The time has come for the moment of truth.  This is really more a test of whether Darryl did a good job of laying out a bare frame that would actually fit.  So far, everything has looked good, though the engine appeared to be a little forward in the engine compartment, which I remedied by using different motor mounts.  The question is whether I moved it too far back that it may interfere with the firewall.  My measurements looked good, but now is the time to find out for sure.

One thing for certain is that the late model 6L80E transmission is much larger than the original 3-speed, and protrudes into the cab.  This is completely expected, and as the original floor was basically flat, I will need to cut out some floor and toe plate to make room for the transmission.  I will then need to construct a transmission tunnel to cover over the hole.  The original floor already has a removable plate, and it looks like the transmission will fit in that opening.  The toe plate is another story.  It will definitely need to be cut, but since it is at an angle, and the transmission rises at a different angle, it is difficult to make this cut from measurements.   I also need to keep this cut as small as possible on the driver’s side, as I don’t want the tunnel to interfere with the gas pedal location.

I good metal fabricator would probably just make some initial measurements, remove some of the metal, and finish the cut while the cab was suspended In the air as it was being lowered on the frame.  Since I am not a good metal fabricator, and since my background is engineering, I resorted to what I would have done back at Lockheed as an engineer – build a foam core mockup!  It’s surprising how close you can get with some foam core board, a single edge razor blade, and a hot glue gun.  So I spent a relaxing afternoon with my arts and crafts project of laying foam core onto the cab floor and gluing it all together with hot glue.  I used the front body mount bolts as a locator.

After completing the mockup, I cleared all the wiring harness out of the way on the chassis – I had to disconnect parts of my wooden control panel to get it out of the way.  I used wooden blocks to set the height above the frame and lined up the mockup using the front body mount bolts.   As I set it in place, I trimmed portions of the toe plate with a razor blade until it all set down flat.  It fit!  Engine/ firewall clearance is good.  I took the time to mockup the firewall engine relief to be sure the intake and wiring would clear, and it looks great also.  I had also marked the mockup with steering column location and master cylinder location and they both looked great too.

On the driver’s side, the cutout went right through the cab floor mount gas pedal location, so I went ahead and cut the gas pedal brackets off the cab floor so I could fill in the foam core and make a better mockup.  Finally, the mockup was perfect.  I removed it from the chassis and put it back in the cab so I could mark the toe plate cutout with a Sharpie.  The piece to be cut out was 11” wide and 7” tall.  There was no turning back now – so out came the die grinder which made quick work of the toe plate.  It looked good.

It was now time to try out my new overhead electric hoist.  So I built a spreader bar out of 2x4’s and used the same nylon strap to hook up to the cab and lift it off the dolly.   So much easier with the electric hoist!  With the cab lifted in the air, I put my 4 wheel dollies that Jody got me for Christmas under the chassis and spun the chassis around in the garage until it lined up under the cab.  The front bolts dropped right in, and the rear shackles also lined right up after a little jiggling with the hoist.

The cab was installed!  Bolted in place, and all clearances were good.  The mockup had been pretty accurate.  Clearances were even slightly better than the mockup.  I had been able to keep the entire gas pedal floor mount area intact around the transmission, so gas pedal fit should not be a problem.  So I spun the truck around one more time in the garage with the engine pointing outward so I can continue test fitting some of the sheet metal.  I’ll need to cut the inner fenders around the corvette A-arms so I can see how the front fenders fit around the tires.  I have a universal transmission tunnel on order as a starting point for transmission tunnel fabrication.  There’s plenty of work to keep me busy for a few more weeks before I have to take the cab back off for media blast.  But for now, it’s time to admire my handiwork, and clean the garage!