this forum's been dead recently. whatever. the vert has been very alive. another 300 miles down since the last post and only some leaking power steering fluid to report:
met up with some friends. did some offroading at the beach. 124 miles in a day.
decided i wanted new motor mounts so i got poly ones. underestimated how non-pliable polyurethane is...and realized just how much my interior can vibrate. immediately went back to new OEM.
could be cleaner in here, but i don't care. everything has been working as it should, and that strut brace was free.
unless i can fully strip, rust repair, repaint and undercoat the bare frame I don't think i'm gonna keep this car forever. i can keep chasing imperfections, but that's how people end up broke. the rust is in super small areas, but it's in enough areas that it's not worth my time to do anything other than a full restoration on the whole chassis.
and it's about to be vert weather so i ain't gonna do that.
but, WOW! it looks good!