March 25th, '06:

today we finally got back around to the engine. weve been doing a lot of frame cleaning and its about ready for some chassis saver. heres some pics from our engine work today.

edelbrock performer rpm heads bolted on with the good stuff:

gaskets ready:

test fit:

theyre on:

we also test fitted the timing cover, oil pan, and rocker arms:

next well be painting the frame and getting the cam in. maybe some more stuff too. who knows.

April 2, '06:

hmmmm...

today we did a lot of painting...

frame and firewall:

radiator support:

control arms:

headers and manifold:

oh, and if you were wondering about the big block. thats a 427 tall block we got from a good neighbor of ours. its freshly built (fairly mild) but he isnt going to use the motor anymore so we got it on a trade. we still plan on finishing the 355 to use this summer. but by next summer we may go through that 427 and beef it up a bit to throw in the truck.

April 20th, '06:

this is the part where everything on the truck starts coming back together. the other day the cat dragged in some drop spindles so we can lower our truck a few. were dropping it 3" in front and 4" in the back. we painted them red along with the springs and it looks great against the black frame and control arms. we also got our zinc dichromate engine mounts on. take a look see for yourself:

meanwhile, were waiting for our carb to arrive so we can finish our engine and fire her up. c'mon jegs...

May 6th, '06:

a lot more progress was made on the engine this week...

here we have the cam and the timing chain installed:

heres my dad degreeing the cam, and me dropping in the last of the lifters:

comp cams pushrods:

and then today we installed the pumps.
melling oil pump:

here were fitting the oil pan gasket:

sittin pretty:

edelbrock fuel pump:

we also put the timing tape on the damper intsalled earlier this week:

and after we got the weiand water pump on we called it a night.

a few days ago we set the intake, carb, and headers on to see what it would look like:

shes lookin pretty wicked now. after the motor gets its final touches, we'll get the truck sitting back on its wheels so we can drop the engine in and fire it up.

dont turn that dial