Crowe’s Auto to Manual 01 1st gen Swap

That’s the absolute wrong way to use cinder blocks. There’s no support in the block that way, that’s how they crush. Look at how homes and foundations are built. You need to turn those so the holes are up and down, then put a 2x8 on top for the tire to rest on. Still not ideal but tons safer than the way you have it

 

I understand everyone’s concern about the blocks and even though I took the proper precautions and used jack stands to support the vehicle doesn’t mean someone else would do the same and may end up getting hurt because they didn’t understand how I was using them. So with that being said I took the pic down and changed the post.

I am a contractor, build and remodel houses and deal with block work a lot and you’d be surprised at how much a cinder block can hold no matter what orientation it’s in, not saying it can’t fail though. But again, I understand the concern about posting that even though I took the correct precautions, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the right way

 

Right on - any more progress?

 

It’s been raining on and off all day so had to use the small windows I had to finish getting it prepped for paint.
Wire wheeled the trans and bell housing and got a fresh coat of paint on it. Did a coat of engine enamel primer and used Duplicolor engine enamel cast iron color. My brother tried to talk me into doing a cool color on the entire trans and I thought about black gloss or red or something but honestly I just like the factory look best on stuff like this so just went with the cast iron. It has a slight gloss metallic finish and came out nice. Started raining right as I was finishing the last coat on the trans and had to go back and touch up some spots that got wet but still came out pretty clean

 

Agree with you there - painted trans and valve covers silver too.

 

Didn't have much time after work but was able to get the clutch and brake pedal out and prepped for a coat of paint.
My brother gave a pretty cool idea of creating my own pedal pads out of aluminum.
As I thought about it more, I’m not sure exactly how I’d design it but found there are 4 holes on the pedal that would make it easy to bolt through by tapping the holes and counter sinking the screws in the aluminum pad.

 

Did the donor truck have ABS? You’ll most likely have to make an adapter to mate the brake pedal with the booster in your new truck.