Hey Verge welcome to the Stovebolt!
I'm one of the guys talking about this swap in various other threads. I've seen two 1-tons already done and I'm doing one right now.
I have not done this on a lighter truck, so I'm not sure I can compare the process, but I have pictures of what other guys did, and first hand experience as recent as earlier today working on one myself.
But first, motors for that truck just aren't that hard to find. If a restoration is what you really want, don't let a broken motor stop you.
If that's just a convenient excuse to build a hot rod, drop the excuse and proclaim your true intentions. I for one will be right there with you.
Do you ever get to the Seattle area? I'm on Bainbridge Island, which is the patch of green straight out from the Seattle waterfront. My project is here on Bainbridge and there is another 1-ton with a pickup IFS less than two miles from me here on the Island.
Mine is not finished and the other one has travelled very few miles since being completed just recently. Since I wanted to build a true driver I searched until I found an example of this swap that is on the road and has seen some real use. I can arrange for you to see both trucks.
I found a guy who did his swap 11 years ago and has used it to winter in Arizona and travel to Maine every second summer. I've seen the truck four times, the first running down the freeway. The next day it was in the parking lot at the ATHS meet in Brooks, Oregon.
A couple years later it was at the ATHS meet in Shelton, Washington, and while I didn't catch up with the owner there, I did note his name from the show card and was able to find a phone number for him.
The fourth time I saw it was at his shop near Roy, Washington. I was able to ask questions and crawl under it with a camera. This guy would be harder to catch since he is retired, single and very mobile. He doesn't do Internet and appears to only answer the phone when it suits him. I want to be him when I grow up.
Any way, find the threads on this topic, read up, and then start asking questions. I always appreciate another mind chewing on the challenges a project like this creates.
