John M, Gearhead, drevil...
Thanks for the replies. I definitely have some thinking ahead of me.
gearhead: Now, bear in mind, my NAPCO is a 55 1st. The door plate says the hp is 105. So, the stock 56 261 would give me a 43 horse boost. Is that right? I know it's not going to be a race truck, but what I'm thinking is this...It's carrying 4.57's...obviously low gears. However, it'll be riding on 34 inch tires...that's using the stock 19.5" rims. With tires that are between 4 and 6 inches taller than a conventional 2wd truck would have been equipped with, i'd think the gear ratio would get picked up a fairly decent amount. Now, couple that with a some more horses and some more torque...Am I out of my mind, or in theory, shouldn't putting a 261 with no mods gain me quite a bit in terms of driveability...at least considering the uniqueness of my application?
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Now, I think I'm definitely going to be building a 270 for my 3100. I bought a military 302 head today. Should be here in a few days. So, that'll be my hotrod project. I use the term hotrod very very loosely. I'm not made of money, so it'll be a very modest hotrod.
Truth be told, I'm doing the 270 thing more for my dad, and because I want a project he and I can get into that's not a stocker. He used to work with his buddies back in the 50's on 270's and 302's and race them. He never had one of his own, because that was for kids with money. He was the sole supporter of his family by the time he was 16...
So, anyway, he seemed to be real excited at the prospect of putting a 270 together for the old pickup. He's 69 now, and retired, and it was really nice to see the spark in his eyes at the prospect of getting his hands on a 270. So...I'm willing to incur the extra expense, because the nostalgia of it means so much to him.
I'll tell you this though, I'm definitely going to be picking everyone's brains throughout these multiple projects on how to do this stuff.
I really really appreciate you guys, and your willingness to help.
Thanks so much!
