['63GENIII]

With the firewall and frame painted, it was time to drop in the engine and transmission. I assembled everything outside of the truck thinking it would be easier than installing the trans from underneath. I was partly right.
Once in the truck though, the engine would not turn over by hand easily. Turned out that the flywheel was hitting the Advance Adapters BH and needed grinding. DOH! Out came the 4500 and the bell housing. Not terribly difficult but unexpected and necessary.

I was going to run the exhaust manifolds that came with the L29 but they would have required way too much frame trimming for my liking. I had a set of Thorley Tri Ys for a square body that fit nearly without an issue. So they went in.

I figured that while I was in there, Id re do all the brake lines that had been cobble together for the last 50 years. After I finished the brake lines, I felt confident enough to do the fuel and hydraulic clutch lines. Yes I scrapped a few beautiful lines after getting a perfect double flare and then seeing the tube nut on the workbench. The black plastic blocks are my home made fuel, brake and electrical support clamps. 6$ worth of plastic. We'll see how they hold up.