Well, July is pretty much in the books, and we are well into crunch time. So I guess a look around to take stock of where we are is in order.

The Valiant
It was loaded in the trailer last week, and the new BPE rotating assembly, along with the X block are at my machinist/ co-worker's place. Below is an excerpt from my posting on the "Airwolf" thread:
"MisterBee,
My timeline has went like this:
April 4th First inquiring e-mail, got a reply from Bryce in 12 hours.
April 16th e-mail, and phone call, no reply to either.
April 23 phone call no answer.
April 24th e-mail reply from Bryce in the AM, to e-mail I sent on 16th
April 24th reached Bryce by phone in the PM, hashed out the deal, set the price, and he promised to charge my card, and send an invoice via e-mail. Said he was "3 weeks out" on the heads.
May 16th reached Bryce by phone on my second attempt. He explained he was overwhelmed with demand, and explained he was still probably "2 weeks out". I explained that I hadn't been charged, or received an invoice, so I was worried that we didn't really have a deal. He promised to "take care of that this afternoon".
June 6th The charge for the purchase price appeared on my credit card statement.

I have not had any correspondence with Bryce since then, I have still not received an invoice, or the heads. I have 3 cars to work on, and I have yet to assemble the short block the heads are destined for, so I haven't made any efforts to contact him in the last month, figuring my time is better spent on the stuff that is in front of me."

So that is where I'm am with that. I've pretty much moved on from trying to take the Valiant this year. I still have a laundry list of improvements that I wanted to make, and those would have to be pushed off once again if all I did was try to get the engine completed and in the car.

The Belvedere
Got Rachael's ride up on jack stands last week, but just crawled under it today for a 'get aquainted' cruise on my creeper. I grabbed my 3/8 wrench to pull the drive shaft, but it was too big...man, the strap bolts on a 7260 yoke are tiny! Amazed that a 3650 lb car can go 11.50's on that spindly stuff! After loosening the shaft, I couldn't drop it down enough to clear the rearend, because it was hitting on the driveshaft loop. Now I know most of you are thinking "my loop doesn't get in the way" and you would be correct if your loop is anywhere near the NHRA legal position! Boone had told me in 2011 before we left on Drag Week, "I was worried about a loop for the Belvedere, but it already has one in it!" Well technically it does...