1976 Cheyenne 4x4

[jobberone]

Had the truck painted, key fobs/opener installed and bed lined. New wheels and tires. Interior redone. Even put a Sirius system and new radio/CD in. Natually I loan it to my son and now its stuck in Clemson SC with he thinks a blown engine. Transmission probably needs to be redone or replaced as well.

Currently has a mostly stock 350 4brl with alum intake. My guess is the rear seal is gone since he says there is a lot of oil on the chassis. And maybe a spun bearing since he said he didn't check the oil. Oh well its sat for a long time getting all the work done.

So my question to you is what engine do I put in it? It's really a nice truck with no rust. I'm planning on giving it to one of my sons in a few years when I'm gone so I don't mind putting a reasonable amount of money into it. I will say its not driven a lot although that could change for me. In fact I suspect I will drive it more.

So would you rebuild the motor assuming the bottom end is still good? Or put a crate motor in it and which one? Or should I consider putting some variant of a LS motor in it? What problems would I have mating a LS motor to the 350 tranny with 4x4 setup? How much trouble is it to put a 4L60E or even 6l80e in an old 4x4?

I'm leaning towards just a replacement motor although I have a very good 4 bolt block in the garage.

Whatayathink?