Posted by Ben Aylesworth on August 24, 2000 at 11:38:33:
In Reply to: uh......O.......kay... posted by MikeR on August 24, 2000 at 10:07:24:
Some members of this forum revere these trucks a bit much (in my opinion) and consider anything but stock parts sacrilige (sp?). It is your truck, you own it, have to fix it, drive it, etc. Do with it what you want. Be aware though, modifying it from stock will decrease the value, period. Not to mention some parts are fairly scarse. Keep that in mind if you butcher the firewall, chop the top, or otherwise permanently alter parts of the truck. As far as will a big v8 fit, not without a monster headache or three. These trucks came with an I-6 engine, and as such, the engine compartment is narrow and tall. There is barely enough room for a sbc, let alone anything larger. I have heard of people squeezing a hemi in, but it is probably the 331, not the 392 or 426. I beleive there is an article in the "Best of" forum in regards to a 350 re-power. If you are looking to build a 1/4 mile project, that is probably your best option. You can bore and stroke a mouse to about 430 cubes, if your wallet is equally fat. The 4 link idea is fine if and only if this project is a hot rod. These were strong, slow, drive-over-anything-in-their-path work trucks. They were built accordingly. To turn one into a hotrod would require re-engineereing the whole bloody thing. If you want to take on this sort of project, go for it. Be aware some folks might not like it. Hope this helps.
Ben