Went over to the body shop yesterday to check on progress of the rust repair
on my 86 Westy Syncro.  The owner was very receptive and wanted me to come
by and check things out.  I also wanted to drop off some window and door
seals, mud flaps, etc, for the post painting reinstall.  He wanted to get an
idea whether he was on target in terms of my expectations.  No big
surprises in terms of nasty rust issues and only really one very bad area
which needs some small structural work and small replacement panel - (rear
passenger side bottom panel between fender and sliding door).  Windows are
out and rust around three frames is being attended to.  Seam rust is also
being attended to.   Actually, according to the owner, the body overall is
pretty solid...more so than I thought.  Everything should be completed by
the end of next week... and that includes several days off for the owner to
go fishing.  So far right on budget.

By sheer luck the body shop backs onto a Volkswagen / Porsche mechanic.  The
mechanic had a syncro doka in one of his bays and about 8 Porsche's kicking
around.  This gave me a chance to get the suspension checked last week and a
fairly $$$$ quote on work needed.  As I had suspected, things are fairly
worn out.  Mismatched shocks, a rear spring loose at the base, worn ball
joints...and it goes on.  Anyway, I'm going for it.  You live once
right...you might as well drive the vehicle of your choice and it needs to
be safe.

Through all the chatter with the owner, I forgot to snap pictures.  D'oh.

Anyway more to come.

BT