The 455HO is in along with the transmission. The new 455 style Mitey Mounts keep the oil pan about 3/8" above the steering crosslink and saddle, so we'll be keeping an eye on the clearance over time to see if the engine weight crushes the mounts and allows the oil pan to contact the link. It did this on the '70 LeMans and I wondered why the manual steering got harder to turn! Fortunately, it just rubbed the paint a bit and didn't wear through the pan...cheap Korean made motor mounts...lasted about 2 years and 1000 miles! I'm hoping these Mitey Mounts will last a bit longer. We replaced the Lemans' motor mounts with the polyurethane mounts from Butler and they are great...so far no complaints.
Anyway...we had to order a new driveshaft to fit the TH400 output shaft of the B-W Super T10 trans and the factory 12-bolt. We have driveshafts with the '70-earlier yoke (smaller diameter), but not a '71-up style (larger diameter). We also got a stronger pressure plate to go with a new Centerforce 10.4" dual friction disc (did I mention we are using parts and pieces we have on-hand to keep costs down?) to hold the massive torque of the 455HO since we didn't have anything with enough clamping force ready to use.
Painted the Cold Case aluminum radiator and it test fitted with the factory fan shroud and core support beautifully. Now we have to find the proper '71 A-body brackets and pulleys to go to non-AC with power steering...they're around here somewhere.
More to come...
Dennis
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