[68 C10 Driver]

Well today's adventure was to get the cross rails off of the frame and to cut the rivets off of the old bell housing transmission support brace and remove that bit of fun. I tried to pivot it after the rivets were punched out...and I beat on it with a 3 lb. hammer and used a 4 foot pry bar. No luck, it wasn't budging. My wife came out to see if she could help and noticed the driver's side had a 2 1/2 inch weld. Damn...I guess I missed that. So a couple seconds with the grinder and it was free. Yea, problem solved...maybe not. I couldn't get that transmission brace out. Frustration kicked in and the grinder came out. 30 seconds of blissful sparking and that was out too. Sometime in the 80s my father-in-law changed the 6 cylinder for a 350, but kept the old bellhousing transmission brace. I want to do it right, and seeing how I will be installing the Muncie M20, I want to use a transmission support that bolts to the tail cone of the M20 and I will use an aluminum bell housing instead of that cast iron one with the mounting points.

I also got the nasty old exhaust removed that essentially was a condo for dirt dobbers.

I will also need to do some repair on the rear bumper, not too badly damaged, nothing a little heat and gentle hammering won't fix. Seeing how it was a painted bumper to begin with and it is beefy, I want to keep it. I will paint it the Old English White the dash and the cab's top will be.

Tomorrow is clean-up and start disassembling the front suspension.