Progress report

Time to add another update and show some progress pics.  Much of what has been happening has been slow and tedious.  The firewall was cleared of unneeded items and the flanged hole where the steering column goes thru was notched and the flange was bend and hammered flat.  I then fit the Ididit swivel mount to the opening and drilled the holes for mounting the swivel mount.  The frame was given a good scrubbing with mineral spirits and a SS scrubbing pad to remove all the old dirt/grease/loose paint.  Then the entire area was wiped with lacquer thinner to remove any film left by the mineral spirits.  The firewall was lightly sanded and both frame horns and the firewall were primered.  This step revealed some paint runs under the primer in the original green paint.  Some additional sanding and more primer put the surface in order.  Some of the areas of the frame and CE crossmember would be difficult to access with a spray gun after the crossmember was in place so those areas were painted satin black from a can prior to doing the permanent install of the crossmember and radiator support.  The spare block along with the bellhousing and T5 trans were reinstalled and bolted in using the bellhousing and trans mounts.  This will allow the proper positioning of the CE motor mount kit and fabrication of mounts that attach to the engine.  Here's a pic of where things sit right now.

The "clean" steel plate on the front of the block is the spare front mount I had that was pictured in an earlier post.  The flanged part that provided mounting for the stock crossmember mount has been removed, thanks to Dick at More Power, to provide a slight bit of additional clearance on the new rack and pinion assembly.  The angle iron plates mounted to the side engine mount bosses are the pieces Dick fabricated to mount the 235 on the dyno at More Power.  I'm using them as templates to assist with the new mount fabrication. Here's a closer view of the plate on the front of the block.

Here's the new CE universal mount kit that bolts to the stock frame.

The bracket in the background is the part that slips over the frame and is bolted in place after drilling the frame.  I'm thinking mine may get welded rather than bolted.  The middle piece is the rectangular tubing that gets shortened to proper length and welded to the frame bracket.  The rubber and bolt components are then assembled thru the large hole in the tubing and the new engine mount will sit on top of the large rubber biscuit.  The lower mount shows the parts assembled.  And here's a picture of the mount positioned on the frame rail.

Since I was in a painting mood, all the CE primered components got a coat of satin black; upper and lower control arms, sway bar, springs and strut rods as well as the coil spring adjusters (not in pic)

I was unable to find one item last spring when installing the new drive line.  The dust covers that would attach to the bottom of the bell housing to protect the flywheel and clutch were a different size than the stock covers for the 216 bellhousing.  The truck housing I'm currently using is about an inch wider at the bottom.  After watching ebay for several months, I finally got lucky and found just what I was looking for from a seller in Colorado.  He confirmed the mounting dimensions and his "buy it now" price was reasonable so I got these two pieces.  Once the grease and grime were removed, I lightly sandblasted  them at More Power and straightened the slight bends in the flanges.  Here's the finished products.  These 50+ year old pieces look like brand new!

One other new item I failed to picture earlier is the new PowerGen alternator by Power Master.  This is a 75 watt, 12 volt, one wire alternator manufactured in a housing of the same dimensions and mounting as a stock 6 volt generator.  The regulator is inside too, just like the late model alternators. 

I bought this one from Jeg's and had to special order to get the 5/8 pulley.  The pulley change was no extra charge.  These units are not the cheapest way to go but if you want to retain the stock generator looks and use the existing mounting brackets, this is surely the simplest method.
     Hopefully, during the holiday week between Christmas and New Years, my brother can make it over to assist me in designing and fabricating the engine mounts.  And to all who take time to read this labor of love, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  May Santa fill your stockings with all the car toys you asked for and may the coming year provide sunny days for all your old car outings!