UPDATE 9/17/18:
Been somewhat busy the past couple weeks so here's an update on more or less where the truck is at with less than a month till the Challenge.
I have basically finished painting the truck, with the exception of the mirrors, door handles, and the badges that I will do when I am mostly done with the truck since they are details that are quick to do.
This is how she sits with the satin black grill and the bumper flat black.
Two weekends ago Fladiver64 come over to help me get the truck running (i was struggling to get the timing set correctly and he helped me out). We found that my regulator was effectively broken (would send over 100psi of fuel pressure to the carb) so we filled the bowls on the carb and got to to start and run for a few seconds. I am waiting on my new regulator but it's past the expected delivery date and the seller is blaming it on the hurricane despite it's expected delivery to be two days before the hurricane but whatever.
Since I didn't have anything really to do with the mechanicals I started to do some detail. I put together an exhaust system, a long-time viewer will remember that my manifolds are flipped forwards and up so a normal exhaust system is not possible so after some math and research I put together this:
Basically a 180 bend cut to the exact angle I need to point my 5" chambered glass pack straight down. I realize it's not the best thing but it fits and hood stacks are technically illegal for the challenge (otherwise hood stacks and tractor flaps were being put on)...
The final welded product:
An o2 sensor bung is going to be welded on so that I have a wide-band for easy tuning.
After the exhaust I moved on to safety. Safety third right?
I got the stock 3-point belts out and put the two 5-point harnesses I bought in (for the most part) using stock mounting locations and a hole drilled in the floor for the anti-dive belt. For those more safety conscious I did in fact use a backing plate for the anti-dive belt so it is fully legal. Also grade-8 bolts replaced the stock bolts because the stock bolts got stripped by the impact I needed to pull them out with.
(I do realize the seat cover is very loose and it will get fixed soon)
Driver side belts are regulated to me with my seat position and the passenger side is relatively loose since a lot of people will be using those harnesses and adjusting the anti-dive belt later is a pain and unnecessary on the street.
Quick side note: The harnesses are legal till December 2020 so a little over 2 years. Is that a common thing where they are legal for over 2-years?
For the shoulder straps a bolt in/together harness bar is being made by me with some 1x1 square tube so that I can bolt a harness bar in and use the shoulder straps until I need a full cage.
Some more random stuff going on:
The front tires rub way too much and no amount of cutting will make them clear from lock to lock so I need a set of 26" radials instead of the 28's I have so I'll be throwing a pair of stock steelies up front for street driving until I wear the rear tires out to swap on some shorter tires for the front and move the 28's up front to the back.... Unless someone wants the pair off the front (has under a mile on them) or wants to trade a sport/ drag tire for the drag radials then shoot me PM and maybe we can work something out so I can swap the front tires for something that fits better so I can drive the truck up on my 15x10's...
Anyone know what kind of plates are available for an antique/historic/modified truck in Florida other than the blue one that I've seen?
A huge thanks to all the people following the build and giving advice, answering my questions, and encouraging me through the build I appreciate the help you've all given me I couldn't have done it without you all.