Fraser, yes I found your collection interesting - the
57 panel on my site was originally a logging camp ambulance, still had some traces when I got it, and I ran into an old guy pumping gas who remembered it coming to a disaster in the small Island town were he lived around 1960, when it was still shiney yellow .... it got frame rot from the years on logging roads and needing a
total rebuild, I passed it on .... the Flxible will be my retirement home
if you can't do anything else, drop me a note about a NOS 3.90:1 center section that could convert your rear to an open driveline, and the OD trans I have here - you'd have to find a few other bits, but it'd be a workable solution to staying more original, and easier than adapting the 700R to a closed driveline
Bill