It was a long, hard winter. Waking up in the morning got difficult at a few points but I powered through.

The part you care about: It lives! Coming up to about 3 thousand spent on this money pit so far, it lives! All seals and bolts on the top end have been replaced and it's running... okay. Cold starts are difficult and it's left me stranded twice, This is to be expected as I weed out some of the hidden issues. Ended up finding out in the middle of the woods that the alternator was bad, one scary hitchhiked ride and an afternoon later, I had the alternator replaced and was back out driving it. I've even trusted it to take me to work!

There's still plenty of work to be done but right now, I'm just enjoying it for what it is.