What do I do with a free engine?

Well to be fair, and entire Chevy 1500.

Back story:

-Last summer, Dad calls and said come take my truck, its been sitting since 2015 I believe, relatively low miles, and ran. Sort of. Hes never going to get around to fixing the frame(he said its getting a bit soft...), so I decide to make the 9 hour round trip drive and tow it home. Holy crap this thing is gone... passenger side frame rail is completely cracked, drivers well on its way to swiss cheese land. It takes a priest and a lightning strike to get it running, everything is rusty, to anyone else, this is a straight-to-the-boneyard kind of truck.  I cant do that tho, his health is poor and he never had much, and in all actuality this truck is basically my only inheritance from him when it is his time to go.

The truck:

-1997 1500 4x4, 350 Vortec, 126k-ish miles. From a drivetrain perspective, everything is there as it came factory. It runs, barely, and with who knows how old gas, is a bear to get started. The body and frame are no good (east coast rust belt cancer, stage 4), shifter cable held on by zip ties, fuel filler neck rusted away, what brake lines?, etc. etc. etc. 

Possible solution:

-Yank the go parts, and drop them in something. An idea I had was a square body S10. 350 swaps in those are commonplace. A 2wd transmission would cost almost nothing, or hell somehow make the S10 work with the 1500 4x4 axles. 

Actual real life issue:

-Financially my life if very tough. Large gobs of debt payments and a family make my month-to-month very tight. That said, whatever I find to swap this engine into, has to be cheap.

I have various tools, saws, a welder, a functional brain, a tape measure, and random scraps of wood and nails to hodge-podge this hooptie together. The only "tools" I am without is an engine crane which will be fixed shortly, a tubing bender, however I don't foresee needing one any time soon, nor a lift but I have jacks and stands so that'll do. I like the idea of an S10 as "its been done" is a hell of an understatement, so sourcing mounts, headers, misc. etc. should be cheap and plentiful.

However I am always open to ideas of something "cool and interesting" (aren't we all) so fire away

In tough times, this truck...I'd sell for parts and scrap...too much of an uphill battle at this point.

you'll probably get $1000 bucks or so for various parts, 4WD, axles, etc...$200 for the body going to the crusher....use that $1200 in honor of your father. If you MUST save this hulk, drop the engine into an S10 or Blazer. That's my suggestion.

Need a propane-powered generator? You can very likely find everything you need through some kind of surplus or wily online junk shopping, and you can reduce the project cost significantly by selling or trading anything you can't use from the truck (trans, axles, intact harness, ECM, etc). 

An old 350 isn't sexy or exciting, but free is free. If nothing else, strip the rusty hulk and freshen the engine slowly whenever a few extra bucks are available. Then, when you are ready to see the recipient, the recipient will present itself to you. If that doesn't happen before you get annoyed with the thing hanging around, sell a fresh 350 and come out ahead (or at least even). 

Even on a zero budget, this could be fun! 

I like Agent98’s suggestion

SVreX said:

I like Agent98’s suggestion

Me too.  There's a discussion thread here on parting out a vehicle for profit, if you have the time and energy it may be well worth doing.

I agree with you all, the truck is t worth saving. I don’t plan on saving it, just the drivetrain if I can find a decent recipient. I was thinking a S10, but am looking for other low-dollar suggestions 

Find something like this and slip the 4X4 under it.  Remove the engine, drive train and keep it in the garage until you are financially on your feet?

Keep the engine, sell everything else including the factory EFI.  Put the engine in the corner and take your time finding a car or truck you actually are interested in for the right price.  Focusing on parting out the truck seems like a good focus at this time.  

Free engine? Go-kart. Free V8? Awesome go-kart.

Do some begging on CL and find another free (wrecked) truck. Cut and paste until you have a Gambler 500 car. 

Where are you located? I'm in central TX and wanting to do a beggars Gambler car with <$100 out of pocket (minus tires) and have the fabrication skill to make it happen, but no space until some other stuff is finished-ish. 

If you're close we should collaborate. 

John87 said:

I agree with you all, the truck is t worth saving. I don’t plan on saving it, just the drivetrain if I can find a decent recipient. I was thinking a S10, but am looking for other low-dollar suggestions 

I’m not sure you completely understood the suggestion...

Given your description of your financial position and your family situation, you don’t need a project like this. At all. 

I respect wanting to honor your Dad. Do it by converting the one thing he is leaving you to some money to help take care of his grandkids. 

Seriously. Even the engine isn’t worth what you are gonna put into it. Countless hours searching online, and in the garage away from your kids. 

Maybe buy the family the vacation you can’t afford, and put Dad’s name on the photo album- a gift from him. 

You can have some fun dismantling it and parting it out with your kids, then say goodbye to it. Don’t let it become the thing that consumes your energy and time and money and never quite gets done. Now is not the time for a project like this. 

Many people in this thread speak the truth.  Part it out, put the money to good use and simplifiy.  Starting a new project from a disaster truck while financially strained is going to add a lot of stress to your life.