We've done a bunch of  little things lately that have added up to some pretty good progress.  A lot of the stuff that connects to the motor has been installed, including the oil filter, coil, oil cooler and it's hoses, oil pressure gauge hose, temperature gauge sending unit, intake manifold and exhaust manifold.  The exhaust has also been installed back to the back muffler.  It points right at the center of the rear axle, since the rear suspension hangs so low with the new springs.  So I'm going to have to make a decision pretty soon about what needs to be done about the rear springs.  We're going to try installing the tires, setting the car on the floor, and jumping up and down in the area around the battery boxes to see if we can loosen them up a little.  If that doesn't work, I think I'll take them off and have them de-arched.

I installed an alarm this weekend.  I figured I should have some protections, given the amount of money I've spent on this project, and given the ease with which the wire wheels could be stolen.  It's a simple alarm that senses "shock" when the vehicle is moved or jolted.  I struggled a bit to decide how to wire it, since the car is positive ground and the alarm requires switched 12v in addition to constant 12v.  The case of the alarm is not grounded, so I decided to just hook it up backwards for the constant 12v (red, positive lead to chassis, black, negative lead to the brown power wire that is normally used for a radio).  I decided the reason for the switched 12v is for programming various features of the alarm, so i just connected a toggle switch to this wire, with the other side of the switch going to the chassis.  We connected a battery to the battery cables to test it, and it works like a champ!

Here's a shot of the passenger's side of the motor...starting to look good!

Here's a shot from the front...notice the nasty looking valve cover...it's an old one that's just there for protection until we put the good one on.

Here's the driver's side of the motor.

This shows the rear interior panel after it was installed.  I've installed the vinyl on the cockpit surround that goes around the rim, but I think I'm going to have to re-do it, because it doesn't look very good.

Another shot of the motor from the front.