The hood is back on, and the hinges are lubricated, but I'm going to pick up some nylon washers to try and take up some of the slack before I try to lower the hood.
Last night, I pulled the front bumper reinforcement off the car and chopped 35 lbs of it away. Then, I pulled the front shock bumper mounts off the car, drilled them and let the oil drain. This morning, I cut the shocks open, threw away the springs and pistons so I can tuck the bumper in about 2". Since the fenders are still off pending the hinges, I just slid the bumper in place. I think it's going to work out well.
I got new lamps and holders from the instrument panel, so I got rid of the few remaining old ones, cleaned up all the contact surfaces and put the new ones in. I hooked up a battery and tested all the lights using the pins on the PCB. While I had things apart, I cleaned up and spent a little time polishing the clear lenses. Not perfect, but definitely better.
Then I pulled the front bench seat again and used my $25 worth of universal zig zag spring supplies, an Amazon hog ring pliers, and a bunch of zip ties to cobble some support together for the driver side of the bench seat. Again, not perfect, but way better than it was. Before, I felt like I was sliding into the door.
I got the new turn signal switch installed and got the steering wheel reinstalled after cleaning the horn contacts, which were pretty dark. I tested with a multimeter and should be good to go. Next, I'll put in new lamps at all around and hook up the battery and see if they come on, or if I need to do more digging in the dash before I can put that all back together.
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