I have an 3/4 ton 1938 chevy truck with the original 216, manual trans, org. drivshaft and rear axle. the truck drives fine, but the rear axle is geared soooo low that the thing tops out at 45mph. I bought the truck to have fun with... you know, cruise but not abuse.
so I am going to swap the rear axle to one with more freeway friendly gears, which will mean the driveshaft will need to be replaced, so if Im going to do all this, I am thinking about replacing my engine/trans as well.
Now, my main goal with my swap is to not permanatly alter anything on the truck so if I want to replace the org. drivetrain later on I can do so. I want to go with the 292 because it is an I-6 like the org. and it will be unique (not a 350). I was thinking about going with a T-5 standard trans out of an S-10. I will put some "hop-up" parts on the motor, intake, exauhst, cam... that is another reason why I want to swap... If I blow this stuff up I won't nearly be as mad if I blew the org.
Will this engine trans combo fit? How hard is this swap? I am not a professional mechanic, but I am "above average". I have never done anything like this before - but I'm not scared. I know I will have to change the electric on the dash etc. but what I am really concerned with is the actual fitting of the drivetrain. Will I have to use an electric fan? how will I hook up the pedals, especially the clutch? I hope I will not have to modify the firewall. etc, etc, etc.
any insight will be greatly appreciated!
thanks!
shawn
