It's been a busy week. I took delivery of the engine on Wednesday night. It looks great, but it was really hard to get it around the workshop by myself. Before installing it in the car, I:
- Checked the starter clearance and clocked the starter
- Installed the trans
- Installed the slave cylinder
- Calibrated the dipstick to read properly
Saturday morning I had a bunch of friends over to install the engine in the car. Everything was tight (ceiling clearance, movement of the crane, clearance between the engine and the car) but we got it in as one assembly (engine + bell + trans), and it couldn't have gone any better. The only hiccup was that we didn't use the ERA alternator bracket and then realized we had a serious alternator clearance problem that required lifting the engine a few inches. But then I remembered there was a strange looking "extra" part that turned out to be the ERA alternator bracket, which solved the problem.
After getting the engine bolted and leveled, and the trans mount installed, I spent the majority of today:
- Installing the driveshaft
- Finishing the fuel system plumbing
- Checking carb/hood clearances and taking care of odds and ends
I'm hoping to get the car started in a week or two, and I already have my CHP appointment to get my VIN in early March.
