Intro and My project and project woes

[COc10cst50th]

hey all, My name is mike i live in CO

i have a 1986 Chevy c10 CST 50th anniversary LWB with a 1970ish topper

current mods/recent work:
early classic ultimate 2/4 drop kit
early classic dash pad/misc badges/rearview mirror/dome light/door handle
all new brakes
edelbrock 650cfm
edelbrock performer series intake manifold
rebuilt 3.73posi rear axle
rebuilt th400r tranny
rebuilt heads
RV-grind cam....Read below
rebuilt HEI disto
LMC: new speedo (factory style)
LMC: carpet sound proofing (uninstalled)
LMC: carpet kit-gold (uninstalled)
LMC: white vinyl /hounds-tooth upholstery (uninstalled)
Tachometer (generic-mounted to steering column)
Grant steering wheel (factory one was in shambles and replacement was very expensive)

i bought the truck from a friend (now and ex-friend) about 3 years ago for a case of beer and 1300.00.

I was happy to buy it since my granddad had the exact same truck when i was a kid (his was white) and i loved that truck.

truck is in pretty decent/very good condition for being 41 years old. original paint is faded, no rust issues (other than 2 spots in the truck bed floor near the tailgate)

but needless to say i have been working out the gremlins ever since i bought it. and sometimes it seams like i fix something just so something else will break/go wrong.

2 years ago, when the carb on the truck died, i decided to buy the intake and carb (cheaper than rebuilt factory) and give the truck a little more pep, and installed/converted to HEI.

truck ran fine for about 2 days then started back-firing through the carb. took it to a reputable shop, here in town, when i could not figure it why. (im used to working on 4cyl OBD VWs, not carbs and V8s)

the cam was rounded down on half the lobes, ok...easy fix and hey while your working on the truck here is a list of other things i want and need done..... enter rebuilt heads (i sent to a machine shop), axle, brakes, installed new suspension, and tranny (he pulled and i took it to a tranny shop then he installed it), and "edelbrock performer series RV-grind cam".

$3500.00 later i had one bad truck. and i was happy for about 300 miles...

driving down 45mph road leaving a friends house at 1230am....

my truck sputters (softly) and stalls. ok give it a couple minutes go to start...the starter torques the engine and the whole truck torques until the starter goes CLICK and shuts off with out the engine turning....<enter 5minutes strand of explicits that would make a sailor cry>

get out check under the hood, no signs of oil splatter truck wasn't hot and had coolant o signs of a cracked block or thrown rod.....

tow the truck out to my parents place.... since i didn't have the money for a new engine or rebuild....fast forward to 2 weeks ago....

my GF (of 5years and mother of my daughter) and I decided that with the current economy...we should trade in my 07 VW GTi and her 06 honda Accord and get 1 safe AWD family car, fix my truck and ill drive it...saving us about 600.00 a month in car payments and insurance)

so we got our tax returns and i bought...
i bought a new engine: http://high-performance-engines.com/...duct_Code=HP29 (with dyno test/tune)
new motor mounts,
alternator,
water pump,
fuel pump,
flex-plate,
weiend dual-plane intake,
and all the other misc items and fluids etc.

yesterday a friend and i pulled the old lump (with plans of rebuilding the 327 and so i would have a spare engine just in case) when we pulled the distributor i noticed the gear was a little worn down and had metal flakes on it...ut-oh.

continue pulling apart, when we started pulling the exhaust manifolds, the drivers side was spit in 2 just above the flange, that's when we noticed the motor mount had also split in 2 (causing the broken manifold).....grrg.

when we got the engine out of the engine bay and still on the engine-lift, i look at the flex-plate/torque converter and i see what caused the failure.....

the camshaft was hanging out the rear journal......pull the flex-plate...and 4" of camshaft falls to the ground..... look into the rear journal and the lifters are hanging down, stick my finger in the journal and a lifter and push rod falls into the oilpan. after 10 minutes we pulled about 5-10 ounces of iron chunks of block out of the rear journal (which was scored and ground down by the cam gear). so the block is toast.....(grrg and laughter)

have some questions:
1) the alternator bracket and A/C compressor bracket are cast into the exhaust manifolds, what do i need to do to keep those parts and install headers? i don't really want to buy the serpentine belt conversion from GM.

2)am i the only person to ever shatter a camshaft?

3) what else would you recommend i replace since i am currently sitting with an empty engine bay, other than cleaning 40years of grime and oil from the engine bay and chassis?