So something happened to me today that's got me all shook up.

First off, had a follow up appointment with my surgeon this afternoon. The week after next I can FINALLY!!!!!!! go back to work. For those of you that need a reminder, I've been down and out with a rotator cuff injury and have been out of my mind with boredom for the past 6 weeks while I've been healing up.

Then, later on, I was thinking about it- if I can go back to work the week after next, then there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to pick up my resto... right? Well, probably wrong, because I doubt my shoulder will tolerate going straight back to beating and banging and rolling and cursing around a garage right off the bat. But, after a few weeks of physical therapy, I'm hoping I can at least be at the point where I can do all that without the pain.

So I was kinda getting excited by the prospect of finally getting around to getting something done. I've felt lazy and worthless since the surgery as I haven't been able to do jack shit besides sit around the house and heal. But since I was informed today I no longer need to wear the sling and that I can start physical therapy, I sort of spotted the light at the end of the tunnel and am getting a little anxious to start working again.

So I decided, since I was feeling a little restless tonight, I'd stay up and put together a list of everything I need to do to this car to get it in the condition I want it in. It's a pretty vague list as it's been so long since I've touched the car that I can't remember every little detail, but it's close enough from what I could remember looking at the pictures I have posted on my webpage.

I think it's safe to say this will just be my build thread; so, in no particular order, here we go:

Hell Hole/Engine Bay
-Cut out old, rusted shit metal on engine shelf and firewall
-Grind down, smooth out, and polish areas to be welded
-Form replacement pieces from new sheet metal
-Weld replacement pieces into place
-Prime repaired hell hole and engine bay
-Paint entire engine bay

Front Trunk
-Give it a good, incredible, scrubbing-bubbles cleaning
-Glue felt pads for gas tank back into place
-Polish/prime/paint gas tank retaining strap
-Replace old, cracked, and worn out hoses and/or drainage tubes
-Route stainless feul line from pump to center tunnel line
No I'm not planning to completely strip and repaint underneath the front trunk. I never planned to take this project that far. And there's a lot of junk in there to be removed and/or covered plus a lot of crevices that can be very tricky to prep and paint. Besides, the next owner is going to need something to do, and I wouldn't be a very good teener salesman if I left the next man nothing to do.

Rear Trunk
-Finish sandblasting to expose full extent of rust damage
-Repair rust as needed
-Replace seam sealer(?) [I've not yet decided if this really needs to be done. For being 33 years old it seems to be in quite good shape. But depending on rust repair that needs done, I may need to replace it anyway.]
-Prime and paint

Interior
-Repair rust on passenger side floorboard [Not the entire floor pan will be replaced- again this is something I never planned on doing. I'm just going to repair the rust where it's broken through the center tunnel and into the front trunk.]
-Clean off old glue residue
-Prime [Truth is, the entire floorboards probably do need replaced. I just honestly haven't had the guts to lift up the rubber mat and peek for myself for fear of what I may find. So I'm just going to prime the floorboards instead of paint and prime- that way if they are replaced in the future I didn't put a lot of work into them for nothing.]
-Lay down and re-glue original carpet
-Get vinyl replaced on roll bar
-Call detail shop once everything's back in place

Exterior
-Strip off old paint
-Polish bare steel
-Call body man and have him do all the painting

Engine
-Finish painting and reinstalling sheet metal
-Mount engine only back into car
-Install new clutch/PP assembly
-Reinstall tranny
-Reinstall exhaust
-Hook up misc. wires, hoses, etc.
-Reroute crankcase breather into carbs and add in-line oil mist seperator
-Vroom! Vroom!
-Fiddle and f**k around with the fine tuning for about 3 months
-Vroom! Vroom! for good!

In a nutshell, that's the list. It's probably gonna be a few weeks before I get rolling on this project again, but hopefully once I start again, the only reason I'll have to stop is to take a leak, have a sammich and catch a nap.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important part- Keep my pals at 914World.com updated!!

Sort of a "pre-progress" thread....
Glad yer healin'. Don't irritate anything. Be overly cautious for a whhile if you possibly can.

Yeah, sorta a pre-progress thread... that will eventually work into an actual build thread.

And I won't be doing a lot heavy straining work. The one thing I'm really seeing as a problem is the cutting, grinding, forming, and welding aspects of the body work. Mostly because besides the forming, everything else requires keeping my hands and arms steady, and that can be a bitch with a shoulder that hasn't been worked in at least 2 months. I've got a bit of muscle atrophy.

But, I start physical therapy on Monday, so hopefully I'll be able to withstand it well enough to get the work done. But, we shall see. All in good time.