Measure none, cut and reassemble twice

Guess I forgot to click "publish" for this update last night, so this is a little late.

If asked before I started all this what I expect the most filthy part of the car would be, I probably would've guessed something like the transmission or the engine.  I'm fairly confident, though, that I would not have guessed "AC/alternator mounting bracket".

Ranking the parts mentioned by relative degree of surface coverage, in combination with depth of filth layer and difficulty involved in removing it, the bracket is the new heavyweight champion of never having been touched with anything resembling a cleaning tool.  The transmission comes in at a distant second, while the engine wins the title of "contestant".

Nevertheless, I was able to peel away it's oil/tar/dirt/sand composite shell, though it required thoroughly perforating that layer with a punch tool and soaking it for a few weeks in this non-evaporating melange of degreasing products, solvent, and used oil bucket I've had outside for about 9 months.  It's presently sitting in another degreaser bath, and I'll be giving it the final scrub once I finish this smoke.

The reason for my cleaning that right now comes from the point that I got the plug wires all finished up earlier.  Even though they were all assembled and loosely tied in, the meter I have at the shop would give a resistance read for any of them.  I found this out after getting finished with the first cylinder wire, so made a note to continue on with making them, try again once done, and get the house meter to verify in the event they all read open before I start having a conniption fit.  They did, I shrugged, and that was that.

After I arrived today and rechecked with the backup meter, I was glad to see that I was getting better results.  Unfortunately, I had to re-crimp 4 of the 7 wires because they were out of my meter's range.  Still, it wasn't a big deal, and I'm glad I did it right away.  If I had put it off and forgotten about it, I'm pretty sure it would've put a damper on the first engine run.  I also made sure to record their values for future maintenance and troubleshooting reference.