I've had this 426 crate motor for over a year and I'm just now getting time to set the car down over the motor. When I was lowering the car, I really didn't think that big motor would clear the frame rails. As a matter of fact, it didn't clear the $400 hemi power brake booster that I bought last year. I had to remove it to set the car all of the way down on the k-member. This engine swap has been the biggest hassle of my life. Everything that I needed for the engine, pulleys, brackets, headers, etc. were very expensive and difficult to get in some instances. Almost everything for a hemi is different than a regular big block. There were times that I wish that I had just re-installed the 340 after the resto and saved the hemi for the superbird clone. I still have to install the new dash, windshield, convertible top and interior. Hopefully I can finish it up in time to drive this summer. Out of all of my cars that I've restored, this one has been the most difficult for some reason. My wife custom mixed the color for the car in our mixing room at the shop. I painted the car and she decided that she didn't like it. So...we mixed another color and repainted everything. Now she likes it. We originally installed the 5.9 fuel injected motor and od tranny and then decided that we would use that setup in her 73 cuda, so out it came. Starting to get the picture? I feel like I've built this car twice. Oh well, it's the only convertible that we own so we might as well make sure that we're happy with it.
More later as we assemble.