Steering, Again...

OK, so my eyeball was slightly out of calibration and the two steering gearboxes were not exactly the same.  So, I had to stare at it for a long time and then drill some new holes in the frame.  After that, I loosely installed the pitman arm and noticed that it is slightly out of time with the steering linkage.  I will consult one of my neighbors this weekend to see if that is something I can make up with tie rod end adjustment or not.

After all of that effort, I put the engine back onto the truck frame and secured it via the motor mounts.  I was about to fit the transmission up to the engine and take some measurements for the rear transmission mount and cross member, but a 72 year old guy walked up the driveway with a dog and we talked about old cars, his first job as a delivery driver in Lubbock, the first car he bought with his own money, etc.   After he left, there wasn't much time left, so I cleaned the transmission spacer plate and picked up all the tools on the garage floor.

Starting to line up the gear box input shaft to the steering column:

 Idler arm in the foreground, gearbox shaft for the pitman arm in the background:

 Looking pretty good:

 The steering column is currently disconnected from the dash, so I had to hang it up with a strap to replicate the angle and check the gearbox alignment:

 Steering linkage mocked-up:

 Shaft is located int eh center of the cab access panel:

 Old gearbox mounting hole in the frame next to the new one on the right:

 Dirty transmission spacer plate:

I think I saw some of this goo on a horror movie once.  It had a very special texture.

 Engine mounted in the frame one more time.  I'll take it out after the transmission mounting is sorted out for a coat of paint.

 Motor mounts lined up nicely with a little encouragement from a hammer.

Overhead view of the driver's side.  Even with the small block, there is not much clearance down there.  I ordered a set of "blockhugger" headers from the internet and they are supposed to specifically work for 53-56 F100 trucks with IFS conversions and a bad steering situation like this.  We'll see...