look for a wrecked donor truck and take everything and change it out, maybe just take cab and box off wreck and replant with yours. some fabrication required but you will end up with better running gear and less hassle then trying to transplant anything in what you have.
try to find a army surplus chebby blazer saw them going for about 6K some time back, was a guy locally selling them and then update the engine with turbo etc. still going to run about 10K, but it will be something to talk about for a long time particularly if there are young family members involved.