Well, you can do the Caddillac piston mod that is in a recent 12 port news, and get pretty good power out of it, or you can get about 175-200 hp with a decent cam and intake. Stock advertised was 150 but it realisticly is about 130 or so. The torque is healthy. It accelerates the truck well from 1000-4000 rpm in any gear you want. I'm running mine stock right now but with a dual point distributor, which seems to make it start easier.
I am running mine with an SM420 4 speed and 4.11 rearend but that is not the best combination. I have a brand new 4 speed 3-groove Saginaw and a 3.07 6-lug rearend waiting to go in there, and that should work pretty well. I'm getting some oil consumption so I am going to swap it for a 235 and rebuild it.
It has been very reliable and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it on a long trip as long as you keep the cruising rpms below 3000. The Canadian blocks didn't have the full flow oil filter like the US truck blocks did, so a conversion may be wise.
