Got the trans back from Sartwell today.
Jimmy’s working out of a home garage in Mechanicsville. He and his buddy are there, working on a bunch of drag cars. The guy with this trans runs mid-8s. He broke his case on launch, so Jimmy’s doing up a new one. Says there’s maybe seven grand in the gearbox.
I locked my keys in the truck as soon as I got there, necessitating a half-hour break-in by Jim. He did it without complaint.
The trans now has a 3.44 ring and pinion and a .93 4th, but he says it did not previously have a 3.88 R&P as was advertised. It was a 4.11, according to Jim. This makes me even gladder I had him go through the box for me. The little car would’ve taken off like a scared cat with those gears but what a rev monster in third before stepping up. These should suit it much better.
He told me to make sure I put the outer bearing spacers in before assembling the brakes and such. They weren’t in the box I gave him, apparently. So that’s one more $25 item I’ll have to source. 
Meanwhile, I’m closing in on the inner clam job. Sprayed a guide coat of Sail Blue last night and it’s not even bad, despite the 80-grit scratch.
My little bogus “weld fillets” actually look right.
So now it’s back to the blocks: 120, 180, 220, probably a final skim/patch of filler, then up to 320 and the 2K primer.
Along Came A Spyder 