Date: September 21, 2026

Location: Jason's

Phase 1: done

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Plugs and wires, PCV hose and filter, diff fluid, fuel filter, ATF, thermostat reseal, tires, safety test, axles. Still open: insurance, lockbox, flag.

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Sequence from here: shakedown test first, then the lift, then the alignment.

Phase 2 framing

Three problems to solve: tools, time, space. Expected to run into January. Phase 2 is the long one; Phase 3 is dressing her up.

Tools

• Group welder. Cheap welder around $150, plus about $60 for a mask and gloves. At the end it goes to the highest bidder in the group, or gets stored for Gambler #2. A stick welder can be borrowed and a TIG welder is available too.
• Cutting. Long spans need a real metal cutting solution. Horizontal bandsaw is the ideal.
• Ideal: access to a metal shop close to where we work.

Space

• A crew member's warehouse works for wood fabrication, but no Buck and no welding there, and not as a regular habit.
• Barrett is reaching out to his Nick contact, who might solve tools and space in one stop.

Time: the barn raising

• Frame build happens as a weekend intensive. We show up with the design, the cutting list, and the assembly guide, and put the frame together in two days.
• MVP for that weekend: the full frame, meaning everything that attaches to Buck and makes the box. Extra structural welding can come after.
• Everyone who knows welding is there to teach everyone who doesn't.

Decisions