I’ve still got some tweaking to do on the panel fit, alignment and gaps. I have the cut & buff work completed on all but some smaller miscellaneous parts like the gas cap and bumper stone guard. Got the steering column reinstalled and the gas tank back in the cab. Have to pick up four different sizes of fuel lines so I can replace the old and cut pieces reattached so I can start moving it under its own power again. I abandoned my previous tailgates and just ordered a new reproduction. Got it sprayed with epoxy and completed blocking and getting it flat. It took a LOT of work for a brand new part… Then one final spray of color coming this weekend…. I had originally tried to utilize the original tailgate and a spare to make one good one, but it was too far gone. Then spent a lot of time working on an original spare, but realized it was bowed after wasting a lot of hours…
Maybe with some luck I’ll be able to finish before Spring depending on how often we can get back up here. Not looking forward to the glass reinstall or dealing with the side window felts and weatherstrips. Realized I have a huge list of parts to get ordered before I can get it all back together. That will have to wait for a follow-up trip. Gaskets and spacers for taillights and markers, carpet underlayment, window seals, etc, etc. Agonizing over how to deal with the chrome bits… rechrome my original parts or buy new? I don’t know what the differences are between a rechrome job vs just buying a new part which seems significantly cheaper…. How good is a reproduction bumper or door handles compared to the originals? Who makes the best quality replacements?
Oh well, if I can get it running again before we leave at the end of the month then I will feel like I finally made some real progress.
