[JJorgensen52]

More dis-assembly of my parts truck today - I was able to get much better comparative measurements between the two trucks:

1. The core support mounts on the '87 are one full bracket width further forward than on the '72 - I am going to have some trimming and welding to do to make them line up perfectly, but it actually works out better than I had thought as I do not have to remove my original core support mounts. This centers the front axle in the wheel opening

2. The engine does have to move - nominally it will move back 2", so midway between the front and rear mount positions. That said, it looks like there is enough adjustment in the engine mounts to reduce that to about 1.5" back. Hopefully that's not enough to require modifying the floor pan for the shifter. The motor mount brackets are a direct bolt on to the frame; the holes are in the same location and spacing. This gives me a good, solid reference point on the '72 frame for mounting the '87 parts.

3. The shackle bushing for the front spring lands directly where the parking brake cable presently passes into the frame. I am planning to use the '87 style parking brake cables to alleviate some PTO interference issues I've run into, which eliminates the need for the raised part where the cable enters the frame. I'm going to have to either pound that flat, or possibly cut it out and weld in a new piece of flat metal.

So long as it doesn't rain, I will make more progress tomorrow. I have the trans, T-case, and driveshafts all out of the donor truck, and I'm about halfway through pulling the front cross members.