Engine removal

 Getting ready to pull the engine, I removed the transmission crossmember. After taking out the 4 bolts at the ends the crossmember just fell away from the transmission. There was nothing holding the transmission in place but this couple pounds of hard greasy sludge and decomposed rubber.

Engine out now.
The engine and transmission will get a quick external cleanup before getting covered and set aside. They will eventually be disassembled and checked for wear, but the continuation of bodywork will be first. 

After the engine bay is fully disassembled and stripped down, including suspension removal, the front-left frame rail extension will be repaired and then the new front sheet metal welded in.

 

LF Wing panel alignment

 Got the left side front lower wing replaced with new BMH metal. 

Next up was to fix the door gaps. There were so many layers of paint that it needed to be stripped before the actual door lines could be seen. Todays work was to disassemble the driver side door and strip the paint, then align the gaps.

Used a heat gun and putty knife to remove the paint on the door skin. When the paint is 7 or 8 layers thick paint remover takes forever because it only strips a layer at a time. The heat gun takes it all off in a single pass with no mess

Had to do some hammer work to even up the door gaps. All the outside metal work is done on this side now.