OK, last installment left us off on 17 Jun. Now lets jump ahead a few months to where I actually start DOING something with the car…
5 Nov 2008 – Finally started wrenching. Removed the piece in front of the hood, the hood latch base, hood latch vertical support and the driver’s side fender.
8 Nov 2008 – Removed just about everything under and including the hood. Removed the hood, hood hinges, fan, water pump, emissions canister, engine bay wiring harnesses, and A/C components.
9 Nov 2008 - Did a bit more today. Lifted the car up and disconnected the shift linkage and removed the transmission mount bolts. Then I loosened the engine mount bolts. Now the wait until next weekend when my brother will be in town to yank the engine & trans. I also removed all the guts (window tracks and door latch/lock system) and weather stripping from the driver’s side door.
10 Nov 2008 - Working on (and under) the dash plain ole, flat out SUCKS!!! I feel like a pretzel after today! I was actually sitting upside down in the seat (head where your feet usually are and kicking the roof with my feet) a few times to look for the dash pad bolts and get them off. Today I removed both doors and hinges, passenger side fender, gauge cluster, dash pad, center console, heater core and ducts.
11 Nov 2008 – Today I removed the wiring harness, dash subframe, shift linkage, front seats, e-brake, gas pedal, visors, rear view mirror, seat belts, and wiper arms.
16 Nov 2008 – With tremendous help from my brothers, Brad & Matt, tons was done over the course of the weekend. The following was removed from the car: front suspension (drums, shocks, A-arms, etc…), tranny, engine, K-member and torsion bars, back seat, seatbelts, interior trim pieces, headliner, package tray, front & rear glass (and cleaned all the adhesive from the window sills), rear side windows & mechanisms, exterior window trim, trunk lid, tail lights, rear valance panel, rear drive train components (tires, differential, leaf springs, etc…), steering column, and gas tank. Between the three of us, we probably put in about 48 hours (two days, 8 hours each day, three of us). Not all of it was easy going. All the ball joints required heat and persuasion from the 5 lb sledge. Windows were a pain and time consuming too. So, all that’s left to remove are the brake and gas lines, steering column braces, rear bumper, gas tank straps, and a few other odds & ends.
Until next time, keep the rubber on the road!
Sean
