Have both front shocks out of the ute and will be changing springs and shocks to SL lovel springs with gabriel ultra shocks.I can work out how much to lower the rear,also can't find slicks in 14" mainly 16" anyway so may get some different wheels I think.
But check out the spring compressor tool,my dad actually made these as part of his apprenticeship as a mechanic in Scandinavia before coming to Australia,very impressive-ol school oxy and acetalen welding.

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So as I'll be using the CRS engine mounts I want a solid/semi solid transmission mount-as even a new btr trans mount is sloppy as hell,so the mount in the picture (if not this then similar,but this is closer dimensions) I can modify the trans mount to suit within reason.Should keep everything firm but still have some slight give.

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so trying to work out the seat and steering wheel/column geometry and how I need to mount the seat,the so called quick release steering adapter in the picture is far from snap on and quick release and I will be getting a different one but it does feel a lot better with that extension at least,sitting further back with the kirkey but still being able to reach the pedals and the shifter.

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Finally got the extension housing off and removed trans crossmember and looks like the poly mount should work really well in height its only 3-4mm smaller but by the time I weld a flat plate in where the cavity is for the mount that'll make up that small difference anyway,and the distance between the extension housing holes and the mounts bolts are close but not close enough,so I'll be enlarging the holes so that the bolts go through and just use some large washers on top with nylock nuts and we have a solid mount to match/work with the solid poly engine mounts.

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So after giving the EL to my dad I've ended up with his old BA,still cant believe the EL is in so much better condition than the BA is,but after driving it home (BA that is)- engine and gearbox are in good shape,brought the engine up to operating temperature-removed fuel relay and ran engine till stall,then removed the coil cover coils and plugs (3 coil grommets missing and 3 of 6 spark plug R/C seals leaking with No:1 being full of oil)blows me away that these engines can be run with oil level bottom of dip stick with no/minimal damage to the engine,have seen them running perfectly with nearly all the spark plug holes full of water and like this one No:1 full of oil (to the top of the boot on the coil and 2 more which were 1/4 full of oil)and you can't really tell any difference in the way the engine runs or performs.
Compression check on this engine after 249,000kms was not bad.
No:1 240 psi
No:2 225 psi
No:3 220 psi
No:4 230 psi
No:5 230 psi
No:6 220 psi

Think No:1 was higher due to the fact that the oil in the spark plug hole I couldn't get out and would have leaked back into the cylinder bore.
Still fairly healthy though. And will be a backup for the ute as I don't have complete confidence in the $99 barra special.

So did some working out with the trans mount and the BA extension housing is better suited for the modified mount and crossmember,so I just removed some material inward in both sides evenly enough so that the bolts go through nicely still need to make a top flat plate for it (that's easy) but looks like everything should line up nicely hey.

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This is a closer look at the almost final product,like I said before it needs a flat plate to go over the cavity of where the OEM bush was,so the plate in the pic is part of the BA trans mount set up that I've knocked out the studs in and flipped and milled out holes to suit new bolts,just have to take some off the top lips for it to sit flat on the extension housing.
The ruff looking aluminum washers are to go on top of the box.But need to get longer screw cap bolts to suit.

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So in other news;I got my other "actual snap on" steering wheel adapter which works really well and I can use them together which then allows me 70mm of adjustability along with the steering column still being adjustable and as a starting point I will probably have to use my old seat rails and have made a start on some aluminum brackets to mount the seat to the rail.

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two thumbs up

Very oddly satisfying feeling painting an engine block. Am fairly sure that the cold side of the engine has been done but the hot side really needed some enamel loven so cleaned it up with a wire brush on my Bosch cordless drill,blew it with the compressor,wax & grease removal, etch primer (1 hour), primer (1hour), satin black (1 hour/with touch ups within that hour till done) and it all went good,hardest part really is the masking off and preparing the block..


And I can tell you that from experience that this Enamel paint stands up against most engine enamel paints that I've used previously.

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Sorry I meant hot side looks too be sort of done,that's obviously the cold side I just painted, bloody idiot (me that is)!
Will go over other side anyway.

So have been trying to work out how I can run a much shorter serpentine belt to delete the AC,will look into that before I just end up running the AC compressor as a idler pulley again.
Also getting stuff sorted on the cold side.

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i did see 'somewhere' about this being done .... not sure what Fb group it was...........

Yeah me too, didn't they do something like that on the barra Bedford on skidfactory YouTube?will have to rewatch...

no didn't see it there.