UPDATE:

So I got the car back last Friday after 6 months at the sheet metal guy's place. I pretty happy with the work. Last night I decided to answer two questions that have been on my mind ... 1) car the engine be installed from below with the headers attached (Dougs 452's)? and 2) will everything fit under the 6-pack scoop (RB with Indy single plane and a '70 air cleaner. Well, the answers are YES and YES . The scoop is 3" tall and it looks like I should have about 1" of clearance. The biggest hangup for the engine install was the dipstick tube but there was enough flex in it to go.