Budget Build 5.9 for a 71 Scamp

Hey thanks for all your info man. Question on this. I want to tear the whole motor down so I can bring it in to get hot tanked. The amount of sludge I saw makes me really want to do this, also I want to get a good coat of paint on her too. So, your logic about the bearings makes sense, but I am wondering if I can tear it down, inspect the bearings, and if they look good, reuse the bearings? And so the same with the rings. It would save me probably $200 give or take, and every penny counts on this build. But not sure if its worth it..

Why are you so adamant about hot tanking it? If it's in good shape, why?

Also, reusing the convertor from slant 6 is a cool idea I had not thought of. I didn't even know that was possible. I think I'll do this, especially if I may be upgrading down the line with a different rear end, and changing the converter to match. Question, if I am rebuilding the 904 I found, is it a bad idea to use the old, used convertor with the rebuild trans?

As long as the old trans and converter are in good shape, I'd do it.