looking down the road

[Kim K Kaiser]

Hi Again,, the caddy has been covered in MT as I had to make my annual trek back to MS for winter.

One the way home, my injectors on my truck went out,, dealer price to replace  7K on a 9K value truck, so I you tubed, bought the injectors and changed them for 2k,, so I got to thinking,, really need a newer truck,, 367k miles on the transmission,, 125k on the engine,  2005 duramax.. BUT,, new trucks and even 3 and 4 year old trucks range from 35K used to 75K new,, i simply cant,, and more importantly wont spend that on a car or truck,,so vanity aside, I'm gonna keep this thing, and if i have to spend 2k a year on it,, thats way better than a note on a new one,,

so then i goto looking at more old cars,, really liked a 64 TBIRD,, and then thought about parts for it, and, the 63 CDV  i currently have.. so i have ditched looking at old ones, and what ever i was gonna do  new old car wise,, I will put into the CDV,  and more and more, i have seen parts requested and either being on waiting list or very hard to find,, not just rubber pieces but engine parts like the manifolds, and other parts that seem to be disappearing and are important  I really like crusing in the old boy,,, short rides, couple hour rides..I didn't trailer it back to MS this time, and I miss going joy riding in it.. i like know ing i can get in anytime, and go somewhere in it.. 

so, looking ahead a couple years, one of those swaps seems like a legitimate option to extend the life of the car, which i want to use as more of a regular car, I want to be able to take  it on 3 and 4 day rides home to MS and MT  2000 miles each way,  you know, like a regular car.. As a car that i can count on for a 70 mile trip, i an ok with it currently, but a 8 hour ride,, for 4 days,, i just dont know,, can these old engines take it,,??time takes a toll,    mine has been rebuilt at 90k,,transmission too at appx same,,,so, over time and take some of the pressure off of my diesel duramax,   i want to kind of plan and save for a possible swap,, so,,what is required,,

obviously, an engine block,, depending on which year and model, would dictate the cost,, newer more, etc..

so, if you have this new engine,, do i need a new transmission, or are there adapters , plates or something that can accommodate the hydramatc to the newer engines, and then would a new driveshaft be required??

and after that,, electrical wiring,, cooling systems,,  and the box with the computer parts in it,, that govern the newer engines..thats a consideration as well,,

given the most basic things that i have thought of, what else would be a requirement for one of these projects,,again, this is a sort of list for later down the road,, but, i do want to keep things in mind, for the financial part of it to take out some of the bite,  and i guess things can change car part wise as well, but for now,,what would be the requirements to consider as for sure things i would have to purchase and replace..

if any one has actually completed the process and knows the ins and outs and the resulting product performance, i would really appreciate those thgouths as well..

thanks for any thoughts..