
Thankfully my wife has resigned herself to the fact that this project is going to cost a lot of money, and I pretty much have free rein to buy what I need. The machine shop work on the block was a big one, but the new tub (and everything else) is going to be the really big ticket item...
I know what you mean about being beat up. I just replaced all the cross-pieces in the U-joints. And I think I did each of them twice--for a couple different mistakes. I forget what the first mistake was, but three of the four joints needed to be reversed--I didn't realize that the grease fitting was offset to one side for a reason... I'm so glad I have a press. I can't think what removing and reinstalling those (without damaging them) would be like with a hammer.
One nice thing about doing a full rebuild of the whole darned thing is that I should be pretty familiar with everything about it by the end!
-Paul