Assembly is moving along with the heating and vent system. Seals had to be fabricated deviating from original style due to slight differences in the fiberglass firewall. Originally too thick and from a much denser non compressible material we went with a softer foam rubber similar to what was used on the steering column. Kept playing with thickness till we got it that it would seal. The flapper door for the floor vent gave a slight problem sticking, most likely due to pressure on the case after mounting to the firewall but that was easily taken care of. Cables were temporally mounted to verify function. Push clips posed difficult to find locally so they were found with McMaster-Carr.  If you haven't heard or

dealt with this company, they have a vast inventory of hard to find hardware at very reasonable prices and fast delivery. Blower motor was modified for a more easily accessible ground wire in case of replacement and also because mounting to fiberglass. A 10-32 hole was tapped in the outer motor housing. Granted, replacement of the motor will be a challenge with all the electrics mounted under the battery tray but then how often do they go bad. Usually what goes bad is the blower speed resistor trio, but that is easily accessible from inside. Next to be painted will be the dash, tailgate and fenders. Before the fenders are installed, the headers were removed to get Jet-Hot coated more to report on

them when they return.

A new batch of freshly painted parts were picked up from Garys Body Shop right before Thanksgiving which timed out with Jeffreys vacation schedule. He made the trip from New Jersey to put in some assembly time. Major items painted were the grille, rollbar and steering column.They did a very nice job on the column and rollbar. Assembly commenced with a new dual fan unit for the radiator. This is for a 1998 Ford Contour that fits perfectly to the aluminum

radiator. The junkyard unit did work but felt the reliability of a new one was worth the money. Fuse panel and main wiring harness were installed with corrugated tubing to clean things up rather than tape wrapping them. This way future trouble shooting if needed would be easier. Everything was plug and play. The time we took at fabrication assembly is paying off. Brake pedal assembly and column support followed with new firewall seals along with rebuilt accelerator pedal assembly. After that the steering column went in. Bulkhead connectors at firewall were a two man project with the polished connectors contrasting well with the painted Line-X firewall. Rollbar was installed with roofing rubber between it and the body. Lots to do yet. Yet to be painted are the doors, tailgate, fenders and hood. During assembly caution must be exercised to protect paint with blankets and to make sure you don't have tools in your pockets along with zippers and snaps that might come in contact. Not sure how Chip Foose does it but then again this ain't nowhere near that quality.