Steering Box In, Paint is Slowly Disappearing...

I know its been awhile, but summer heat has kept me out of the garage.  But over the past few days things have cooled down enough for me to get out there and start working again.  So my plans for this winter:  finish the chassis (rear axle and brakes, install brake lines, parking brake rebuild, install new U joints and install the drive shafts, radiator and hoses, and a couple of sensors (reverse switch, oil, temp) and make the sure the body is ready for paint by late March.  It sounds like a lot of work, but overall its not too bad.

I finally made it to the hardware store this week and bought the bolts I needed to install my newly rebuild steering box.  The guys at Classic Cruisers in Salida did a good job and apparently it was in REALLY bad shape, so I'm glad I had it done.  Its really an easy install...4 bolts to to mount it to the mounting bracket, turn the steering rod all the way to one side...make it...then turn it 2.5 times back the other way...that is center.  Install the drag link end and rod...bolt it all up.  Next...adjust the drag link rod by turning it to get the drag link vertical.  Tighten...and done.  I tested it out...and everything is turning nice and smooth...much better than before I tore everything apart. 

Also over the past few days I've been working on getting rid of paint so I can start the body work.  So far I've done most of the bed which has much less surface rust than I thought it would.  Even down by the rear seal its pretty solid with minor surface rust only.  I'll do my best to tap out the small dents in the bed, but I'm strongly leaning toward putting bedliner on the floor to help keep the moisture out and toughen the flooring up some.  Still a long ways to go until that point, but the wheels always have to be turning to figure out how to make it better than it could be.