Been busy with life. I didn't realize it, but when I installed my 3spd OD tranny, I damaged the thrust bearing on the motor. So I had to pull the motor and find one for my project. I found on on craigslist for $300. I figured it was an easy swap...
right. The motor was a 62 235 and did not do my research to put it in a 63. I had to fabricate everything.... and I mean everything.
The motor mounts had to be fabricated to fit
And the clutch pivot support
And the throttle linkage
And I have never welded or fabricated before, so this was a loooong process.
Since I was at it, I also replaced the grille with the correct 1963 grille.
For anyone foolish enough to do what I have done, be warned the fan will hit the radiator if your radiator support is the lower one. My radiator was just re-cored and I was not about to get another one, so I had to mount a pusher fan and wire a fan thermostat. I didn't want wires everwhere, so I mounted the thermostat relay and thermoswitch in a project box from radio shack and ran the wires through it to clean it up a bit.
Also relayed my headlights. Did the same thing with the headlight relays that I did with the thermoswitch. I just really like the cleaned wiring look.
and here is a picture of the engine bay from afar. I am glad to be making progress finally. Next are the brakes...
