I finally spent time and built the custom transmission support out of 1 1/2 by 3/8 square tube. I modeled it after the factory piece as far as shape and size. Hopefully the headers and exhaust will clear without any problems. As of right now it's got some large tack welds so it's possible to make adjustments but overall it fits pretty good. The one area that was not easy to set is the height of the back of the transmission. I set it based on what I measured which had the trans mounting point 1/2" below the location of the outer transmission support however it really doesn't look correct. I've got to find another way to measure or use an angle finder to ensure it's in the right place.
Here you can see how complex the part was to build, there are several angles to factor in but it turned out pretty good.
Here you can see just before the frame was rolled under the body. I was able to use a engine hoist to hold the front of the body up and the rear stand on the back high enough to roll the frame underneath. It was actually quite easy and something you can do as a one-man job.
Hopefully this the 2nd to last time I have to take the body off the frame and put it back on. The next step is to complete all of the mock-up and panel alignment prior to paint. Most of the serious body work is complete but there are several additional adjustments that need to be made in order to ensure the body panels fit correctly. Also with the addition of the Hurst V-Gate shifter I need to make a few cuts and adjust the floor to allow the larger shifter to work correctly.
Nice close-up of the engine and clean firewall. The plan is to keep it as clean as possible, I'm going to mount the MSD ignition box on the firewall and leave the contour in the firewall. I've seen a lot of them that have been completely filled and it looks too clean.
I picked up a new radiator core support as well and mounted it, so far so good.
Next up I'm going to work on the floor and shifter to get it mounted correctly then I'll go ahead and mount the new trunk lid and then the doors, fenders.
