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I have tack welded the engine mounts in place on the frame and then used the engine block/transmission combination to locate the new transmission support. The original rear engine mounting cross member interferred with the transmission housing, primarily the portion housing the slave cylinder/clutch actuator so I removed the center portion leaving the sides that reinforce the frame in the area of the front axle spring mount.

The new transmission cross member was located for/aft by the engine mount locations dictating the engine/transmission location and then the vertical position was determined to give the engine block a 3-4 degree drop to the rear. The transmission cross member brackets needed to be oriented with the longer side horizontal resulting in significant angle disparity between the brackets and the frame, due to the frame taper. I reduced the cross tube engagement with the side brakets to less than 1" to provide more angle flexability to get the brackets tight against the frame. The brakcets needed to be located approx. 2 1/4" above the lower frame flange to achieve the desired engine angle. With all in place the bracket mounting bolt holes were drilled and the brackets mounted. The center section location was adjusted to center the transmission output shaft side to side and then the center section was tack welded to both brackets.

I have measurements for the cab relative to the frame from before the cab was removed and confirmed that the vertical firewall should be located approx. at the rear of the engine block. As I do not have the heads, intake, or distributor in place it's a little hard to confirm clearances but I am fairly confident it should be good. I also checked the shifter location relative to the opening in the cab floor and that looks like it should be good.

Next step is to fully weld in the engine mounts and fully weld the transmisison mount tubes.

I am considering fabricating a means to reinstall the removed original cross member as a bolt in but it will need to be located further back and probably a little lower than the original location.

I determined that the removed cross member needed to be shifter rearward about the width of the channel and I increased vertical clearance by dropping it down approx. 1/2". Tacked in place with the bolt in plates it provides good clearance to the transmission housing where the integrated clutch slave cylinder is located as well as the bottom of the transmission.

In parrallel I am working on installing the rear cab corner patch panels. The driver's side I needed to fabricate a replacment inner panel in addition to installing the outer patch panel. I still have some work to do but ready to move on to the passenger side.

I installed the passenger side rear cab corner patch panel, the inner panel was okay. I also installed the patch panel for the fuel filler in the cab (I plan to use a rear frame mounted fuel tank).

I painted the underside of the cab with an epoxy primer, next step is to apply seam sealer, and body filler where needed.

I purchased and did a preliminary installation of a 15 gallon fuel tank to determine if any frame modifications would be required prior to having the frame blasted, primed, and painted.

The tank is from Tanks Inc. (USPT-HG) and did not require any modifications to the frame cross members but I did add two straps across the top so that when the tank support straps are installed there is something other than the bed cross member to restrict the tank moving up. I split a piece of heater hose and slipped it over the lower rear frame cross member to asct as a cushion. I plan to cut it down to be pieces that are slightly wider than the tank support straps to minimize the potential to trap dirt and moisture. The tank straps will come from the forward cross angle to the rear frame cross member.

The tank is short enough fore-aft that it fit up into the frame with the front cross angel in place. With the tank flange tight up against the rear cross member lower flange (actually the hose cushion) the top of the tank has clearance to the bed cross member that is located approximately mid tank. Note that the cross member in the pictures is the original as I have not purchased the new bed cross sills yet).

The tank is narrow enough that I anticipate having room to run dual exhaust pipes out the back of the truck.

The tank does still hang down below the frame but I don't think it will be objectionable visually and it is higher than the lower shock mounting brackets as well as the differential center section.

The tank has multiple filler options but I plan to use the option that angles out of the passenger side rear corner that has enough up slope to clear the frame with the tank cetnered side-to-side. I plan to run the filler into the passenger side rear fender area. I have not determined which filler style I will use yet but anticipate I will use a piece of exhaust tubing (not sure if it will be straight or require a bend to clear the bed floor at the bed side) and associated rubber hose connections to connect the outside fill location to the tank.

The sending unit opening is forward of the bed cross sill so no interfernce concerns and I am running a carburetor with an in-line fuel pump so the top filler/pump opendings can be closed off with the plates provided. If someone wants to install an in-tank pump at some point in the future the bed cross sill may cause interference but I believe the easiest solution would probably be to lower the tank slightly.

I painted the underside of the cab with rustoleum rattle can gloss black.

I am preparing the frame for blasting and painting, still tryint to decide if I should leave the axles in place or remove).

I removed the axles (with springs attached) and took the frame to be blasted and painted.

I decided I really wanted to confirm the rear axle and I could not find any markings that would confirm the ratio so I removed the rear cover, still no information stamped into the ring gear so I just counted the ring gear teeth - got 32 so that aligns with the expected 4.57:1 axle expected for the 1949/50 3600 model designation.

I finally received the parts for my engine build (383 from a 1991 TBI 350) and am slowing working on prep of the block etc. for the assembly process.

I have made progress on finishing the rear cab corner patches and the fuel tank filler patch. I am trying to decide if this is the time to strip and prime the reat of the back and the outside top of the cab.

I need to get busy on the engine build. My plan is to have the engine and transmission together and installed in the frame before I put the cab back on, but plans can change.

I have the engine build completed to the point of being able to install the transmission and soon install the cobined unit into the truck frame. I still need to decide if I am keeping the original rocker covers or replacing them as well as a lot of plumbing related to the intake manifold but that will all be sorted out in time.

I received the frame back from the paint shop. It looks great (ignore the water spots in the attached photo). Now I need to reinstall the axles (less brake parts) to make the chassis mobile. Once the axles are in place I plan to install the engine-transmission then the cab to determine if everything clears or modifications are required.

Instaled the axles although I do not have the tie rod in place so I have independent front wheel steering at the moment.

Installed the engine and transmission combination.

I have some work to do on the cab but next big step is going to be installing the cab onto the frame to determine if any modifications are required to clear the engine/transmission.