I got a full 8 hours on the truck today. Man I wish I knew what I was doing so I could get more done.
I started off getting the motor off the stand, mounting the tranny to it and setting the whole thing in the truck.
IMG_0135 by
Robert Moorman, on Flickr
Then I spent the next 2 hours figuring out if it was centered, level and far enough back. I raised it and blocked under it and used a bottle jack on the tranny to get my angle correct (I think). At the tranny output shaft I'm at 4.4 degrees down and at the diff I'm at 4.6 up. Both are within the magic 5 I've been told to be ware of.
The purpose of this exercise, other than it HAD to be done was to check my radiator bracket. So next I put the inner and outer fenders on. The riders side fit like it knew what it was doing. However, the drivers side looks like I got an inner fender from something else. I posted a question on that already.
IMG_0136 by
Robert Moorman, on Flickr
The riders inner was cut up for a Camaro clip on the old frame, but I did cut a little more to make it fit. I guess I'll be patching some of it too. I cut the drivers, and didn't cut it enough, so it'll come back off and I get to do some more cutting.
While doing this, I broke out my notes and saw that from center of the stock S10 front bed mounts to the back of the cab is supposed to be 21 7/8". I'm at 20 1/8", so I am second guessing if I should move the cab forward.
I looked at the radiator bracket between the two inner fenders and where it falls on the frame, and I need some more room. The bracket comes down almost on top of the power steering box.
The motor is set 3" in front of the cab at the distributor, so I can go back a little more there, or I can move the cab forward the 1 5/8".
What to do? Man I wish I had more experience at this!