Firewall and frame painted

I finally decided I could not clean the front part of the frame and the firewall anymore so I painted it with POR15. I sprayed it and it was my first spray job. I htink it came out pretty well. If it dries in time today I'm going to test fit the motor and headers. Pictures coming soon.

Ok, While the paint was drying I put in my taillights and installed my fuel pump and motor mounts.

First I put the motor in by itself and then checked the headers for fit. The Hedman headers were first and they do fit in there but the collector hits the frame and the drivers side hits the steering box. A hammer on ONE primary tube of the headers will get it to fit or maybe a little grinding on the gearbox. If you cut the collector down about 3 inches you should have enough room to weld a 45 after the flange to go under the frame.

Next I tried the Summit headers that are made for 64 GTO and up. They clear the gearbox but barely clip the bellhousing. Some grinding on the bellhousing will work. I am using a GMC bellhousing but a 59 Pontiac bellhousing should not have this problem. These headers also hit the frame at the collector but with the collector cut back a few inches it should also have enough room to 45 under the frame.

Then I took the headers back off, pulled the motor, installed the flywheel and clutch and pressure plate, put the bellhousing on, realized I didn't have the pressure plate tightened., pulled it back off, tightened the pressure plate, put the bellhousing back on, then I though a plug in the back was not installed so I pulled the bellhousing back off, the plug was in, bellhousing back on, then tried to put the tranny in and the clutch disc was not aligned so I pulled the bellhousing back off, loosened the pressure plate, alligned the clutch, and installed the tranny. Pain in the ass but now I can do all that in the dark. Tranny and motor go back in, hole cut for the shifter. The new shifter stick I had was too short. I took the tall one off my other tranny and it barely fits. 2nd and 4th hit the seat but do go in gear. A torch to it will make it fit better.

Here are a few pictures.





By the way, an automatic with these headers might not work because the linkage on the steering colum is close. You might be able to modify the linkage to fit, maybe it will fit anyway.