Thread: Need advice with bus re-power

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Eighteen months or more ago we imported a School Bus to convert to a mobile home cum hot-rod.

Here's a link to the saga.
Need help on bus origins.

The body-work is now virtually finished, we've converted it to right-hand-drive, it's sitting on the Chev chassis, the panel work has very little more to be done before painting, (but that won't take place until after the the interior is completed,) and now it's time to turn our attention to the mechanical side of things.

When we brought the truck chassis into NZ it was running a 454 with 3sp auto.
I don't want an auto.
I'm a truck-driver; have driven trucks and buses for over forty years and millions of miles...with an auto all one does is 'go along for the ride'; with a manual box you actually 'drive' the thing.
It has been suggested to me that we use an NV4500 box; a five speed that will give me the flexibility I want for a three ton gvm/gvw vehicle.

Also...
The original 454 engine is suspect. It hasn't been fired in two years, but a compression test showed that some cylinders are ][I]well[/I down.
Also...
At some stage the computer has has water in it; it's a throwaway, nothing salvagable; biff the lot.

Bearing all this in mind; we've decided (after much debate,) to bite the bullet and biff the engine too...we don't want to spend some quite serious coin on the computer and then in two years have to biff (or re-build,) the donkey for more serious coin.
It has been suggested to me that we use a crate 400 Vortec, i.e. six liter.

Your thoughts please?