All of that shit is junk. LS based engine or don’t bother. Can be had for like $400 for a 5.3 out of a newer truck. Mileage doesn’t matter they’re bulletproof. Thank me later.
Straight up budget simple as cake, 5.3/5.7L with the 4L60E or 4L80E out of the same truck. Sell the efi stuff and carb it. Also have to get a manual valve body for the electronic trans.
Or, run it right out of the truck. Wiring help is all over the net to take the stock harness and ecu, add 12V fused and switched inputs and the motor/trans run itself with the stock computer more or less. Weld some shit up to physically mount it in there, take the stock driveshaft out of the truck and cut it down weld on the yoke for the rear end thats in there now and have it ballanced. Just make sure its a 2wd truck, 4wd transmissions are different.
I have gotten swap parts for free after finding the right deals. Best one yet I got a 99 3500 truck with the 6.0L and 4L80E for $500. Took what I needed and scrapped the rest for $300. Could have parted it out too but at the time didnt bother. So look for wrecked pickups!
Thanks for all of the input, guys. I have a little bit of time to plan it out. I will definately revisit this subject again with a few of you guys in the near future.