Next I decided to clean up the engine compartment while I had the engine out. Looking back, I think that's how restorations get started. First you take off one part, then you have to take something else off to make it look good next to the first part, etc...

I cleaned all the grease and everything off with kerosene. It didn't look very nice, EF8 with sublime overspray everywhere. I cleaned it up, taped it off, and went over it with the best rattle can I could find. The parts store didn't sell sublime in a rattle can, so I used black. (sometimes I wish I wouldn't have painted it black, so I don't recommend doing that.)

I had been having some problems with the power steering box feeling sloppy and loose and couldn't seem to adjust it properly, so I ordered a new box and put it in after cleaning up the engine compartment. I also tried out a different used power brake booster.

Then it was time to put the new engine in. Wait a minute,...
the 318 drivers motor mount bracket is wider than a 360. I added some washers to take up the slack.
I wonder if I can use the 727 trans from the 'Cuda in place of the 904? Nope, the 727 is about 4 inches longer than a 904, which would make my driveshaft the wrong length. ('Cuda was missing its driveshaft)
The Hooker Super Competition Headers won't go in unless the steering center link is threaded through them. I used the puller that took the pitman arm off the steering box to separate a tie rod end from the center link, threaded it through the header and reassembled. (pickle forks will ruin your tie rod dust seal. Only use the pickle fork if you plan on replacing the tie rod end.)
Now the rear sump truck oil pan is hitting the center link. (Sigh) Had to search the local junkyards and pay $50 for a center sump 360 oil pan with oil pickup tube. Changed out the oil pan with the engine dangling half installed. Removing the oil pump to install the new pickup tube, I took all the bolts out, tried to pull on it, wiggle it, even tapped on it with a rubber hammer, but it wouldn't budge. It was 3 AM and I laid my hands down by my sides exhausted. BAM the oil pump came down on my head! Please be careful.
Got the new used oil pan all buttoned up, and the engine sitting in place finally. Now the new headers are in the way of installing the driver motor mount bolt. I ended up buying a die to thread the bolt all the way up to the head, and installing it from the front.
I got a new parts store transmission mount that didn't want to go on. The 727 mount fit just fine, so I slotted the holes in the new mount to match the 727 holes.
Autozone had their rear transmission seals mixed up in the computer. I asked for the 904 unit and they gave me the 727 one. I took it back and had them give me the one they had listed for 727 and it fit the 904 perfectly. Installed with an old jelly jar, piece of wood, and a hammer. Hopefully Autozone has that straightened out by now.
I had a kinked transmission line and couldn't find the correct fittings to replace it with a new line in any local parts store, so I used some rubber hose and clamps as a band-aid.

After all that was through, I figured I should rebuild the carburetor. I got a carb kit and installed it. Maybe it was my own doing, or maybe it was just plum worn out, but that carb never did seem to run right. It didn't take long for me to decide I wanted nice reliable fuel injection as soon as I could figure out how to do it.

Before starting it up I took out the distributor and primed the oil pump with a drill. I primed and primed, but never got any oil pressure reading on my aftermarket gauge. Finally, I unscrewed the oil sending unit and tried to prime it with the drill again. Oil shot up out of the sending unit hole over the windshield and landed on the roof and trunk lid. I had plenty of pressure, just a faulty aftermarket gauge.

Only working at night, it took me quite a while to accomplish all of this. I kept a rag and a clean empty butter tub over the carb, with the whole compartment covered by a piece of an old tarp when I wasn't working on it. Well, one night it rained HARD. Water puddled on top of the intake manifold and went sideways into the engine through the carburetor shaft, filling up cylinder #8. When it was time to start it up, the engine wouldn't turn over. It was hydro locked. liquid won't compress like air. I took the spark plugs out and cranked the engine to blow the water out the spark plug holes.

I didn't reinstall the old rusty exhaust with glass packs. I just left it with open headers. I never did like those headers much and wouldn't recommend them for any street driven vehicle. It's next to impossible to get out plugs #5 & #7 plus the wires are always getting burned. Also with a tube running under the steering center link, ground clearance is very low. It was about 2 inches on this car, and I kept hitting (and dented them with) a tree root going out of the driveway.

If the engine looks like the front is tilted upward, that's because it is. I hadn't yet realized at this point that the transmission crossmember was bent causing the transmission to sit low and the seats to lean inward.

Tav