1st gen F body

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Here's a few updated pics. Still no motor mounts, It's proving to be precarious balancing between ground clearance, hood clearance, and fitting the rack and pinion under the oil pan. Still not sure where an intercooler is going to go either with the factory lower valance holes filled in. Don't get too attached to the grill pictured. I have the billet grill with turn signal delete on hand and new headlights with hidden LED turn signals.
 
Happy to report some progress. The motor mounts are pretty much done. I may still add some reinforcement to the passenger side where it hangs off the crossmember. Not sure quite yet (opinions welcome). The big issue was the steering shaft connection to the rack and pinion which was directly below the mount on the drivers side. I took the same approach as the LS engine into muscle car adapters. Basically a plate that moves the mount forward. The LS plates are flat but since our motor mounts are angled at 45 degrees, the plate needed the same angle. I used 1/4" plate which I'm sure is going to be plenty strong. The front hole became the rear hole and the rear hole is through the plate only. The forward mount looks funky on the bare motor but with the aluminum mount for the accessories installed it disappears nicely. Pictures to follow.
 
Mostly finished with the grill and headlights. I went with the billet grill that deletes the factory turn signals. They just looked too old school, I'm attempting to go with a more modern look. The headlights use an H4 bulb and have hidden LED turn signals at the bottom. I powered them with a 9V battery so I could see what they looked like. ;)



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Next up is the oil pan mods. As is it won't clear the Unisteer rack and pinion that I'm dead set on using. So I clearanced it as needed , then topped it with two coats of VHT wrinkle black. The sump is pretty much intact, so I don't think I modified it's capacity at all.
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Here's the oil pan, rack and pinion and motor mount all living together in harmony. Next up is the steering shaft.
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Thanks!! I'm trying not to cut corners, even if it takes me years. LOL. I want it to be completely garage built, by me, whenever possible. Hopefully the interior will be the only exception.
 
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