Completed on January 11, 2000

The days which followed passed quickly, what with checking for correct curves (rear wheel openings, front headlight surrounds, and so on) and the sanding down of the body. The doors adjusted easily (but not perfectly; they were and still are slightly out of line, which indicates a less than perfect day original build day. But apparently it was scarcely any better when new, as proved by factory photos.) The trunk lid and engine hood closed perfectly. So, off to the paint booth where the Crown would be given its final colour on December 31, 1999.

All that was left after that was to pick up the "thing" or the "kit" or the "Meccano set", which I did on January 2, 2000. After a few adventures, she was back in the garage which she had last left in June of 1998!

Now it was time for the refitting, and what a refitting it was, too! When I looked at the collection of parts waiting to be installed, I could have become discouraged, but on remembering the car’s condition only three months earlier, we had come a long way….

On with the job !

The first problem came with the air conditioner, when it was impossible to put the covering into place. The distributor cap was in the way and even when it was removed the rotor itself was an obstacle. So, we had to remove the rotor just to put this damned cover back on. And then we had to reset the timing, of course! My sincere thanks to the Chrysler engineers for having foreseen this problem. Well, let’s admit that the shop manual reads as follows: "to remove the air conditioner cover, remove the distributor cap and then the distributor itself…" but you’d think they could have figured out a two-piece cover to avoid all this! Oh well, we’ll see later.

The second problem was what to do with the pieces of chromed replated in Portugal. I was able to replace some of them with pieces from the donor car but certain items (windshield molding, accessory hood ornament, front seat sides) were pretty well ruined and very poorly chromed as well.

Let’s leave things there for the beginning of this year. You should know that I’ve replaced the insulation on the firewall, the wiring harness for the power windows, the accelerator pedal and its rods and joints, and that’s all. How nice it feels to be working on something "new".

Still no news from Gary Goers the leather-upholstery man!

Other pics (click to enlarge)

	Front of the car	In the paint cabinet

Thanks to "Tony" (Magister Max on the IML) for the translation ...