Thank you both! When I add the 2nd bolt they'll raise up 2"-3" in the rear.

 

I went shopping today! First I went out to Hurst Tires and ordered my 10" cheater slicks. Then I stopped by pick n pull and looked for a steering column. Found a Camaro column with tilt that should make things easier to fit to my driving position. Then on the way out I spotted an old Mercedes that looked like a donor! The front was whacked, and the wheelwell openings looked perfect for what I needed! I had a cardboard template of the opeing I mocked up to radius the wheelwells on the Falcon, so I held that up and it looks very good! Grabbed the battery sawzall and whacked them off the car!

 

I took each of the mounts off today and did the finish welding and some shaping. I cut the ends at the angle I need to match the box supports that will be added later, and welded in the other support for the bases, plus tacked them to the frame so I could get rid of the C clamps. It's officially a roller now!



I also got all the frame welding done on the front box tubing inside and out. When that was done and the axle was tacked in I got out the sawzall and made quick work of the old steering box and column. Then I drilled new mounting holes in the dash to mount the Camaro column. Still need to mount the bottom of the column to the firewall, but it's within 3/4" of the floor, so just some spacers and three bolts to secure it later.
Maybe I should figure out how to wire in an air bag too?

 

Got the old carpet out today and got a good look at the floor. Not bad, but not as good as I hoped either. Passenger side was one mass of small holes, and took a big sheet of 16ga. to fill. Driver's side was smaller, but still numerous holes in one area. Only found one small hole in the back that took a 1.5" patch to fill.

The old carpet and mouse nests were horrible! Had to wear my good respirator, and a old rag around my neck to keep all the ugly stuff off me! Still it was a pretty quick repair by cutting it rough with the sawzall, and then trimming it closely with the cutoff wheel to fit.
Passenger side patch had to be two pieces as I had to make do with what I had around here:


Driver's side was an L shape, as it was rotted along the kick panel, and also the transition to the firewall, like the pass. side:


Got the steering column bolted to the floor also, so it's very solid now.

 

Your moving right along. Looks good keep it up

 

Thanks!
Well no word on the headers, and not even an email reply. I spent the day gutting the inside the firewall. The heater was super easy; four bolts! Then I made the support plates for inside the firewall to back up the braces. My neighbor stopped by just in time to help me get the plates held in place while I secured them!
After I finished the plates, I built the front mounting brcakets for the ladder bars, and got them mounted also. Tried to remove the pitman arm on my steering box to reverse it 180 degrees, and it's stuck pretty good! My pitman removal tool sprung open and slipped off, and heat still wont get it. I'm taking it to a friend's house who does frontend work for a living, and see if he can get it off. If I knew for sure what size and spline it was, I'd just cut it off and get a Speedway arm.

 

The headers made it in! Going over to pick them up in the morning. Also got the pitman arm off, so I can locate the steering box once I have the headers mocked up on the wooden engine!

 

Moving right along. Looking good!!

 

Thanks Bill!

Picked up the headers early this morning, and bolted them to the wooden engine. Way too close to the tires, and I really don't want to raise the engine up any higher.



Only real option is to set the engine back, so got out the sawzall and made some room! I also cut away a center portion so I can always get the distributor out.


After setting the engine back another 2.5" I got tons of tire clearance, plus I'll have extra clearance up front to allow me to run the long water pump.


With the engine pretty close, I wont do anything more until I can hang the real engine on the cherry picker and see if I have enough clearance to remove valve covers, and do whatever maintenance I need to do. So I pulled the wooden motor out and began fabbing and welding up the front axle mounts.




Got everything welded up, and tomorrow I'll look at fabricating the mount for the steering box. I only have one complaint with the Speedway headers. The pass. side collector is 1.5" farther from the engine than the driver's side collector! It puts the collector so close to the fender drop that on the pass. side I'll have to trim the inside edge of the wheelwell opeing about 3/4" to give it good clearance.

 

looks great man.