Trip preparation, at least as far as the car goes, has begun in earnest. The general idea is to fix, seal, freshen up, or otherwise make good all of the important mechanical bits before I get going.

That's going to include...well, everything--motor, transmission, rear end/diff, suspension, brakes. New bearings, new seals, new parts for known bad and/or questionable ones, the works. This isn't technically a restoration since I'm not really touching anything appearance-wise, but more an attempt to get me some level of confidence that I'm not going to be out in the middle of Montana trying to find 45 year old Japanese car parts. 

First order of business was to pull the motor, partly because it needed a little love, and partly because otherwise I can't get the transmission out. Seems like I've done this before...

Parts have been ordered, and they're slowly trickling in. I figure that they should all be here by the time I get the existing parts pulled off and cleaned up. 

 I'm picking up a complete rear end from a '69 in an attempt to get a better differential in there...the existing one howls like a banshee under acceleration, and the backlash and free play are well outside of confidence-inspiring levels. 

 It may look a bit daunting, but that's one of the advantages of the older cars; they're super easy to work on. I had the engine and transmission out and all of the suspension and steering components completely stripped off the car in about five hours. Looking forward to putting it all back in, cleaned up and spiffy.