My only concern about 'Being able to cruise your 235 along at 65-70@ 2000rpms' is STOPPING the thing with the original front drum brakes and single chamber master cylinder.
I thought about a t5 conversion.. but by the time you get a drive shaft cut, replace the rear end, box the frame, splice in the IFS, switch out the master cylinder, re-plumb the brake system, and all that happy stuff.. you can just roll a s10 frame under the AD body and call it a day.
