[roger1]

So I'm back in Texas from spending time at the new house in Colorado. And back on the car as of yesterday.

Good news, bad news from yesterday. First the good news:

I drove the GTO down to a shop that does paintless dent removal. That's all they do so the guy is a real specialist. As you may remember there are 3 low spots on the hood that bother me. The hood was a real challenge for me since it was covered in hail dings and had a couple of other places where there was slight damage on the surface.
He said he believes he will be able to fix them. He said he will probably scratch the black paint on the under side. I told him no worries on that because it is no big deal for me to do a bit of spraying to touch them up.
He said he's pretty booked but probably would be able to get me later in the month. I'm fine with that since I have to re-shoot the doors and can keep busy with that while I wait.

Now the bad news:

On the way home from the shop, I started hearing a hell of a noise coming from the rear of the car whenever I let off the gas pedal. I nursed the car home and immediately put it up on jack stands to inspect. It didn't take long to find the problem. The yoke on the differential was all sloppy! So, that would mean to me the pinion bearings are toast.
I bought all the new parts including gears for it and then paid to have it assembled. I bet it doesn't even have 50 miles on it yet. The machine shop I used to assemble the engine recommended the guy to me for the rear end assembly. He said just bring me the rear axle and I'll have him come pick it up and assemble it for you and bring it back. So I never met the guy that did the work and don't who he is. I will start out by calling the machine shop guy on Monday and see what he advises me to do.