It was time for summer cruising, and the annual charity car show was coming up, so I needed to get the old truck back together. I removed the front clip primarily to make it easier to remove the engine & transmission, but it was also a great opportunity to do a few other things in the engine compartment. In addition to rebuilding the steering box, I cleaned up the inner fenders, firewall, and frame, and then gave them a fresh coat of paint.
Engine compartment after engine removal
After engine installation 
Lower driver’s side firewall 
Cleaned pedal mechanism
I was dreading the re-installation, fully expecting it would be frustrating, especially in getting everything lined up correctly. It actually turned out to be much easier than I expected, and after I tweaked things a little, the front end is now better aligned than it was. The drivers-side fender used to sit behind the front of the hood, and the hood wouldn’t come down flush. Now it’s nearly perfect. The hood could be pulled back a little, to reduce the size of the gap at the rear, but I’m going to leave that for another day. Oh, yeah, and I installed my shiny new chrome bumper.
Initial approach 
Getting it lined up 
New fender welt cut to size 
Re-assembled front-end with shiny new chrome bumper installed
wild sprout 
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