Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July. We're gonna kick back in the patio chairs and watch the fireworks all this weekend at Worlds of Fun (2 miles as the crow flies) as well as around the neighborhood. Being the cheap buzzard that I am, it tickles me to watch all those hundred dollar bills going up in smoke.
Nothing happening at Hot Rod Express. They've taken in several cars since transporting mine down there and the wagon is just collecting dust. I'm going to give them a call this coming week and suggest that I bring it back home until they're truly ready to work on it. I have a ton of stuff I can be doing if it was here in my shop. I need to get the console finalized, fit up the stereo speakers and install the SPW power windows, etc.
My BIL, Rick, was here from Seattle this week and we bench tested the Alpine X009U head unit and speakers. The head unit came out of a show car and was never really made operable from what we could tell. It looks brand new (at about 40% of the retail price) and all the functions worked perfectly. Should make for a nice system going down the road. Has built in NAV, BT, HD radio, SiriusXM, DVD player, multiple camera inputs and outputs, preamp out and all the modern bells and whistles. Probably never use most of that stuff, but what the heck.
Had a good paint day, so I squirted the steering column and some assorted brake hardware. Turned out nice so now all I have to do is not drop kick it before it gets installed.
I rejuvenated the trim panels for the front seats and installed them along with the three point seat belts. Had to machine some guides for the outboard belts as those are never included with the seats when you get them from the salvage yard. The pieces come with the belt assemblies and unless you buy OEM parts, you gotta make your own. I did some for my last build so I already knew the drill. Also finished applying the 3M vinyl to the upper panels for the console. All that remains to be done is fitting it in the car and trimming the forward edges to match the box I'm building that will house the stereo, front speakers and A/C controls.