What if you supported the engine under the pan and removed the motor mount bracket from the engine block???
Dick
Are you thinking that will give me clearance then, Dick? I dunno… I’ll take a look next time I crawl under. But these suckers just arrived in the mail, and you know what they say: When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Take a look, if not use the hammer.
Dick
Well, I took a look at removing the motor mount, but didn’t see where that would gain me enough room to swing the breaker bar. I tried one more time with the blue wrench and candlestick, to no avail. So, I decided to cross the Rubicon, and try the nut splitter. Of course, there’s no turning back…
nut splitter in place
after I’ve cranked it down on the nut
Success! I had to work a chisel into where the nut split to pry it off the bolt, but it all fell apart after that. No damage to the manifold!
This long horrible nightmare has come to an end. Now, back to rust encapsulation.
It’s no "frame off", but at least it’s clean and rustproof
gotta come back and repaint the eyebrows, because…
…I always do everything Dick tells me to do. I used my fingers with a latex glove to coat the top and bottom of the eyebrow with seam sealer
Looking good Dan !!! Mark
A rare day off from work, and I spent a few hours in the Faulkner garage. I worked on the two front end cross members and structures - caked with grease and grime. First scraping, wire wheel brushing, and hand brushing where the wheel won’t go. A miserable day all in all, but I’m closing in on the undercarriage.
Sorry for the poor quality, it was low light level conditions
What came raining down…
…some of which, onto me
The splattered debris might be a good thing…Look how well it preserved Faulkner.
Yeah. Hey, do you think it might preserve me?
I crawled under Faulkner, and started to scrape and brush the passenger side between the motor cross member and that of the transmission; I began to feel nauseous and decided to bag it for the day. I discovered that I did not take my allergy meds last night! My bad, that’s why I’m good for nothing today. Well, some progress, but no pix. It’s a race now, to see if I can finish up the frame before the leaves start to blow and painting is not recommended. If I can get it done, I can do mechanicals over the winter.
Stay at it Dan.It’s looking good.I will be doing mine next summer.I did around the tank when I had it off and I will be picking away at it next year. Mark
Wow. These pix may be in totally random order, but at least they’re out of focus and dimly lit. 
Apologies in advance for the poor quality. Can you tell I’m getting sick of this?! But, underneath all I have to scrape, brush and prepare is the driver’s side between engine and transmission cross-members. A lot of painting to do, but that’s enjoyable. Then I’ll come topside to finish the doors and the rockers.
Passenger side of the trans, an after pic
Driver side of the trans, a before pic - next time!
I know, Matthew - replace the bushing! When are you staying with me again?!
It’s just like eating an elephant, one bite at a time plus you can tell Obama, “l did that”.
No elephant bites today - I’ve got errands to run. One of which, was to pick up my chrome from Frankford Plating! All that glitters…
OH MY GAWD, THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL. How about a couple front & rear pictures.
Dick.
As requested. But…
I’m not entirely happy with the driver’s side taillight housing. It’s difficult to see from this picture, but near the lip around the one bolt tower, there’s some waviness - and, some light scratches under the chrome. I think they munged it up somehow, and tried to repair it. I thought the worst of it might be hidden under the grommet, but I checked and it’s not:
I’ll be giving him a call in the morning. Dick, I think I will offer him to replate the piece you sent me, to guide the body shop in making repairs to the rear driver’s side sheet metal - and when they are done, return this piece to you in replacement. Let’s see if he bites.
You know, I don’t think I’m ever going to acquire a taste for elephant. Too greasy 
I went to work on the driver’s side today, between the trans cross-member and the engine mount cross-member. I ran out of steam as I got towards the front, so I have one little section left to do before I treat and paint. And then I’ll be done rustproofing underneath!!
Before…
…and after
I also dropped the starter, because I want to clean that up and paint it. Oh no… The bendix is chewed up pretty good. Thankfully, the flywheel looks fine:
Is the bendix something I can replace myself, without any special equipment - or, time to take to a repair shop? And if I can do it myself, where do I get the part?
Dan, Yes you can replace the bendix yourself, the trick is finding one. I also need to replace one.
Elephant wrapped in bacon makes it tolerable! Hope he bites. Good thing you found the starter problem. You can change yourself but might want to consider a generator/starter repair shop, may need brushes and a good cleaning.
Dick.
I checked rock auto, looks like they have it. Check ebay.
Dick
He’s agreed to make it right, or replate your piece, Dick. If he does the latter, we both win!
Let me see what they want to clean and repair a starter - I bet I could clean it up myself with tuner spray and replace the brushes. But hey, this project is mushrooming!
Dan