Interesting about the 8.8 being a great fit for the A. Strong rearend.

The truck is nothing special. I believe it was left for dead in a farmer's field, just wasting away. My highschool shop teacher (Mr. T) was able to take it off the previous owner's hands--for free if im not mistaken--and used it as a highschool hotrod project. The students, including my older brother Alex did the V8 swap and drivetrain upgrades (TH350 and AMC M20 rearend out of an AMX) in the early 90s. Mostly burnouts behind the shop and some racing in Pirmasens. Since then it has received a roll cage, fuel cell and has seen a 355 cube or two and a 383 with all cast factory components besides the heads and intake. Until last winter.

We assembled a new block with affordable forged components, went to a custom solid roller camshaft that we spec'd ourselves, and upped the compression ration by one point. Still running pump gas. All steel truck weighing in at 3000lbs+ without me in the car. Factory suspension (torsion bars and leaf springs) with the assistance of Mr. Calvert. Every year it gets a little less slow as a result of trying this and that and trying to improve the combo.