22) 11/13/2010 Install Motor/Transmission

Motor and transmission trussed to hoist and ready for installation.

It's going to be a tight fit - I've measured 37" from the transmission mount to the front of the motor, and the same 37" from the mount hole to the front chassis cross-member.

What I failed to measure was the vertical clearance needed. Here the transmission is hard against the heater box.

And we lack 1" to clear the cross-member.

So out comes the handy Roto-Zip.

Cutting out the old heater box. Oh, well, this is Texas! We don't need no stinking heater box!

This should give us the clearance we need.

Not yet. The shift housing is hard against the transmission tunnel. We pulled it forward slightly so ...

I could take the grinder to it.

And the motor drops into place.

I knew it would be tight, but there is a small air gap between the front of the motor and the chassis cross-member.

Next step: fabricate the front motor mounts.