I recently purchased a 1949 3600. The truck came from MO. And the previous owner had it since 1964 by the title. I know nothing about it and from all the negative things I hear about the 216 am paranoid about this engine. I purchased the truck mainly because it did run. I can repair most anything and have been since a teen. I have read many articles and have done research on this " Cast Iron Wonder". My main concern is the rods. The engine runs great. The truck was stock when i received it. sm420 transmission and 4.56 ho52 rear. After repairing brakes and repacking all the wheel bearings and changing all the fluids. I drained engine oil and ran it for a few minutes with 2 quarts atf and 15w40 oil then drained. removed valve cover and engine looked good. Flushed out top of engine while drain plug was out. Adjusted valves. reassembled. Filled with new 15w40 (because I have in bulk in my Truck shop). The engine is quiet. (other than slight valve tick which i hear is normal). No smoke and good power. I drove about 10 miles and transmission would lock in low gear. I removed transmission and swapped with t5 from s-10 .72 overdrive. Now i can drive it and it doesn't sound like it is turning an extreme amount of rpms. I notice at around 60 mphs it runs out of steam. Is this normal for this engine? I realize this is a low hp engine and may be expecting too much. I also know many people say pull it out and repower. But there is something about a truck that is 73 years old and still runs good. The engine at one time was painted blue so I assume it has been worked on. The serial number on block shows to be original. Rear seal is leaking some and so is front. I will eventually pull the pan and inspect. I know the timing advance is dry rotten. So may go to hei. Oil pressure pegs gauge when cold and runs around 17 psi when hot going down road. About 10 at idle. So the question is What to expect from 216? I am good if all i can drive is 55 mph if I know it is going to kill the engine. But would love to run at least 70 . According to all my calculations it should work. But I have no experience with these small engines.