My sincerest thanks to BradMPH, Komeuppance, RedNeckMoparMan, MyLittleShitty, and all the others who helped me through this process. With the engine now as good as I can make it, I'm moving on to other things, until the 500 mile head re-torque. (At that time, I will check out the timing belts and everything else).
I'm about to drop the drive shaft and get that all in good shape. I want to assure that the mount and braces are lined up right...when i removed the transmission back in october, I remember having to force the mount to one side a bit, in order to tighten it. The bolt impressions are still on the crossmember, showing about 3/16" from original installation. I think that makes a big difference in u-joint wear. In doing research on transmission "swapping" from the 2.0 I found that the clutch assembly is slightly different, though the input and output shafts are the same, as is the transmission mount. Parts #'s are identical for u-joints. I'm looking into the possibility of switching the drive shafts temporarily. I'll post about my findings.
Thanks to BradMPH's thread on Mitsubishi color-matching, I now know the color my truck was painted, and can start getting the paint for it. A shop in near-by Strasburg will mix it for you if you have the color code. [Mine is S55] Not sure I want to invest in a paint sprayer and a lot of equipment I'll likely only use once, so I'll see what my options are. The Strasburg shop will actually put the paint in spray cans for you, and I can get good results with a spray can. It may be the guy has a paint booth, and will paint the hood for me if I do the prep. Fenders are a cinch (he said optimistically). At any rate, I'd love to see the truck sparkle as it did when it was new.
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. Even with paying (under $7) shipping I'm doing well, ($30 well) and it should be here Saturday. 
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