MuuMuu101's 68 Dart, A Learning Process...
Yeah, unfortunately when I bought my T-bars, everyone was using 1.06" and said the bigger stuff is just way too stiff. Shortly after, the adjustable shocks came to the market and I got 25% off at last year's Thanksgiving sale. When people started putting the new shocks on, they started bumping up T-bars. We'll see how this does. My front end should be a tad lighter due to some aluminum parts on the 360. I'm going to remind them to move the battery to the trunk.
As for the steering pump, I believe we're going to go with an aftermarket unit. I don't recall which one, but they had something planned for it. They've installed the Borgeson box in a couple of GM vehicles before they switched over to ADR or something.
I don't want to talk down on Hotchkis because every time I go in there after they complete something, I'm amazed by their work. Part of the problem is that they only have one builder/installer there who does all of the work. He's a great guy and has a sharp eye for detail and doing stuff right. The other part of the problem, from my point-of-view is their priorities. In their shop, customer product installation takes #1 priority, followed by the boss's personal cars, and then long term project builds aka my Dart. If I were to have a complaint, that would be the only one. Granted, if I were to do the same work, it would have probably taken me 5-10 years. Maybe never even finishing.
The bill between Hotchkis and IMM is pretty astronomical. Luckily, I made and save all of my money from my internships in college and don't really have many expenses now as I live at home and work full-time that it's not as big of a hit. But once I get my car back, I am never taking it back to a shop again. Just way too much money spent.
I'm looking forward to getting the car back. I've been aching to drive it for years now. Hopefully, the end of February deadline wasn't just blowing smoke. If anything, I'd think they'd be pretty tired rolling my car all around their shop every day.