hey now,

well, looks like Rumba won't be ready for my trip. nothing to do with the
engine itself, but rather a stupid machine shop...see, THOFF is the most
experience shop for balancing...and there seems to be some internal squabbles
there. the best machinist has quit. we are balancing everything balancable...
from the crank to the rods...everything has come back from the shop EXCEPT the
rods...and no telling when that will come back. what i hate the most about
cars and parts is when you are dependent on other people to come through with
what you need. anyone know another decent machinist in the Raleigh, NC area?
i can get the rods balanced in durham by Hicks...but he'll take a week cuz he
does it as a sideline venture.

meanwhile, the front end is being worked on...replacing the tie rods, a ball
joint that looks like it has never been changed...the other one looks like it
was changed recently...then tommorrow i'll install the gauges and run the wires
to the back. today i sanded and painted the heater boxes...thanks for the info
bob...also looked at the muffler that came with the heater boxes...it looked
great...better then mine that was on there and the replacement came from
ontario.

oh well..such is life. i'd rather wait and have everything balanced then go
ahead and use the rods. what's a couple more weeks wait? better to do it right
then have to do it again.

jonathan '74 retrowestie