I'm a huge fan of the weird or "different" modifications to trucks. I fully support an 8.1 swap into a gmt400.
I'm an even bigger fan of rides like "farm truck". Been watching them for years!
I've done quite a few engine swaps into these gmt400 trucks, however, it's been all diesel stuff. I kinda just "dive in". Get donor engine, yank truck's original engine, and fab whatever is necessay to stuff the donor engine into the truck.
OP- don't give up on your 8.1 swap vision. You may not come out dollars ahead of just rebuilding a 454, but you'll have something unique that YOU did. You can't buy that feeling. You can't buy that smile. You build it!
Do the swap and enjoy! Chase that "farm truck" dream!
I’ve done that style of swap before, and it worked great, I did a 2.3 ford engine with a junk yard turbo (I think off a 6.blow?) and did all the custom fab work and put it into a wrecked Miata chassis just for a cheap burnout car. But I plan to keep this truck for, well pretty much forever. Clean crew cabs are getting harder to find (near me anyways) and I know in the next few years there will be even less. I plan on a load of custom work, interior, axles, body mods, etc. but I want a “fresh” platform just as close as off the show room floor as I can get it. Hence why I’m trying to source and use as many oem parts as possible. Once the swap is done, and everything works as it should, I’ll drive it until I can get the rest of my parts saved up for everything else. Wood grain interior trim, solid axle front end, 3500 van rear axle, new bed and fenders, etc etc, then I’ll tear it all the way down to the bare frame, then rebuild it from there. And even with some bolt on kits for things like the front axle swap, I won’t be using, that’s when the fab work will begin. The end goal is for the “average joe” to look at it and think it’s “some truck from the 90’s”, but a second look by a enthusiast, they’ll see all the modifications, and all the true work done. So basically a sleeper, but in EVERY aspect of the truck. I want someone to be not only amazed, but confused when they look into it. The truck would have to be lit on fire, pushed down a hill, and crushed into a little cube before I gave up on rebuilding it, honestly my secondary goal is to have the highest mileage “OBS” or GMT400 truck in the world.