Man, the last mile is killing me. Every time I think I'm nearing the end, I discover some part that is missing or needs to be replaced--and of course, it's a part that no one, not even the dealership, has on site.

The latest culprits are the flexplate bolts that somehow disappeared, and the exhaust manifold studs/nuts, which I didn't realize needed to be new. Both come with strong recommendations from many corners to use OEM, but I haven't found any dealership, shop, or online store that can get them to me overnight. I ordered them from San Francisco Toyota, which seems to have pretty reasonable dealer pricing on parts (cough, cough, Marin Toyota), and I'm pleading with the parts manager to try and get them before the weekend.

I have a hoist reserved and time carved out to drop the motor in, which I could do without those parts, but installing exhaust studs and a flexplate under the truck doesn't sound ideal. Here's hoping for some good luck.

Oh yeah--and more than $400 in OEM fluids between the tranny, coolant, transfer case and break-in oil. Damn.