[Bob Carriere]

Thanks for the information Barry and Gregg

I took out five pins this weekend and 4 where badly worn and one marginal...... and of course one would not move out after slipping out about one inch....no matter what I did so I drove it back in.

I have discovered that the best pins with the less wear seems to be the upper shackle pin at the back of the assembly.... the fornt one and the lower rear pin in the shackle seem to have more movement and wear out faster.

....on the plus side I have the engine installed on a test bed and managed to install the bellhousing easily but clutch was a different story....but on the 3 attempt I got it right.

Possibly because I am using a larger 11 inch clutch I could not install the shifting fork after the clutch was in...so down it went again.. in went the fork.....and back with the clutch. Having a spare input shaft made the job a lot easier.

Starting to look good with the manifolds in place....water pump and large 261 thermo housing installed.

Took advantage of the cooler weather to wear the sandblasting hood and finished blasting the frame.

Next week we paint and start on rebuilding the tranny..

...and I am seriously considering getting the pins done at the machine shop....... he is now talking $40 a pin if I do 8...... decisions ...decisions....