Body Deconstruction is Complete.

Well, I talked myself into it. I called the guy at the Line-X place in Salem where I had the bedliner for our truck done, and he guessed that it would be about the same price to undercoat this little car as it was for the bedliner. The only challenge is that he wants the car standing on end so that he can stand the requisite four to six feet from it to spray on the material. I've been brainstorming some sort of carpet-covered wooden apparatus that will work as a stand that will allow not only his application, but my removal of the old undercoating from a comfortable standing position. While thinking on this geometric feat, I got a little more work done this weekend. I've been battling a broken bolt in the rear bumper bracket that has prohibited me from sliding it from the channel in the unibody. Well, now that I had dropped the leaf springs (and fuel tank), I had an unencumbered shot at the offending bolt from underneath. It took a little maneuvering, but I was able to insert a small cutting wheel from a dremel tool into a slot in the body, and cut off the remains of the bolt, allowing the bumper to come free. This left only the front break hoses and mud flaps, and the body would be only a shell. Of course, there is a ton of prep work to do before it will be ready for undercoating, but is nice to be done with the (except for the engine) deconstruction phase. —GP