Thanks, all of you. I appreciate it.
I'll get some more pics when I get the truck back from the shop, they are (hopefully) fixing the high range gears in the 2 speed rear end.
The odometer shows 57k miles... and I believe that is original because of the rubber wear on the brake and clutch pedal. So yeah... surely the 261 if it had ever had one would have lasted at least that long... you'd think.
The engine number is 3769716 which crosses to a 235. The paint on the motor is the red/orange color, not dark green or gray, and there is not an oil filter on the engine (a clue maybe)?
I know GM would often allow the customer to spec a particular engine when ordering a truck or car (a fellow in my home town ordered a Nova in 69 with the 302 Z motor and got it, so the story goes)... but I can't imagine anyone special ordering the smaller motor for a heavy truck.
Maybe GM got to the end of the year model and didn't have enough 261's to finish the line... maybe(?) I've heard of such things happening, weird engines showing up in vehicles... some 390s ended up in some Ford pickups in the 70's in years that weren't supposed to have 390s (they should have been 360's or 400's).
So maybe it's that. It's a mystery, in any event. I do have the name of he owner before the guy I bought the truck from, so maybe I can find him and learn more.
Again, thanks for the help and suggestions.
Dan
