Does anyone read the entire, original post anymore? All three of you refer to the bellhousing and clutch. He is putting in an automatic.
Joe, Those front mounts won't hold up to the gobs of torque produced by the 383. Side mounts are available for your truck or a tube mount from countless vendors.
Sounds like money is not really an issue, you can change to a toyota steering box setup available from many vendors that will solve your header problems and give you power steering.
I think traction will be a real issue for you. T400 hooked up to a 3.90 rear isn't going to be a lot of fun to drive. A 3.08 posi from a 68-72 truck or blazer would be a nice replacement.
This is a 50 year old stock pickup, unless you are boxing the frame and putting in a 4 link rear, the difference in tuned full length tube headers and some center dumps or cast iron manifolds is probably not going to be real noticeable as the frame is gonna twist and the springs wrap up every time you stab the pedal. I doubt the headers you have will fit.
I see your issue, your gonna have to spin it up to use that XE284. How about detuning it a little to work better in this application?
