[Rick Lee]

Last night at about 10:00 the clouds parted and a voice boomed from the heavens, "Let there be spark!" And there was spark (and a lot of smoke and sputtering).

Yes, this seemingly simple, yet torturously long and complicated, 3.2 swap was completed last night with the help of a great many generous folks. My old 3.2 was running seriously rich and burning oil. After a few months of small fixes and much diagnosis, I was sure I had done permanent ring damage, was about to jump on Verburg's 3.6, when a sweetheart deal on a recently rebuilt and upgraded 3.2 fell into my lap, courtesy of another great Pelicanhead.

Marcesq, proprietor of Marc's Garage & Grill, offered (was begged) to host the swap. Over the next few weeks a lot of folks came by to hang out, help, chat, loan tools, drink Pabst and just keep the project going. APKhaos, Jim Richards, Charlie, David Riley, Doug E, BW911 and a few others (sorry if I'm forgetting names) were real stalwarts. Marcesq, the MacDaddy of NoVA/MD/DC DIY'ers and owner of the ultimate set of tools, made it all possible. His wife is soooooo patient. And a wave of the wand to Dr. Steve Timmins, who seems to be the only guy in the world who had the correct fan housing for my engine.

I haven't figured how to shrink digital photos yet, but I will get them posted one way or another. My new 3.2 has about 8k miles on the rebuild, Webcams, EBS headwork, is bone dry and very clean. While we had her all apart, we put in new trailing arm bushings, Sway Away adj. spring plates, neatrix bushings, 29mm rear torsion bars and now she's at the shop getting aligned.

It was quite an adventure driving her over to the shop last night (about 10 miles). But after a few minutes she began to run like normal and the smoke went away. I hope to have her back by Sat. for some very spirited "test" driving.

Thanks again to a great group of people. My strong back and weak mind are available to help others with their P-cars now.