Tod - A man can never have enough friends. Anytime you want a road trip, come on down. Thanks for the suggestion on a machine shop. I may be in touch.
Norwood - Good to hear from you. I hope you are doing well and that your back has healed up nicely. Sorry I missed the trip to Chicago, but I've logged a lot of miles the last month and just needed some family time. Thanks for the suggestion. I've been thinking about Butler, but keep telling myself it's overkill. Since I'm getting bolt on ready heads from SD. all I really need is block work - cylinder bore, line hone, zero deck, cam bearings...On the other hand it is somewhat appealing to think about having them put the pieces together and run it on a test stand and dyno. Lot's of decisions.
We did get some work done today at the HRG. I'm a bit of a neat freak so the first thing I wanted to do was get another shelf installed to hold and organize all the parts. The two existing shelves are maxed out with parts for/from the Green Truck, Black Car, Yellow Car, and stalled 455 HO Red Car project. Fortunately Sam's still sells the same industrial shelf units I put in several years ago and the new one was able to be attached right in line with the others. On the car, the fluids have been drained, the hood and driveshaft are removed, and the shaker, ducting and battery are out. By the end of the day Friday the engine and transmission should be out and the real fun should start.
One question I have is can I detach the shifter from below the car, or will I need to pull the console so that the stick can drop out with the transmission? Also, I am still looking for machine shop suggestions. Here's a few pictures.
