One option you might want to consider on that "not a truck" vehicle might be a Chevy V6/700R4 combination from a Chevy S-10 pickup. There are untold thousands of them around salvage yards and barn finds at dirt cheap prices, and there's a good supply of aftermarket bits and pieces for both the engine and transmission.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!