This update is not merely a rust repair update, which is not to say that the car doesn't continue to be made out of weld bead.

Broken into sections for ease of following:

Rust repair, continuing the unending saga of the car that will end up made entirely of weld bead (I'm rapidly approaching the point of "won't fix" on additional rust - if it's not structural nor won't affect the paint... maybe don't care so much now)

	You know the saying, "don't ask any questions you don't want answered"? "Is there any rust behind the driver's back wheel" is one of those questions.  The answer is, predictably, "Yes, yes there is.".
The fix is, as it always is, cut and replace.
	Done.

While the welder was out... (yes, I'm still having gas flow issues)

	Closed up the holes from the tonneau cover.
Pass side too.
	Closed up the driver's side bed gap.  Would have preferred that it just butted up but no such luck.

Clutch hydraulics!

 

Cleaned up the weld bead mounds on the firewall some...
	... so that I could fabricate a closeout for the clutch master cylinder rod - I dont't want outside air getting in; this will be welded to the firewall and sealed to the backside of the mount.  Still need to cut the hole for the rod to go through.

I made a thing!

 

I'd seen a video where they did something along these lines.  My TIG rod storage needs were much simpler; this is 3/4" pipe.

It's time to make progress on the AC box.

 

	So I think I've got A Plan on the AC box - using the F-body evaporator's closeouts as part of the new box has made it all start to just work.
Of course, there's damage that needs to be fixed too though.  Here I'm fixing where a hole was in the original box.  Bottom (far right) edge is also missing in this chunk.
	A little additional backing on the left, next to the black plastic thing.  Obviously a lot of smoothing and additional work needed here.
Inside view of the lengthened side.
	Bolted it all together and used some of the aluminum tape as a backing for the repairs.  It actually worked really well!  This is, of course, only the initial layer.  More to do.
and then the bottom of the "done" side with it all bolted together.

Wiring is also a concern, because of course it is.

   

	Dragged the harness-chunks out just to lay them out, see what I'm working with.
I'm working with things that were randomly cut...
	... things that are crushed...
... things that are torn...
	... and things that are maybe a little of each.
A preliminary pass at labeling some wires.  These are the C210/C220/C230, bundled with the wires I know goes with each, and then the ones that I am not quite sure from the colors also sitting out there unbundled.
	Another case of "things that were cut"
From research I have learned that the braided wires are from the wheel speed sensors.
	Unfortunately for me, I believe that these....
... are the other end of this.  Would have been too easy to have the socket to just plug things together.

Spent a decent chunk of time pulling the loom and the electrical tape wrap off the front lighting harness; figure I'll be removing the ABS components and might as well do it proper.  So much research to do, so many connectors that are cut off or torn free and I need to figure out their purpose.

ABS and airbags will be deleted.  Emission bits too.  Otherwise not sure yet.

I found this, by which I mean that I bought this years ago, when I was smarter.

The brake hoses are 69 Chevelle front disk brake hoses - apparently the difference in size between a 10mm banjo fitting and the 7/16" we have here are small enough that the copper washers will just work to seal it. This leads me to think that rather than a weird 10mm to 3/8x24 adapter in the back with 97 Camaro rear hoses, I can use something short and SAE sized.

I have a concern about the brakes. Since I'm using the El Camino booster with the F-body master there's question about the rod length.

 

	From a flat across the back of the MC, the pin recess is about .582.
Similarly, and from the same flat, .657 to the mounting flange.
	Across the flange of the master, the pin is recessed .295
And for calculation purposes, that flat is .053 thick.

So - check my math please.

The pin recess is .529 from the flat (.582-.053)
The flange is .604 from the flat (.657-.053)
The pin is recessed .242 (again: .295-.053)

This means the pin recess is actually .075 proud of the flange (.604-.529) so has a gap of .167.

I liked the numbers better the first time I measured; a pin recess of .518 and a flange depth of .649 made the recess .131 proud, plus a pin recess of .221 meant I had a gap of .09 (which - and I need to recheck my thinking - led me to believe I was .07 too long of a pin, and needed a spacer for the MC away from the booster).

Obviously I need to remeasure and remath again.

 

Also I pulled the fenderwells and core support out from the side of the house, where they've been sitting in the mud for a decade. Yeah.  The mud. They actually came through it pretty well.  Here are two rust areas on the core support but I think they were bad when they came off the car in  2006 (9 Mar 06 entry: "I have some rust issues on the core support over by the battery"). The fenders were not in the mud and they appear to have weathered the weather just fine. The hood was also not in the mud.  There is a decent amount of rust on the underside and I am not quite sure why.  It may be from its previous life in the salty north.

I bought things.

Most of the parts for the fuel system have shown up.  One is backordered and one is just slow, and I think I ordered 2 of one fitting where I actually needed 2 of a different one.

Also ordered a pinion depth tool for the rear-end rebuild.  That task scares me quite a bit.

Got a "Needle Scaler" at HF.  It works pretty well but I did not expect the needles to be a consumable.  Got about a quarter of the under-bed scaled.

Also picked up some implement paint at Tractor Supply.  In theory I'll spray primer and the implement paint on the underside as I go; in reality, the gas water heater is awful close to where I'd be spraying... makes me a little nervous.

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