Engines, engines, engines...

 To sum up the engine solution, it was definitely an adventure to find the engine that was destined to be with the truck.

The original 235 was shot and would need custom pistons or sleeved. I prepped it for the machine shop and found a crack in the block so out it went. I found another 235 that was out of a running truck so I picked it up. While cleaning it up for paint, lo and behold another crack.

 This led me to a crossroad. 235's aren't easy to find and I didn't think I could stand it to find another cracked block. So I decided to look at other engines. The thought of just dropping a 350 in the Truck did cross my mind,  it just didn't feel right. I figured if I was going to keep a 6 cylinder, I might as well give it an upgrade. I had a 250 in my old Nova and that thing ran no matter what, so I started looking.

I found a good candidate out of a 67 Truck and I brought it home. It had good compression and no ring wear so I figured I would clean it up, paint it, and throw a gasket kit on it and call it good. Well, I got it all wrapped up and life kinda got in the way. We bought our first house and work on the truck ground to a halt. But while looking through Craigslist about a year later, something caught my eye. I found a listing for a 292 that was rebuilt with 3k miles on it.

I couldn't pass up the price so I went and picked it up and promptly sold the 250. Along with all the intakes and parts and pieces I had gathered through 5 years of picking up good deals when I saw them. The only downside to this was the 292 was to much of an engine for the little t5 that I picked up. So the search for a new transmission began