I'm waiting for the film developer envelope. The first roll was Seattle Film Works. Only they can develop. I won't make that mistake again. I was looking for them on the web and found out that "Seattle Film Works" is a porn site! No wonder they changed their name.
At this point, the donor looks like it should be in a junk yard. No doors, hood, bumpers, grille or lights. Only the windshield remains. But, I can still drive it!
6/29/00 Well last night was saw time. The "sawzall" really does! I never used one before, and it goes through metal like a hot knife through butter. When I was cutting the old hard wood I'm using for ramps, it was very slow. But through the conduit, it was pretty instant. So, I'm installing the cross braces. Got the first one in, and started on the second. Of coures, nothing is as simple as it appears. Poor quality paint isn't dry. And getting the cuts right in the trim panels is is no small feat. I'm going to be getting another set and trying again. Oh, yea, had to take the 'first official' cut to the body. Boy, did that feel good ! This truck doesn't stand a chance.
Now, where is that film mailer???
7/3/00 Well, this was a good weekend. It was the "point of no return" When you're a fixer, it sure feels good to demolish! With Sawzall in hand, and assembly guide close by, I committed to the project. The saw goes through the body as though it was paper. The roof was gone in a matter of minutes! The rear quarter panels took somewhat longer, but all the panels were gone in one day. I packed all the scrap metal into the trunk of the Mazda and off to the dump with it. Amazing, half a Blazer in a MX6!
Also, another milestone this weekend. I installed the first new part. I rerouted the gas filler to it's new location. This is a great project! Henry was right, it makes sense once you get started. I did have to email for help today. The fold over at the B pillar just doesn't quite figure.
More good news. I'll be getting the second roll of film developed this week. OH, BOY!!! PICTURES!!!
I spent more time looking at theB pillar fold, and also had mail back from Henry this morning. I got this figured out. Tonight, I'll be trimming the interior panels and completing the fold over. This weekend I should have the rear section mounted. Gotta buy more drill bits and saw blades. I wonder if I can get them in 100 lots???
7/10/00 Well, I've been hacking at both the first set of prints I got back, as well as the truck. Doesn't look like a truck anymore. Got the B pillar fold figured out, and completed. Had to cut out more metal from the inside of the body to fold over the outside. I found that I had to completely remove the interior trim panels. Trimming them to fit will be interesting. The big news is that I've got the rear clip hanging on the truck! There's some time before I glue it into place, but it's the first major milestone. Looks good in place, too. The centerline scribes that the book references don't exist though. That's going to make the installation take longer, but no big deal. There's also some imperfections that need to go away before I can mount it. This weekend I got a real sense of the size of the project, and there's a lot of stuff going on here. And a lot of it is going to take some real creative effort. I'm thinking that I may not have this back on the road in early August. Some more good news is that I completed the front fender cuts and got them remounted. Now they get sanded and painted. This will take another day, since they need sanding inside and out. So much to do. Maybe I'll get laid off again, I can use the time...
