Well then...After a couple weeks of nasty weather and bad timing, and some misadventure involving the world's worst Thanksgiving dinner, I'm back on track. I hope.
The Chevy 250 has been set in place and waiting for mounts for about a month, during which time I've tried to resolve issues with welders, and the above travails. I am after all, working in the Big Sky Garage...nuthin' but a board fence and a tarp between me and the great outdoors. Weather WILL have its way from time to time...especially in eastern Montana...
Anyway, after some failed attempts to put together some mounts between storms, with scraps of steel I have around the workbench, I gave up and ordered the bits I need from Chassis Engineering, of West Branch IA. Total cost with shipping is USD 176.00, but they'll go together easily and get the job forwarded some. And it looks like by the time they get here, I'll have decent weather for a couple days. Maybe I can get the 250 tied down and get on with this. The tranny (SM465) still needs an inspection and new gaskets. Maybe bearings, but we'll see...one thing at a time. The intermediate driveshaft was thought to be a looming issue, but the 'shaft out of my Dad's '64 will be a direct fit. It's longer than the '56's by about 4" but all it'll take is new u-joints. The tranny came out of a swap my brother did involving a 454 into the '64.
After the engine/tranny combo is in place the next big stumbling block will be the clutch linkage, followed closely by the transfer case shift lever mounting. I'd love to put in a hydraulic clutch linkage, but the Finanzministerium (aka 'Better Half') is a bit reluctant to part with another 250 bucks if she doesn't have to. I think I can make the rod linkage work.
I'm toying with the idea of trading transfer cases. I've 2 besides the one in the '56: the one from my Dad's '64, and one from a '69 I had and parted out about 15 years ago. The '64's was rebuilt about a year before the engine swap happened. All of them look to be identical except for the shift linkages. But for now, the truck has to get back into service. I can swap the transfers any time...like maybe next summer.
Anyhow, that's where the project lies for now.