So the parts collection is moving right along when I got a text at work. It was Larry:
Do you have a flywheel yet?
Me: No, but I was going to order one in the next couple of days.
Larry: How would you like an auto with OD instead? Specifically a OD in a 91 K5 body?
Me: Damn you Larry!
The conversation bounced back and forth but after some thought, I came to the realization that the rust in the 75 is more than it's worth to deal with in my case. Larry had been making that point for a while now, but sentimental nitwit in me chose to ignore it. Larry's had a 91 K5 stashed away for a little while and it's solid. The truck is minus an engine, but that's ok we have a solution for that. So I told Larry I'll go for it.
I'm sad to see the 75 to go, but the bones will live on as they say. The plan is to sell the front clip I was going to swap on, swap the axles and lift, pull the drivetrain and sell or crush the rest. Unless some nut really really wants the full top and windshield header to convert another, it's more likely to get munched.
By having another shell to work with, the 5.3 swap will be a bit easier. The auto while not my first choice to play off road, will be easier to set up the programming on the 5.3. As Larry said we won't know if it shells or not, but if it does a nv4500 swap won't be too hard to do. I'll be able to still drive the 75 for a little while until the lift/axle swap commences
I got to throw out a huge thanks to Larry for thinking of me and making the 91 available for me to buy. We have some prep work to do for sure as a couple of hack's had this before Larry found it. The only rust this one has is a small amount on the floor that will be easily fixed. Cool thing is the K5's original owner was the US Government. It's got the tag on the core support to prove it. So it's really basic, non-ac, no carpet, no frills except the silverado grille and power rear window.
A link to Larry's Flickr for a pic...
https://flic.kr/p/fBGVg6