Back in the saddle!

The Borgeson steering parts arrived on Thurs. Friday I setup the new configuration with the three universal joints and the steering assembly works perfectly!  Still had to fabricate a mounting bracket for the heim support but that could wait until the engine is removed.  Saturday was going to be the day my buddy Dan was coming over to spend the mid day helping me remove the engine/trans pieces.  However, he called early Saturday morning to let me know he was going to the med center to have his ankle/leg looked at.  Seems he had slipped and fallen on the ice after an event on Friday evening and his ankle was swollen and painful.  I quickly developed a mental plan to be able to accomplish the intended work by myself.  Turns out, it was a good thing I did as Dan called later in the morning to tell me he had broken the small leg bone in his lower leg just above the ankle.  He's going to be unavailable for the next 4-6 weeks.  Despite the setback, I was able to accomplish quite a bit.
     The empty block and transmission came out quite easily with the aid of a couple of ropes that let me "steer" the assembly to clear the firewall and engine mounts.  Once those pieces were taken apart and stowed, I set about drilling the holes in the frame for permanent attachment of the engine mounts.  Once that was completed, found a piece of scrap rectangular tubing that I cut to form a piece of angle iron.  I drilled a 3/4" hole for mounting the heim support and two smaller holes for attaching the bracket to the frame.  I found a couple of 3/8" self tapping bolts in my bolt bin and used them to securely fasten the bracket to the frame.  That completed the steering mock up.  I then removed the steering column, rack & pinion and steering parts from the car.  All the remaining holes in the firewall were taped over on the inside and the trans cover was put in place.  The car cover was put on the car, the removed parts were covered with tarps and plastic curtains were hung from the side wall and the opening to the shop area.  I figured I might as well get the engine compartment/frame/firewall painting done since the surfaces were fairly warm from the garage having been heated all day.  I had ordered "satin" black from the NAPA paint store but once the job was completed, it looked more like gloss than satin.
     I didn't get any pictures of Saturday's work but I'll post pics as soon as I get the steering column and parts painted and installed.  The new wheels are getting the tires mounted tomorrow and I plan to start assembly of the front suspension on Tues or Wed.  I'm hoping to have the car back on the ground by the end of the coming week.   Stay tuned for pics.

Ok, here's a pic of the painted engine compartment.

And here's a closeup view of the bracket I made for the steering system support.  The heim joint attaches to this bracket.