Transmission swap is not as much fun as I'd hoped.

The swap of the original 3 on the tree transmission in combination with a diff swap makes a lot of sense on paper. The drivability of the old truck will be much improved, but the task has presented some worse than expected design issues.

I fully expected to have to cut and trim a bit to get the tranny in. I did not expect it to require a major mod of the center cross member. The shifter literally comes up right through the damn thing.

As you can see I've got some clearance issues. The cross member in the last picture is still 2" from it's mounting point the image shows the required area to be out. I'm also not sure if I need to provide support for the tranny it does have a mount position on the tail shaft housing.

The engine is in!

It's been a long road, but at last the engine is in frame. Tons of thanks to Pro Stock Performance Machining and my friend Richard for helping me get the engine between the frame rails.