We installed the grill and it really looks great on the car. Finished up putting the header bolts in with locking clips so the bolts can't work loose. Hooked up the initial exhaust pipe to the header and it was a bit of a struggle because of space.
We re-installed part of the power steering system. We took the steering arms and power steering unit out prior to installing the engine to be sure it didn't interfere with the install. We re-installed the front arms without much issue but then in re-installing the electric power steering unit we started running into the problems. First we couldn't get it back on because the oil filter was to long and interfering with the install. For some reason when we tried to take off the oil filter it was on so tight, we actually crushed it trying to get it off. It must have been put on by King Kong : ) but we finally got it off. I bought a shorter one, but then we ran into the problem that the lower part of the electric steering unit was hitting the oil pan when we tried to bolt it in place. We had to drill all new holes in the power steering mounting bracket to allow us to turn the unit down and away from the pan. We finally won that battle with some pretty tight fits.
We then realized that the rigid oil dip stick that came with the engine wasn't going to work with the BBK Shorty headers I have, so I had to order a flexible dip stick, which we were able to get it to fit into another tight spot. Not the ideal location, but what the heck, it works and this is a new engine that shouldn't have need to check the oil all that often.
Now came a big time bleeder. As I posted previously the drive shaft yoke wouldn't go into the rear housing of the transmission. After checking the sizes we realized that the yoke was not the correct yoke and I had them send me another one. Well, you can almost guess what's coming next. The new yoke came in and it wouldn't go into the rear transmission housing either. After much trying, checking, cussing and phone calls we are having the transmission folks send me a new rear housing. Somehow the bushing in the housing I have, which is to keep the yoke aligned, is not correct. We'll find out when the new one comes in, but the bad news for me was I had to take that rear housing off again to figure this out. I sure hope it's the housing, otherwise I have to start all over.
Steve was over today and Bob and his son Frank. Everyone kept pretty busy and we got quite a bit done. We buttoned down the gas tank and now need to hook it up to the fuel pump and power. Also got in a new battery power cable which we got ready to install. Installed the ground onto the battery.
Steve and I put a grounding strap onto the engine and that turned into a little more time than we thought it would, but all's well that ends well I guess : )
Here Steve and I are installing the front grill and radiator.
Here's where the power steering unit is hitting the oil pan.
Here's how badly we had to crush the oil filter to get it off.
Here I had to take off again the back housing on the transmission.
Here's the tight fitting oil dip stick.
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