Inspection #2 in St. Louis

Al Mercer is my inspector for the St. Louis car, and I heard from him last night. He is pretty non-emotional and blunt in his assessments, which is a good thing. He pointed out some serious areas of concern with the car, most glaring being the paint on the rear deck on either side of the trunk lid. This is an area where there is a solder joint to join a body extension for the longer wheelbase model. Al thinks the surface prep was not good on those joints, so the final finish is rough. He only took photos of the defective areas, including some areas of rust in the floorpan and modifications to the frame for the dual exhaust, cracks in the steering wheel, some wing vent glass issues, etc. There is a small flaw in the front bumper that might be hidden if I found a set of bumper guards. He didn't get to drive the car much, but said it started, drove and braked well enough in the parking lot. It seems that a gasket on the water pump blew though, so the museum's mechanics will have to fix that. Al is supposed to call me to discuss his formal report later today. After that, I will be calling the museum, unless the valuation is too low.