Arriving at Mike fortes...and dropping in the Engine...

We manage to find Mikes shop and arrive at 9:30am... He turns out to be a nice guy despite all the shouting and excuses over the late engine..! But...he doesn't have the long aluminum ramps handy... So we position the truck by a convenient slope and use the shorter wooden ramps... I get volunteered to sit in the chassis and actually use the brakes - for the first time EVER - on the 40 degree slope with puddle somewhere behind... Our new engine and transmission are waiting on a hand cart next to another customer Boss 302... (should we have got that one..??!)

After much maneuvering, and arrival of the customer for the other engine (Sal from Long Island, who's been building his Mk4 since Jun 2012 with his teen daughter!) Mike gets the engine hoisted on his fork life - which he apparently traded for his last wife (says he got a deal) - and together we all help guide it into the waiting chassis...

Ta-daaa... Engine is in, and transmission in place. Had to rock it around a little to get the pins in place and then scrambled under the car with Mike and Sal to bolt in the transmission support A-frame 

Prinesh looking cool in our new - much-more-expensive-go-kart...!  Now...how on earth do we get this 1,500lb go-kart back up in the truck...and secure it??

Off to Framingham...

An early (4:30am) start with my Chief Engineer got us to Framingham at about 9:30am, after only a couple of quick coffee / McDonalds stops, and a traffic jam... (One retaining strap for cut by a sharp body  panel less than a mile from the house, and we had a Greenburgh cop on Central Ave watching us re-strap at 4:40am on Central Ave...). Otherwise all uneventful...

Loading the chassis...

Well... After hearing the engine was finally ready, we scrambled to put on the wheels - all five! - and find a truck to take it to Framingham MA... After getting the trusty 16' Budget truck, we had the challenge of loading it...! Thank goodness my strong boys were able to use a combination of engine hoist, auto lift, steel cable and jackstands to load the wheeled chassis into the truck, held down by chocks nailed into the floor!

The boys in action, hoisting the chassis up, moving the car along and resting on the jacks...

Eventually, someone figures out we can take the jack stands away... and the gas tank *only just* scrapes along the floor...

The strong boys hoist the chassis in... good thing our workplace isn't under OSHA rules...

The front in in! So we move to the back and hoist that up with the trusty engine-lift...

Success!! Car rolls in, and almost crushes Nesh who is at the front of the truck... Good thing its not too heavy...yet...!

Proud boys on racing stands...

Our 336hp 302 engine and T5 transmission...

Finally tested, connected and ready!! Planning to head up to pick it up and have the guy install it this weekend!