I know, I know, "It's about bloody time!", I hear you yelling.
For those who have suffered along with me on this long l-o-o-o-n-g and difficult resto, finally, the reward (thumbnails only, so I can show it in all it's um, glory):
It ain't perfect by any means.
But in the end, I got so fed up looking at the thing and all the problems I had with it that I just wanted it
finished! I could have (should have) spent a lot more time on the finish. There are parts of it that are quite good; other parts, not so much. In total there are 2 coats of gray undercoat and about 3 cans of paint, followed by clear gloss acrylic. In the end I got sloppy and rushed things with the clear coat; got too close and caused some runs and a bit of splattering. That meant some scraping and sanding to try and even it out. In the process I managed to put some nicks in the clear coat which I haven't yet sorted out. There are also some dimpled areas which could use some attention...never ends (sigh).
On the plus side, the electronics went back together OK, lots of soldering joints there! And it sounds good, more of a Shredder than Rock and Roll, but pretty darn good nonetheless. The neck is terrific, perhaps a tad wider than I'm used to on Vantage/Westone, but on the whole, solid and easy playing.
The headstock repair was a bugger. In the end I just couldn't do much more to remove the remnants of old holes and broken buried drill bits than I did. The butchered up truss rod access area was rebuilt with epoxy and painted black, then covered with a new TRC I fashioned a out of some (brittle) plastic cut from a Dollar Store basket using the dimensions that
Frenchy sent me. Thanks Pierre!
Finally, I found a reasonably priced set of chrome mounting rings to go with the new chrome bridge and I think they look just swell! Thanks to Slo-Hand for the idea! And I decided to use some brass screws to fasten not only these but the two cover plates on the rear. Works well I think.
Finally, I installed some black strap locks, and splurged on a retro Fender strap which seems to complete the whole "retro" vibe I was hoping for. In the final analysis, it's light years better than when I bought it, and is in playable condition again which was the ultimate goal. Not quite what Uncle Mats originally had in mind...but I kinda like it.