Engine Replacement

[78chevystepside]

It's a couple months down the road in my work on this truck, but it came with the 250 inline 6, runs decently and has enough power for my needs(daily driver). I was curious on people's opinion whether or not I should waste time rebuilding the 250, or save up for a while for a crate 350 and upgrade. Attached is a picture of my 250 i6. Thanks!

[Lt.Del]

Gas isn't getting cheaper. Perhaps a major factor to consider. However, some would say a properly tuned, and correctly geared drivetrain with a 350 may get just as good mpg over a 6 that is worked hard.   
The answer to your question depends on your intended usage.  Remaining a daily driver, keep the 6.  May haul stuff down the road? (pardon the pun) Perhaps a 350 is the way to go.

[78chevystepside]

Yeah, I have no intentions of heavy loads or towing, and the 6 has given me as much power as I really need for my daily driving. Thanks for the input!

[slammed79]

Besides what Sarge said, 6's just look cool under the hood of these. How often do you pop the hood on one of these and see that? Not as often as you used to imo.

[1980c10]

I traded in my 250 for some fun. If your are convinced you want to keep it an inline 6 a 292 would be better than the 250 I would not rebuild a 250. A 350 would be even better and parts are easier and cheaper to buy.
In my opinion the 350 will gave you the best bang for the buck.

[TexasRed]

Looks like you can get an engine kit from Northern for less than $400:

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=2022


Stock, but you could deck the block a little bit to get some more compression for a little better mileage. There's a few places out there for some hop up parts, but too much and you get into hurting mileage.

[bake74]

     I am with sgtdel on this one, you need to think of what you want.  The only reason to switch to a 350 is for more power.  If you don't need it, keep the 6.

[Da67goatman]

Keep the 6 cyl.  IF later you decide you need more power, turbo it.

[78chevystepside]

Thanks for all your input, I've always just had 350's in my trucks since I was 16, but they were both 3/4 ton. For now I think I will stick to the 6 unless I want some more power down the road. I like that master kit Texas Red, I might end up using that in a couple months. Moving around a lot so my garage is all boxed up right now, in a couple weeks I can really start tearing through this truck like I want to, if I end up using that master kit from northern autoparts I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again!