuts ought to be shot. What a mess. So much to do now, and never enough free time. Now I am told that I am going up north fishing for Memorial Day weekend. No work on the Spitty but it's hard to argue with a fishing weekend.

Unfortunately I have to work to pay for my toys, and today was back to work day. Then the dang kids thought it was more important to set up the trampoline instead of letting Dad work on his car. Going to refinish the wood dash but have to determine if it is a laminate or real wood. It looks like laminate. If so I will have to be extremely careful with the sanding. Got the tear down pics from Jon's camera today. What a mess. Still, it is a long way from my first look at it.

5-10-09
No Jon today. He lives 50 miles away and it is a lot to ask for him to come over every day! It is also Mother's Day, so my time is limited.
I pulled all the wires and cables through the firewall into the interior. Took lots of pictures to remember where things go, but quite honestly, the old owner disconnected so much shit that I will be putting this puzzle together blind anyway. Got under the dash and found out how to remove the defrost vent trim. It is very rusty and will have to be sandblasted. While I was there, I decided what the hell, let's get the dash out. I spent a bit of time snapping pictures and removing the three dash panels one at a time. I marked every wire as to where it went and took more pictures. Reassembly should be no problem. I found no mouse chewed wires, though every cable housing was worn through or split or cracked. I guess I will have to buy new cables. Now I can clean under the dash, wrap the wires cleanly and refinish the wood dash panels. The gauges will all have to be hand cleaned and new gaskets where they mount to the dash found. Maybe I can find some big but thin o-rings. Hope to get this all ready for reassembly this week.

5-9-09
Better than we hoped for. We pushed the car out, removed trim panels and carpet, degreased the entire vehicle and washed it. The floorpans are perfect and strong. The old carpet was glued in instead of snapped, so it was not original. I knew that already by the crappy way it was installed and the terrible cutting job. Found more mouse debris behing rear valance covering the fuel tank. More vacuuming. Found more inside fenders and frame. It all has to get out so it doesn't get wet. It will stay damp and dampness causes rust. So we vacuum a long time. We discussed course of action. Jon is taking interior panels to use as templates and will make new, stronger ones. He will cover them in a naugahyde vinyl in black. I get to pull all the wiring and cables through to ready the firewall area for sandblasting and skim coat. We also found a way to get the engine on the engine stand but turned stupid and bought the wrong thread pitch bolts. That will have to wait. This already took 6 hours.