Well I got the 454 and I'm just waiting on delivery now. It'll be awhile before the swap happens but I'm excited none the less. Thinking now of just sticking with the 4 speed and doing a gear swap and also pondering on a 4x4 conversion as well.
As of now Crustine has been sitting at the shop I work at and I've been doing repairs I've needed to do for quite awhile. Finally replaced the steering box and fixed a rather loose drag link arm. Crazy how tight the steering is now compared to before. Had to replace the axle pinion seal and will be doing axle shaft seals as well as one started leaking. Also grabbed new u-joints so I'll be getting those on soon as well.
Tacked on some new exhaust tips this evening so I'll get some photos tomorrow.