Well, the transmission and cross member is fully mounted into the El Camino now. I connected up the hydraulic clutch hose and after a few scary moments with nearly dropping the metal clip that retains the hose, everything seems to be working well. The pedal feel is good and there is a nice falloff in force at the bottom of travel, just as advertised.
The cross member went in pretty well and the frame extender mounted pretty much as the instructions said it would. I had to go to harbor freight to get a set of big uni-bits to drill out the 7/8" holes to get the bolts and washers into. My drill was not particularly happy with drilling holes through thick steel, but it got the job done. Between the new cross member and the final position of the transmission, I would say I gained a few inches of ground clearance in the middle of the car.
Looking at the bench seat that I used to use, I think it is totally possible to run this transmission with a bench seat as long as it is not scooted all the way forward. You can also reverse the shift tower to point the shift stub forward instead of backward if more clearance is needed.
I am still needing my driveshaft shortened but I have to put the back wheels back onto the ground to get an accurate measurement of how long. Also, I need to retime the engine as I had the distributor loosened and the cap off. Other than that, it is ready for a test drive.
I'll have a few pictures on in a bit.