Bummer..

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

What a night.  First the TriCountry knuckle has the tie-rod attachment 
cut off.. 

On the bright side, I moved a Dana 30 front and a '44 rear into the 
backyard and out of the way of the racer.

Then I found out my new U-bolts are .25" too wide (3.75 not 3.5 like they 
should be) for the passenger side spring-perch for the front Chevy '44.  

Then I take the "trash" out (what was left of my racer's floor coverings) 
and saw my friend's racer in the backyard and thought, "I want to hear my 
motor RUN!"

Grab a battery, a jumper wire, and a screwdriver.. wire the batt to the 
coil, then jab my screwdriver through the passenger front wheel well to 
engage the starter.. WIRRRRR WHIRRRRRR.  It won't engage the ring gear. 
:-(  I smacked it a few times from many different angles and tried and 
tried and tried again.. nothing. :-(

Then I think, "I should see if the Travelall's rear window works!" since 
i have keys now.

Jumper cables from my Scout to the T'all.  Turn the key... I have a 
horn!  Lights, turn signals!  Windshield wipers and a working AM radio.  
Heater blower is a no-show.  One gas tank reads "FULL++" and the other 
reads "EMPTY--"  No rear window action.

I crawl into the back and poke around.. finally figuring out what the two 
"arms" coming out the sides are for (the cable that goes "over" them was 
not going over).  Still no window action.  Gave up.

Looked at the driver's rear quarter for the second gas tank (I confirmed 
the passenger-under-floor tank is there).. NO second gas tank!  It's 
gone!  d'oh.

Crawl under the hood with a high powered work light to look at the intake 
and heads.. dang.. I see sun-flower seeds in one of the heads!  I guess 
this means I'm pulling the heads before I reassemble my 392 and crank it 
over.  I think I can unbolt the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds, and 
then remove the heads without needing new exhaust manifold gaskets - right?

I also noticed the motor mounts are going.. it's the "two rods" style 
mount - not the "single dog bone" or the double angled pads or the two 
flat pads like a Scout..

On that note, I finished adjusting the rear wheel bearing endplay on the 
racer.  Got that done and everything "squared away" - I need rear brake 
lines, and a C-clip for the e-brake arm on the passenger side drum assembly.

I then flipped the remaining front spring-center-bolt over and now have 
both springs "done" and awaiting U-bolts.  

It was getting late, so I placed some of my new 2x2x3/16" angle on the 
frame horn of the racer and had a look at it - one piece of 2x2 and one 
of 2x3 will be the basis of the racer's front bumper - which will have 
hinges for the tilt clip (at least *THAT* part went right - the hinges I 
bought will work with the half-hinge on the clip), tow-bar mounts, and 
maybe some type of actual "bumper"

I then grabbed the frame horn I have lying around for such purposes, and 
went into the garage n' closed the door, and then placed the angle 
against the frame section and into the vice on my newly acquired drill 
press.  I then punched a hole through the angle on one side, and got to 
work on side #2.. I was halfway through the second hole when I noticed a 
funny smell and caught sight of some smoke coming from the 3/4 horse 
electric motor on the drill press.. D'OH!.  I decided it was time for the 
drill to cool-down and me to catch some Z'sss.

What fun, huh?

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout/