Thanks for the panel sealing thoughts, all. The latex caulk sounds like the way to go, Perry.
The chassis is off the rotisserie, resting at ride height and ready for assembly of all the parts stored around the garage, shop, wherever. The plan was to start by installing the drivetrain and then lifting the chassis from floor level to sawhorse level. But then I got to thinking about all the lines, etc. that would be hidden under the drivetrain and really tough to reach. So plumbing had to be done first. My back keeps reminding me I should have done that stuff while the chassis was on the rotisserie.
The good news is that routings, t@bs and br@ck^ts had been put in place for most of the plumbing. It was just a matter of finding my old forum posts and pictures and “remembering” what I intended.
The pedal assembly, master cylinders and a piece of the firewall got installed. Followed by brake lines, fuel line and e-brake cables. Engine and transmission mounts were prepped for later. Here’s the front:
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Stuffing the tunnel as seen from the passenger’s side. More on that below.
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The big motivation for the getting the plumbing done was all the stuff passing under the diff. A busy space.
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The driver’s side of the tunnel takes a feed from the left mounted e-brake lever. The red thing at the lower left of this pic is the dash mounted brake balance-bar adjustment knob. The top of the e-brake lever can be seen below it.
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The dash bulkhead is a key structural element, so through-frame sleeves had been previously welded into the 1x3 across the bottom. Plumbing between the brake proportioning valve and the through-frame AN fitting was pretty tight. Think it got done without pinching the brake line.
The fuel line goes through a sleeve in the 1x3 as well. Heater hose (the blue stuff) is used as a super grommet and to help support the fuel line.
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The e-brake cable yoke will install here after the rear suspension is added. Mounting plates for the driveshaft safety hoops and seat belts are also shown.
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Ok, enough of the foreplay. Time to install the drivetrain. The differential will be first. Hope all the plumbing survives wrestling the diff into place.