im in the middle of putting my engine back together and installing back in my truck.
#1) the brace that runs under the tranny/motor area, it only connects to the bracket that holds the end of the trailing arms, is this brace very important, i can not get it back in to place, i dont see anything that is connected to it.

#2) on the second half of the driveshaft where the 2 splines connect, i was cleaning out the dirt in it, and the cork gasket broke. where can i get another one, or a neighbor suggested just put it back together with-out the cork piece he said it only keeps out road dirt, since im only using the truck to be-bop around town, no heavy hauling or towing with this truck.

thanks to all who respond with answers and suggestions.

 

#1 The brace helps to add strength and stability to the strut rod brackets. Since the strut rods provide all the stability to the I-beams, keeping them from moving fore-and-aft, I'd say the brace is pretty important. You really do want to get it back in there.

Having said that, I suppose I should mention that when I swapped my 351C into my '72 I found that the brace was right in the way of my headers, since they were designed for a passenger car and not a truck. I removed the brace, planning to change headers later and put the brace back in. I never did. But then, I only put a few thousand miles on the truck and never really got down under to check for problems after the first few hundred...

#2 I haven't seen a cork dust boot, usually I've run across rubber ones. I wouldn't say it's absolutely neccessary to replace it as long as you keep it grased so that the grease pushes the dirt out, but I'd probably feel better with one in there. It's amazing the amount of crud you can pick up just in street driving.