September 15th: the oil has been changed, and the reassuring blue of the PF454 service replacement now sits underneath. For maximum points, I could paint the filter black and affix a replica label, but this car has many needs worth more points and effort. I back Lauren into our attached garage with its superior lighting and space.

I remove the passenger courtesy panel once more to deal with that detached wire to the courtesy light assembly. Before actually doing anything, I take pictures of everything—I want to wire this correctly the first time. After cutting power, I work first with the newly arrived light assembly, stripping its wires. Next, I detach what remains of the broken plastic clip and strip those wires. I make two inline splices and wrap them with splicing tape. Before doing anything else, I bring the power back on. The light works as expected.

I wrap the splicing tape with electrical tape (probably now the most protected harness in the car) and insert the new courtesy light assembly into the panel. Recheck it—still works. Wrestle the courtesy panel back in place and screw it back in. Still works—I'm declaring this fixed.

While I'm at it, I check for missing screws in the passenger compartment, since I have a full interior screw kit. I find one—worth the time spent.

The car is now generally as ready as it's going to be—only optimization remains.

6 days and 1 weekend to go.