After all the BS and spending tons of money, the problem was in fact overheating and appears to be caused by the fan clutch. Yesterday I changed it out and was able to drive all the way to the top of the mountain without overheating or stalling.
Now I just hope I didnt hurt the engine with all my test drives. And I can finally start working on the small stuff that needs repaired.

I want to thank all of you who tossed out vcomments and ideas for helping me get through this engine swap.

Lee

 

F--k yeah! congradulations! glad to hear it.

 

it always seems to be the simple basic stuff that no one ever think to check, been there before. glad you got it fixed.

 

Got any pics? Good to see you got it going. Engine swaps can be quite frustrating and time consuming. I only buy engines I can hear run, got tired of getting screwed....