Licensed and Legal

Wiper Arm from the hulk

Retainer is in the dark behind the door handle assembly

A better look at the retainer

Note pool of gas to the left of the tank.

Broken return line

It's been a week of ups and downs Stag-wise. My goal was to get it registered so I could take it to my lunch date with my daughter yesterday. I met that goal, but not as cleanly as I'd hoped. I'm still waiting for the new gasket so the windshield can be reinstalled correctly. I messed with the passenger side inside door handle to get it working from the inside. The little linkage that connects the handle to the lock was not attached. I then had to rob the retaining clip from the hulk. I got the inside door trim panels installed as well, but realized I did not have a driver's side chrome cover for the handle. I have two passenger side covers, and should have two for the driver's side as well, but there are none to be found. Researching on the internet, that particular side seems to be in short supply. Weird!
I stood in line for three hours at the Motor Vehicles Division office to get my license tag. I thought they would give me a hard time for wanting to use an original 1972 New Mexico tag, but that was no problem. This tag, which I got on eBay, also has the 1973 sticker still on it. I elected to leave it that way and just keep the current sticker in the glove box should I get stopped by the police.
On my way home from that ordeal, I stopped by a gas station for the car's first fill up. When the pump cut off, I saw a flood of gas coming from the trunk. CRAP! I elected to do a quick dash home since I was very close and didn't want to get stranded at the gas station. The line of dirty gas on the pavement made it obvious what my route was, and I'm surprised the EPA didn't track me home. Got home, opened up the trunk, removed the boards and spare tire and saw that the gas was coming from a broken return line. Easy fix. What wasn't so easy was getting the gas out of the bottom of the trunk. At least the floor pan in there is clean now.
Next day, I went to the alignment shop. After a few minutes with the car on the rack, the mechanic called me over. The inner tie rod ends are loose (remember, I had this rack rebuilt professionally) and the lower ball joints are bad. No point in doing an alignment. On the plus side, the rear end looks good, and the mechanic said the car drives great. Anyway, more parts to order, more work to be done.
For my journey into Albuquerque yesterday, I was mainly concerned about the heat. It was quite warm. The car is not really excited about starting when it's hot, but it didn't let me down. Coming back up the mountain toward home (1500' climb) the temp went to the right of the 12 o'clock position, but nowhere near the red zone. After I got up top and the air was cooler, she seemed to cool back down, so I count that as a success for the cooling system.

The recurring lesson: Owning a Stag is never a "fix it and forget it" situation. Like a woman, she must be told over and over that you love her.