Welcome Emil-

I am just a bit ahead of you in the rebuild of a '51 to a daily driver with many of the same goals. For performance and ease, I was going to replace the original in line six with a 350 small block coupled with a 350TH automatic transmission, a great combination. As I looked for a suitable engine, I discovered a 305 from a wrecked van that the owner was selling for a great price. I researched the performance lost by going with a 305 and realized that I would lose some horses, but gain some fuel economy in my daily drive. As others have noted, the Chevy small blocks have plenty of parts to chose from during your rebuild and are great to work on. There's plenty of information available regarding the swap. Wise parts choices will help you retain performance for your towing needs. I still think you'll find plenty of power when you step on it.

51PhatBoy