Heart Transplant

[bad68bowtie]

Well, it came a couple years later than I might have liked, but I finally got a new motor in my truck. By the time I pulled the old 305 that was in there it was blowing oil at the rate of about a quart every 60 miles or so. It was smoking so badly that as I was driving down the highway I could never tell if people were looking at me because of my truck in general, or just because of the enormous smoke cloud behind it .

A little background on my truck- I got this thing when I was 16 (I'm 20 now) and just for me it broke down on the way home when I bought it. Long story short is that I had to put a new crank in the 305, should have put a new motor in then...but I didn't...so here we are now. The truck has always been a pretty cool daily driver, but the wear and tear it has seen since I've gone off to college has started to take its toll.

Anyway, being in school makes funds a little tight but my dad helped me out in purchasing a 290 horse GM crate motor. I work at a full service gas station when I'm not in school so I had a window of opportunity to get this done this past week.

Here's the 305-


Here you can kind of see all the oil that was going EVERYWHERE-


And the 350 about ready to go in-


And going in-


Luckily for me I work with a master mechanic who knows GM stuff very well (and owns a '69 stepside) so this all went pretty quick. After we got the motor stabbed back in I drove it for a few days and then headed back to Athens, needless to say I've been very pleased with the motor. I haven't gotten into the throttle really but the thing runs like a sewing machine, not exactly something I could say for the boat anchor 305.

I'm really glad I got this done as I'd started to become increasingly frustrated with my truck and gave serious consideration to getting rid of it. Now it's actually fun to drive again. Of course the only problem now is I have to tackle the rest of it .

Finished product-

[powerline84]

I am going to be swapping my motor soon. Just curious...how long did this take you to do...actual work time? looks good by the way.
Jimmy

[special-K]

Ni i i i i i ice...Can`t beat that fresh engine feelin`,huh?Put`s new life in the ole girl and everything else ain`t nothin` but a thing. It`ll get you through school now,that`s for sure.

[nicolas72gmc]

That looks awesome, I will be doing the same thing in a couple of months too. I will be pulling the tired 350 and dropping in a vortec and trans out of a 96 tahoe. That should come with some interesting problems to solve for my mechanic.

[70cst]

Very nice bad68bowtie...you put the pedal to the metal and you will have to hang onto your hat.

[big_al_71]

Having a shop and an experience mechanic makes life alot easier....Ask me how i know

Good Job!!!!

['68 C-20]

Nice to see this accomplishment from a young fellow. Kudos to your Dad as well, for supporting you in this project. This type of activity creates the experience that gains self-reliance (with a little help from your friends) that will see you through a lifetime.

Nice Job, now do you have any friends that do body work?

[bad68bowtie]

Originally Posted by powerline84

I am going to be swapping my motor soon. Just curious...how long did this take you to do...actual work time? looks good by the way.
Jimmy

I think it was about 8 1/2 hours. Didn't keep real close tabs on it, but it was around in that neighborhood.

Originally Posted by special-K

It`ll get you through school now,that`s for sure.

Yeah, makes me glad that I've held on to it. When I told a few friends of mine from high school a couple months ago that I was thinking of selling it, I was met with looks of terror with them telling me that I couldn't. The truck is pretty much synonymous with me.

Originally Posted by '68 C-20

Nice to see this accomplishment from a young fellow. Kudos to your Dad as well, for supporting you in this project. This type of activity creates the experience that gains self-reliance (with a little help from your friends) that will see you through a lifetime.

As much grief as this thing has caused him I think my dad is finally starting to understand the whole hot rodding/truck thing. I actually enjoy going to car shows with him more than anyone else as he's cool with moving as slow as I do to take in all the details of each car . One day when I'm out of school I hope I can afford to pay him back with the vintage Porsche he's always wanted.

Originally Posted by '68 C-20

Nice Job, now do you have any friends that do body work?

Yeah no kidding, wish I did. If I knew someone who had a technique for preventing hail storms that would be alright too .


Thanks for all the compliments guys. I used to jokingly refer to my truck as "the Buzzard" because of all its faults, but now it's above that.