I know that many out there have strong feelings about this, but I will ask anyway. I just purchased a '47 1-1/2 ton w/ a 216 under the hood. It appears that someone along the way cut out the tranny crossmember and welded it back afterwards with what may have been a tranny fix/replace. I am going to do a frame-off restoration (and replace that crossmember if I can in the process), but I plan on driving it for general truck stuff (Home Depot, moving stuff, show & shines, etc.). I do not need it for a business or to win awards for authenticity (however my first preference is to kepp it stock). So my question is this, what is the ideal engine/tranny combination for this purpose? I like the idea of staying stock, but I see a lot of notes out there warning about the '216. If I don't keep the original engine then I might as well look at all my options. What about a later model V8/tranny combo? How hard is this to do?
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