...then I saw the strut tower.
I think I've said several times here that the "top plate" of the strut tower was "about halfway gone".
Problem is, it's not.
And so I have to wonder, where in the hell did I get that idea? 'Cause looking at it, I saw an area about 70% the size of an Eisenhower dollar coin which was rusted through. And that was it.
I knocked on the rusty area with various implements and found that the metal is solid around it. So instead of fabbing up a patch panel, I just hit it with some primer and put everything back together--there's no point to doing any welding back there when so little of the structure is damaged.
So "Escort repair" has been taken off my "to-do" list, anyway.
I putzed around in the garage a lot today, though, doing a bunch of little things that added up. I'm hoping to make a bigger dent tomorrow, though. Tomorrow I'll have fully-charged batteries in both the van and the Fiero, enabling me to start them and move them. (I put a new battery terminal on the positive battery cable in the van. It's good to go, as soon as I have a charged battery.) When I can move those vehicles, I can move the MGB, and then I'll have room to work in the garage....
* * *
When I replaced the "Ace in the Hole" in our basement--when I put in a new battery-operated backup sump pump to replace the old one which had died--I kept most of the components, including the battery charger. That battery charger knocked around the garage since then; and when I spied it this morning, I realized I could charge more than one battery at a time simply by hooking it up.
It's a trickle charger, and it has post clamps rather than spring-loaded clips, but it's a battery charger and it works. At some point I'll replace the post clamps with alligator clips, but it's not an immediate necessity since I have only one functioning car that uses a side-terminal battery--the Fiero--and I have a charger that'll deal with that one.
The only thing about this charger is that it's got an alarm in it; if triggered, it has to be reset with a push of a switch on the front panel. Otherwise, WTF.
* * *
The day started out cold and wet, but by the time I was ready to call it a day, the sun had come out and it had warmed up enough that I could take off my hat and hoodie. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally nice, so hopefully I can get more accomplished without working too hard.
* * *
And tonight at 9 PM central time, Battlestar Galactica finally continues. Whee!
