'84 Shortbed, 305 c.i. knockin

[_uglyduckling_]

I recently purchased a beautiful 84 truck with 62,XXX original miles. So I was driving it on the freeway and I noticed the engine shut off. I pulled over and turned it on, Saw the gauges at normal. And started it again and took off. Shut off when I hit the break. So I dont see smoke, I squeeze the bottom hose to see if thermo stat is working and seems good. Driving and it shuts off again. While i get back on the freeway it stays on and long story short the engine started knockin. I hate my life but not my truck and I still owe 5 grand on it. I bought it as-is. So im biting the bullet because this truck already has what i wanted to do to my salvage truck i bought and now sold. So I was thinkin about switching to o/d tranny, and dont know if i should buy a rebuilt swap my core from o'reilly, or go to the chevy dealership and buy a 454. Im kinda looking for a cheap way to get my engine running. Mechanic said 2 grand will take car of parts and labor if he bought it from o'reilly. And i know later in life im gonna want more power. So what should I do. Any info on what tranny with o/d i should get, size of drive shaft, and what should i do about the motor. Need some critical advice.

[Prong]

With the engine just dying like that, it sounds like a fuel pump on the way out. Sometimes they'll work periodically until they finally quit altogether. They can also make the knocking sound like you describe when they go bad. I'd spend the $25 on a new one and see what happens first.

[_uglyduckling_]

Thanks