Chapter One.

I didn't like the title of this entry that much when I wrote it ... still don't I suppose, but I needed to start somewhere and at the beginning seemed the easiest.

As I was gearing up for this onset, I sat down and wrote a few words out about how Sam came into our lives and what started us down this path to begin with. To say it was 'a few words' would be like calling 'War and Peace' a short story though, so in the interest of not boring people to death I chose to table it. You can thank me now.

What is important for me to note though, is a little about my family and I. Just the pertinent facts, that will help paint a picture of why we do things the way we do, and maybe how we see things the way we see them.

We are a (soon-to-be) family of four. We own four Land Rovers. All of them have names, and that is how we refer to them. Shawna once remarked to a person who didn't know us well that we were a family of 7, and it took quite some time for us to explain.

We have Bonnie, a black Discovery II, Clyde, a silver Range Rover P38, Ellie, a white long wheelbase Range Rover Classic, and then the oldest is Sam, our darling 1973 Land Rover Series. We are,not unlike many Land Rover owners who have multiple Rovers.

But this thread is about Sam.

Sam is my truck, although my two year old disagrees heartily, that I bought a little over a year ago. I deployed shortly after her purchase and was only able to get her in well enough condition to drive everyday, and that is what I did. We always knew we couldn't stand her being down for the time it takes to do a full frame off, so we thought we would do a rolling restoration instead. We knew we had some frame work ahead of us though and we had wanted to do it a bit at a time. Recently though, a botched weld from a previous point in Sam's life sent us hurtling down a road where surgery and polishing were needed sooner.

And this is where we begin.

Sam will be a guest in a car show on the 4th of July, and after that she is getting naked. The top has been off for months and that is where I am starting. The four layers of paint, including the top layer of house paint, will all be stripped leaving nothing but gleaming aluminum. Once the top and the sides are complete, I'll press with the rest of the panels and tub.

After all of the body panels are removed and the frame and axles and undercarriage have been cleaned as best as I can, I'll load the rolling chassis on the trailer to have the frame work completed. While Sam is awaiting some welds, I'll spray the panels.

This is the tentative itinerary. We know this will take us longer than we expect. We also know it needs to be done if we are going to keep her healthy.