Tough Going but done- and Man! Is this thing tired! Metal Fatigue discussion time. .

Pics taken, just not downloaded yet. Thanks for all that gave me advice about a load leveler for motor/tranny pulling- worked like a charm.

"Red" is pulled down to just a few firewall components, a front bumper, and heater and dash assembly- couple of more hours.

Body repair and prep/paint scheduled for first week in April- which may well be Second week way my spare time and the month is going.O:)

Daughter and son got in on the clearing of the engine/tranny yesterday. Going through and disconnecting things was a trip down memory lane for me- all the fixes, mods and repairs I have done over the years revisited in their fossilized state now. . .and the stuff that I touched that just crumbled in my hands. Wonder the thing could run and move electrons around the way the wires just snapped and disintegrated. Likewise bolts- broke two with hand tools just getting the things out of their holes. Drill and ease-out time.

Came away shaking my head at just how tired and used everything is under this thing. Am I going to have to replace every single bolt and screw that may be fatgued by the heat, cold, vibration, etc? Man, it gets me to wondering if I oughta replace all the suspension with new to keep from dropping a wheel with spindle attached!

Got a fair education in what happens to metal over time- mostly from self interested self study. I understand work hardened metal goes brittle over time with heat and cold cycles, vibration, chafing, gauding, spider cracks, etc.

Where is it that you folks have found the most problems with 43 year old metal? Slapping on a nice paint job is lipstick on a pig if the thing can't be trusted to hold together. I'm not gonna torque hell out of it drag racing- but I would love to carve some corners ah la AutoX's pretty notchy without worrying about busting a torsion bar or cracking a spindle off. . .let alone a smash up.

Gent I was talking to last thread (Avarageerod- and thanks man!) said something else that got me thinking about subframe connectors welded to the floor pans via spot welds (Auto Metal sells them) versus a "floating" 2x or 3x3 tube handfabbed and welded or bolted. Comments? Something about the frequency of the floorpan vibrations versus the heavier metal of the subframe and possible cracked welds. Love to hear the comments- this looks like more work than simply chrome straightening and polishing and putting the parts back on with new seals.

Thanks always.

Mike