Good point.
When Holley came out with their parts I got excited because it solved some of the issues I had with the swap. The big ones were that I could run the low mount AC compressor if I ran a VVT motor and I could run the 6.4 intake and keep the SRV function without cutting my firewall. The last change was that I could run an oil filter adapter instead of a remote oil filter. All of these made the option to do the swap on my '74 very attractive. I was even more excited about the swap when I saw the prices of some of the parts, like less than $400 for stainless headers. The idea stumbled some when I realized that I would have to rework my transmission parts as the motor moved forward, but I got over that hurdle by figuring that if I was going to swap a T56 in, it didn't really matter anymore that the motor was forward.
At the time I was well aware of the TTI and Schumacker mounts, but those options meant no SRV or AC for me and headers were more than twice as much. So I focused on the Holley stuff.
That was my mindset when the '73 became available and I pivoted to doing the swap into that car. I guess in hindsight I was kind of turning a blind eye to some things since I was willing to cut the floor for a T56, but not the firewall for the SRV module. I could argue that the other advantage was the AC compressor, but people have since figured out how to keep the AC compressor low using a different compressor and custom mounts. The remote oil filter wasn't all that big of a deal to me, but I liked not having to use one.
I could probably pivot to the Schumaker mounts right now and make it work if I dropped the SRV option. This would remove the compromises right away, and I would run long tubes and even keep the AC somehow. But TTI's are $1K and I don't want to spend that kind of money right now as it would put the project on hold until I had it. It is certainly the better time to do it since I am building the tunnel now. But in the end, this build isn't supposed to be a narrow focus competition type build so I think I will forge on as is and leave that for if I end up wanting to narrow the focus of this build.
But, you bring up a good point in regards to what I might do on the '74 if I swapped it. I expected to have the Holley parts laying around, but even if I did it might be a better idea to use TTI mounts and headers and not worry about AC or the SRV module. That would save me reworking all the 4 speed connecting stuff. Something to think on later if I get there. Thanks!