Hagarty came through!

[alps66]

Al, I remember reading the first report of the incident, what a shock. Glad to see things are going in a good direction and the results will be spectactular. Careful on the cleaning of the parts...googles, gloves and mask. Dennis

Dennis,
I use goggles, but dispite using a mask, some crud still comes through. My fault though. I have a beard which prevents a tight seal. I find gloves to be very restrictive. I use them when I can, but I need to have a 'feel' for what I'm doing, especially when using sandpaper or steel wool in tight places. As a result, my fingertips are shredded. I do, however, try to use gloves when I'm dealing with solvents to keep the chemicals out of all of the small cuts and abrasions.
I spend time in the shop every day and I'm slowly chipping away at the piles of parts spread out over the floor. The biggest PITA so far has been refurbishing the jack, of all things. The scissor design creates all kinds of nooks and crannies which inhibited the wire wheeling and painting (and on top of that, the second coat of paint blistered the first and I had to do it all over again). :ugh
Got the instrument cluster and steering column out yesterday. Will make some calls today on the cluster rebuilt. I'll probably go with Jason Oliver at Vette Instruments.
Thanks for your interest.
Jeff