It continues to be a busy month. Yesterday felt like a 2-step-forward, 1-step-back kind of day. The new raised garden is about done, as seen below. Still some details to complete, such as adding some plastic sheets at each corner of the raised beds, because, as it turns out, the corrugated sides create gaps at the corners, which allows dirt to fall onto the ground. So, we will need to dig up each corner and add some plastic sheets to stop that. Once we get all the plants in and gravel laid, I’ll take some final pics.

Yesterday morning I spent some time working on the FC. My goal had been to create the cover plate for the mini-gauges and power switch that will sit on the angled area of the dog house.

I cut a raw piece of 14 gauge steel, rounded the edges (not shown), then, to test the size and look, placed the plate on the dog house. That’s when I noticed the plate didn’t lay flat. After testing some flat edges, I eventually concluded that there’s a slight twist in the dog house at the very spot I want to put the gauges. It’s not undoable, but I’d rather the plate sat flat (passenger side is flat).

This pic shows the angle. You can see the slope increase as the angled portion moves to the front.

That problem led to me removing the driver’s seat (for the first time) so I could better evaluate my options.

I eventually concluded that it will take some clamps and braces to straighten it (if even possible). Since i didn’t feel like tackling that project right now, I turned to the driver’s seat.

First, I installed an original driver’s seat just to see how it fits vis-a-vis the steering wheel, which proved to be a comfortable angle (whew).

I removed the seat, then pondered the areas where the seat originally mounted. It was immediately clear that the original driver’s side seat mount areas had been patched and welded. My guess is that the area had been fatigued over the years. In addition, a portion of one seat mount bolt remained in it’s original hole, while the other mount area holes had been filled entirely.  Continue reading →