I took the core support and radiator out of my Nova but I did not use a leveler. I bolted the chain to the front and rear of the head but I had an old valve cover on that I didn't care about. My wife operated the lift and I laid under the car guiding the transmission into place.
I went with a TH350 and reused my cross member. After getting the engine/trans in I discovered that the leading flange of the cross member hit the pan so I had to cut it and weld it up. With the stock cross member I can't get to all of the pan bolts on the back edge so I may replace it when I have to service the trans.
For shift linkage I went with a universal kit from CPP they were selling on eBay. You have to do some compound bending but it works pretty well. Lokar makes the same kit. Hint: be sure the shifter is all the way up in park when measuring so you don't have to make an extension...
