I got the a/c up and running. Turns out it wasn’t the blower motor necessarily but the off/low/hi vertical switch on the head. If you jiggled it around, it would kick in the fan, but then blow the fuse because it was a bit burned up inside. I am trying to find a replacement for that switch but until then have a simple toggle switch to power it on.
Also, on the a/c, the paper/wire vent ducts would break up pretty well upon disassembly/reassembly, so I duct taped those suckers up.
On the interior, I am about to buy up some of the factory blue fabric and vinyl to reupholster the front bucket/console seating. I am excited about that. Got a quote of $250 to do the front with me buying the fabric. I think that is a pretty fair price considering the other quotes I got here locally. Plus, I saw the guy’s work and it is pretty good. Also, my wife ok’d me buying carpet and headliner. So, when the seat is out, I will try to coordinate the other interior stuff. I am still playing around with the tailgate handle so that it works properly. Not sure if I will bother painting that cover, or buy the full carpet, which will cover it up. I bought a ¼” rubber bed cover from tractor supply ($65) that is for a chev 8’ bed that fits the entire cargo area pretty darn good with the rear bench down. I’ll keep that regardless of whether I buy the full carpet or not.
Exterior – believe it or not, there is a pretty good match from walmart on the blue paint color in spray cans. Good enough for those touchups where the paint chipped around the side trim. I got the front bumper aligned better and the psgr front qtr pulled below the tank filler that was pushed in a bit. I also used some of the extra wood grain vinyl to patch the area under the filler and misc knicks in it all around the vehicle.
Mechanically – nothing going on right now. Will definitely need to drop my fuel tanks once I get them low enough in fuel to make it easy. I found a place in town that will hot tank ‘em for me. What’s a reasonable price for something like that?
Other than that, I am still pretty happy with things, and, who knows, with this much time and effort into it, maybe I will own it for more than a year! Maybe!