Mitch stopped over after work last night and we dropped the 235 in the 41. It really didn't "drop in" though. First we had to remove the foot starter bracket from the bell housing since it wouldn't allow the engine to go far enough back in the chassis. Then we found the rear engine mounts had been on backwards on the 216 and those had to be pulled. Swapping the mounts from one side to the other got the rear alignment right. Then the BIG challenge presented itself. This 235 is out of a 1953 car and I reinstalled the 53 front engine mounting plate when I rebuilt it. Turns out the hole spacing on the 53 is narrower than the 41 plate that is on the 216 engine. NOT good! We installed one front bolt in the driver's side motor mount and let the passenger side rest on that mount. That was the end of work last night. Time to put the thinking cap on and see if I can figure a way to make the current mount work. Otherwise, the 235 will have to come out again and be partially disassembled. The 216 will also need disassembly in order to remove the mounting plate. Hopefully, it won't come to that.
On a more positive note, I picked up a couple of 1/2 x 13 socket head bolts yesterday which will make fitting the transmission to the bell housing a bit easier. Installed the new Lokar gas pedal on the transmission cover/floor panel. Also finished drilling the 6 bolt wheel pattern in the chrome center caps for the slotted aluminum wheels. Mitch took the wheels last night to get them polished. The new ignition switch arrived yesterday but it was the wrong one. The fella I had talked to at Chevs of the 40's apparently forgot a "D" suffix letter on the part number and that got me a switch for a later year car. Got the return sorted out and ordered the correct switch. The new Hurst shifter just arrived a few minutes ago. Hopefully that won't present any new challenges. Time for some lunch and an afternoon of head scratching to see if I can devise a way to NOT have to pull the enigine out again.
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