Hey 30-A sounds like you stepped in a pile of shit here. It's not always that way, Dave likes to joke around but he's harmless and does have some good advice. I have a 93 4WD pickup and had the same problems you are discribing. I pulled the motor and it was in good shape after a zillion miles. I took it to a buddy of mine at the machine shop and had them do a hone job on the block plus all the usual rebuild stuff. I went back with the stock pistons, new rings and bearings but I added a Crane RV cam (it's got the power curve you need without killing the mpg too much) and I added a double roller timing chain. Other than that, it's stock. It pulls great (I had a 17' Boston Whaler that I sold) and passing really kicks ass with plenty of power. I get about 15 MPG on the highway, not to good but that's the trade off. I also think it needs to breath more. A different TBI, maybe from Edelbrock, would make a huge difference, I just haven't made that leap yet. You can also add one of the "chips" available to help even more. The point being, if you add the cam then you have to change the stock TBI. Other than that, you should be happy with it. It's not necessary to do all the stroking crap. That's going to create more problems and cost a hell of a lot more money. A word of caution: be sure that your tranny is in tiptop shape. With the new power I took the truck around the block for a test drive, I just had to punch it and broke the tranny. That was another 1400 bucks. Good luck with it, the only other way out is to add a big block but that is another thread. Over and out.