[LT7A]

Originally Posted by ShortHaul

I appreciate all the comments in here guys! Part of me agrees with each different statement and point of view...

Here's my reasoning behind pursuing the LS swap... This truck is my DD/multi use pickup... I commute to work in it (60 miles round trip, although not daily... firefighter's schedule) I use it to haul my dirtbike to trails, tracks etc, sometimes 60-100 miles round trip... I use it to go cut firewood on the national forest, (200 miles round trip) so its much more than just an "around town" cruiser, or trips to the hardware store and back... This places a high priority on reliability, driveability and also brings MPG into the equation. I have 3 "classic" vehicles in the fleet right now (62 Impala, 75 C20 and 75 Burb) so this one has to be fully functional as a usable anytime anyplace vehicle, it has to carry its weight if you will.

The 350 is original, and has 88xxx miles... it has only let me down once in over 11K miles of ownership, and that was a simple fuel pump issue... however I feel like it's not going to last forever. There is a ton of gunk and corrosion in the block, whether that's from the radiator or the block itself, I'm not sure. She smokes a bit on start up, The carb (original Q-jet) is finicky, even though I've recently rebuilt it... She's a pain to start when she's hot and let's be honest... the 1975 "Hi Torque" 350 with 4 Barrel put out a whopping 160 hp/250tq WHEN NEW! So its not like I'm yanking out a numbers matching Z28/302 here... And to make matters worse, the previous owner went nuts with a can of black spray paint under the hood before he sold it, dousing every surface he could find... so the "original look" appeal is kinda shot as well... I do place some value in keeping things original, but more so when that originality is worthy of saving. And in this case I'm leaning towards function over originality.

Having a 4th gear would be very helpful for the highway hauls. She does ok, but 60mph on CA freeways feels like you're standing still!

The overall cost of the LS swap I had planned was coming in at right around $5500. I know it can be done cheaper, and I know you can easily spend twice that on the LS motor alone.

Considering other options out there... such as rebuild the 350, crate sbc, going EFI, swap in a 700r4 or a gear vendors... most of them come relatively close to the cost of the LS swap, and most only solve a portion of the problem.

So when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, the LSx/4lxxE swap still makes the most sense to me...

I think this part adds essential information to your picture. As much as I enjoy my old rigs, I think I would want to have a modern vehicle or at least a modern drivetrain available to daily drive. I think I would be inclined more toward a gear vendors add or a transmission swap and then a throttle body tucked under the the air cleaner. And I don't think you need to assume that 350 is on its way out. But there's no changing the fact that the LS has benefited from decades of design improvements. Rather than trying to make it look old school, I would consider pulling the existing transmission, cleaning it and putting it on a shelf, pulling the existing motor, cleaning and painting it up and putting it on a stand. And then I would install the new combo with an eye toward uninstalling it when it came time to return the truck to stock and it was no longer needed for daily driving duties. That way, you don't have to hide wires and stuff things up under the dash. I would let it look like you put a modern drivetrain in a vintage rig and run it and enjoy it. There may come a day that you'll be ready to retire it from daily use and you'll be glad you still have the old parts on a shelf.