[Pro299]

This is all good advice. I just got my 72 up and running last month after a year of occasional work on swapping in a crate engine. I went with the 350/260 version as I believe this basic 350 is way too low on compression to warrant losing torque down low just to get 30 horses for a second or two at WOT. This is a truck, not a Chevy II.

Anyway, as for lessons learned. Even though this is probably the fifth time I've swapped SBCs, this was the first time I've done it in a truck. I left the transmission in place. The good news, there is enough room to get to most things. Bad news is this was the most difficult swap I've done. I removed the hood (scribe the hinge outline on the hood before removal) and had a leveler, so handling the engine was pretty easy to do by myself. I also removed and replaced the inner fenders because of rust at the bottom. Access to the radiator support bushings is also much better at this point so you may as well do that too.

Cleanup took hours and hours over the course of weeks. North Alabama may not be quite as bad as Louisiana, but late spring, summer and early fall are challenging when it comes to temperature and humidity and you're degreasing, washing, scraping, sanding, and painting. This project convinced me. I now have air conditioning in my shop.

From there it was uphill all the way. This will be a good time to upgrade things, but the more you replace, the more chance there will be complications. For example, I went with an aftermarket intake manifold. Been there and done that with zero issues. This time, nope. To clear the valve covers--grinder. To fit a new choke, all new parts after much research. To fit the throttle cable bracket, more grinding. To align the upper alternator support arm, more grinding. Aluminum water pump--wouldn't clear the double groove pulley, more grinding. (Eventually found it leaked, and ended up trashing it.) Decide if you want to keep the OEM plug routing. If so, it's much easier to do when the engine is out.

As was said, don't let the torque converter slip out of the front pump. I did and thought I'd never get it back in. Took two afternoons of frustration to get it to seat back in so I could bolt up the engine. If you've not done this part before, get some help from someone who's done it. You can ruin your transmission quite easily. If you have to do it alone, make sure there is at least 1/4 inch between the flexplate and converter as you're mating the engine and tranny. If there is no clearance, stop. The converter has slipped out of the front pump and will have to be reseated back in place.

Worst part for me was getting the engine mounts bolted to the pedestals. Like my dad used to say "The fool that designed this should have to be the one to fix every one of them." Maybe you'll have better luck, but I found getting the bolts through the pedestals and into the mounts almost mission impossible. I finally got it by disconnecting the tranny from the crossmember, loosening the mounts on the motor, and using two jacks and the engine hoist to support the engine/transmission. From there I was able to get movement in every direction and finally get the holes perfectly aligned to get the bolts started. I'm told there is a way to convert to the more common cross-pin design mount and if I ever have to do this again I'm going to research that.

Fortunately, I was in no particular hurry and it sounds like you aren't either. With that understood, go for it. It's not rocket science and when you're done and have a new motor you'll know your truck much better.

Good luck!