Chief, what was the hang-up? Linkage? Floor sheet metal? They do fit the bell housing correctly, right? We figured on running a hydraulic clutch rather than trying to get the mechanical linkage orientated. We do all our own work, but thanks for the offer.

Jim, my first '68 Firebird had the OHC-6 engine. My rockers did not wear badly. I always felt the ticking cam was because of the blind oil passages and lifters. They called them 'automatic lash adjusters'. But they were at the end of the oil line, got filled with gunk, stuck, and ticked like crazy. When I removed the cam assembly, removed and cleaned the 'adjusters' and the oil passages, the engine stayed quiet for a long time. But no matter how often I changed the oil, they always ticked again. If that oil passage had a better way back to the oil pan, like a V-8 lifter, that would have cured it.

I always wanted to convert my OHC-6 to a manual trans. Back then, finding an OHC-6 bell housing and flywheel was impossible. How ironic that the swap meet bell housing I used in my 1983 Bonneville station wagon, is from an OHC-6. 30 years too late.