My 1990 1/2 ton made a new noise today, sounded like valvetrain problems... then it went away. But that's somewhat irrelevant for right now - but it got me thinking if I had to replace the motor in it - it's a stickshift. If I was to borrow the smallblock from my race car (GM crate engine) will it bolt up to the trans? Is there such a thing as a manual trans crank? Some googling showed that for some engines you need to drill the crank to install the pilot bushing - am I likely going to need to do this on my truck?
And if anyone can tell me what's so special about my truck motor? GM's base crate engine is rated at 260HP and yet can't be used in a vehicle with a GVWR over 7000lbs. My truck motor was only rated at 200hp and apart from center bolt valve covers (and one piece rear seal etc...) it's basically the same old small block. Do the truck motors have anything but cast pistons and a cast crank?
Ray