I didn't post any pictures in my last update, so I figured I would go ahead and add them in this post.
Here is how I crated the tranny to send it across the country. I built it out of 7/16" plywood and 1/4" veneer around the outside with some 2x4s for cribbing. I filled some trash bags with expanding insulation foam and packed them around the tranny. All together it was 24" wide, 15.5" deep, and 19.25" tall and weighed 106 Lbs in case anyone else needs to quote a C4 for shipping ;D
After sending off the tranny, I cleaned up the bell housing which was pretty disgusting. Unfortunately, once it was clean I could see the big cracks around a couple of the mounting holes where it bolts to the tranny :shaking: Fortunately Dynamic was able to supply me with a good 6.25" deep take-off bell housing for a 164 tooth flywheel.
Dynamic shipped the tranny back on Monday, so I should be getting it very soon. This week a miracle happened and a 2007 E350 with the full-floating, disc brake Dana 60U showed up at the local yard. I pulled it after work the next day
I also got in the majority of the engine parts this week. I ordered up a balanced 347 rotating assembly from Skip White Performance with the 10cc dished pistons which should put me around 10:1 static compression with the GT40P heads depending on the head gaskets I use. Speaking of head gaskets, I've got some standard head gaskets with the Felpro complete engine gasket set I ordered, but I am thinking about springing for a set of MLS head gaskets. I am not sure if they are worth it for a relatively mild engine build like mine though, so I am open to input from people smarter than me. I will probably be upgrading to aluminum heads after the first year of racing or so, so maybe sticking with the standard head gaskets for now is alright. Other goodies include the Comp XE264HR cam I mentioned earlier as well as ARP head studs and main bearing studs.