[Root2812]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

Subbed! Found your thread looking for the same answers. I'm kinda leaning towards a vette engine.

Thanks for subscribing. I hope we both can find our answers. I'd go with a true corvette engine too but its way to spendy. Good luck on your build.

Originally Posted by Billett

Someone here will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong. I just went ahead and bought new autometer temp and pressure gauges but I do believe that autometer makes adapters to allow the use of the stock gauges. The only problem I for see is that the pressure gauge doesn't have any numerical values and the optimal pressure of the new motor may not be the same as the old one.
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Thank you. I will look into Autometer for those adapters.

Originally Posted by ChevyCruizer

I would say try to find a motor as complete as you can and then try and run everything that came with it (i.e. brackets, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, etc). I dont have any experience with the 50's trucks but I would try the stock parts first to try and save money. You might be able to trim your problem areas a little and then box it back in for security.

I understand the "wanting" the car manifold for looks but the truck manifold can be cleaned up. Picture from this build thread. But the truck manifold definately will work better in a truck that sees some towing.

On you torque converter question, yes you can use the stock. In fact you would not want a higher stall for towing. It would slip more and generate more heat.

I might stay with stock parts for the beginning but I have heard that the truck accessories won't work on the 50. It would hit the firewall and the radiator. Its really tight front to back but supposedly the car accessories are closer to the block and will fit. Thanks for the info on the torque converter. The wife and I are looking at campers in the 3000-3500 pound range so I will need to be able to tow 4000 pounds to be safe. I'm not really sure if that's heavy for these motors.