Sal, a friend of mine installed the engine, belhousing and trans all outside the car like it was suggested then dropping it into his Kirkham. He was very careful with all of the install and thought everything was all lined up but still had a bunch of problems, including the input shaft originally being too long. He thought he had everything dialed in and since had to pull his trans two more times with seal and bearing problems.
He is hoping this coming week will be the end of his nightmare since London Spring Fest is approaching very quickly.
The alignment must be super critical in order not to have future problems from what I've seen in his situation.
Ralph