1973 D100 - Engine Change
 

I recently purchased a 1973 D100 extended cab from a local man who had purchased it new in 1973. It came with a stack of documents higher than the truck chronicling its history. It was purchased new in Valley City, ND and now resides with me a few miles up the road in Grand Forks.

Anyway... It hadn't moved since 2008. I got it started, and spent a day doing general maintenance before trying to drive it home. It made it home, but wasn't running as I'd hoped after cleaning the carb, checking vacuum lines, etc.

It currently has a 360cu V8 with the 727 trans. The compression test shows all the cylinders are borderline, but #6 has extremely low compression.

I was hoping not to have to spend too much time on the truck's engine 90% of my experience is with motorcycles, but such is life....

I'm planning to rebuild the original engine, but I don't have the time at the moment. I pulled it out of the truck and am calling local salvage yards trying to find a running engine I can drop in until I can rebuild the original. I have a couple options, but I need advice.

Option #1: A 360cu engine out of a '76. Apparently its out of an old farm truck and they haven't tried running it, but are attempting to do so per my request this afternoon.

Option #2: A 318cu I6 engine. I didn't ask for more information, though I will tomorrow or Monday.

Will either of these engines mate with the existing 727 transmission? Will I need to modify the engine mounts for either of them?

Could I (dare I say it?) use a Chevy 350? Everyone in ND drives a Chevy and you can virtually buy a 350 at the local drug store. What if I got a 350 with a new transmission... would I have to modify the engine mounts or the frame (obviously that's a deal breaker)?

What about a Dodge 440? Could I mate one to the 727 as is? I was told that this was not possible by an unreliable source.

On Monday I will broaden my search to include salvage yards in South Dakota, but if anyone has a viable option withing a couple hundred miles of Fargo, ND...

Here is the picture of the truck when I got it: https://i.imgur.com/wf7f5wZ.jpg

"Option #1: A 360cu engine out of a '76. Apparently its out of an old farm truck and they haven't tried running it, but are attempting to do so per my request this afternoon."

Might be OK, but may be as bad as what you have. Do a compression test on it

"Option #2: A 318cu I6 engine. I didn't ask for more information, though I will tomorrow or Monday".

A 318 is not an I6...its a v8. It is the same block as your 360, so would bolt up (if thats what it is)....A slant 6 (Chryslers 6 cyl back then), wont bolt to your tranny

"Could I (dare I say it?) use a Chevy 350? Everyone in ND drives a Chevy and you can virtually buy a 350 at the local drug store. What if I got a 350 with a new transmission... would I have to modify the engine mounts or the frame (obviously that's a deal breaker)?"

Frame mounts etc would have to be fabricated. It can be done but a lot of work.

"What about a Dodge 440? Could I mate one to the 727 as is? I was told that this was not possible by an unreliable source. "

440 would require a different tranny and probably different mounts too