Not a Big Block but I put mine in today.
(SEE GALLERY)
--Did it by myself with no bellhousing or trans. --PLEASE!!! Get a picker with plenty of reach! You're gonna need it. The picker I borrowed had a long reach but even with that I was at the last hole & things weren't entirely stable(& again! It was a SMALL BLOCK).
--I don't think I would want to attempt it with trans on but sounds like it can be done.
--my surge tank is different but i pulled it before install. Easy enough...
--left alternator & pulleys on
--pulled
oil filter. good thing I did! Realized it was too long to fit even when mounted...
--didn't have the slave or starter on but probably would have gone in with no prob.
--The most dificult part was installing the trans. An extra set of hands would have been really nice! Eventually I won
BTW, Where are you located?
Good Luck!