Engine swap

[65_longbed_beauty]

I have a 65 C10, it has the small straight 6, I am thinking its the 3.8, it is a great running motor. I have the 3 speed transmission with the shifter on the column. I am debating on swapping out the the inline 6 for a small v8. However I dont want to lose my style of shifting. In all honesty I am just wanting a cool truck to drive, not going to race it or any of that stuff. Any suggestions would be great. I may have a chance to get the bigger inline 6, is this motor worth building? What size v8 can I swap in and still be able to keep my same tranny or at least the on the column shifting??

Thanks,
Al