Thanks for adding me in to the community. Just a bit of my background...I currently am working on my 1957 Chevrolet 3200 pickup truck. I've owned it for 26 years now and it has been through three different builds to get to this point. I finally have the chassis where I want it (modified and shortened 1994 2nd Gen Ram 1500 4wd), but I'm thinking of going a different route with the drivetrain (Hemi?).
Right now, the drivetrain is a 1999 5.9L Magnum V8 with the factory MPFI running on a 1996 PCM. There is an aftermarket cam installed with a Marty Fletcher custom tune in the PCM to match the cam. The transmission is a 46RH hooked up to a NP231D transfer case. It does well for what it was built to do, working on the farm, pulling the horse trailers and whatnot, but on the rare occasions when I take it to a car show, the GM purists get a knot in their shorts when I open the hood to reveal a Dodge Magnum. They expect an LS swap.
Of course, we all know the remedy to this would be a Hemi swap, LOL. I never built this truck to be a show truck, and it is still under construction, but the more I think about it, the more a Hemi makes sense. There is next to ZERO aftermarket support for the Magnum series of engines, where as the Hemi is much more akin to the LS in terms of aftermarket interest, so a swap makes sense. I have had to pick my way through the FSM and a few wire harnesses to get to where I am at, a running and driving truck that I can take anywhere. Even still, on its best day I saw 17 MPG. The norm is about 12.5 and the power output, even with a cam geared toward low/mid range torque is still in the 300 lb/ft range.
All of this being said, I'm trying to get a plan together to source all of the parts I need for a nice, clean swap with minimal down time. I have a line on a 2010 Hemi Charger that my PD bought new. It was taken out of service with less than 100k miles due to cam/lifter failure, which is fine, as I would swap the cam like I did with the Magnum motor, to increase the low/mid torque. I don't need to go fast. I need to pull. Obviously, sourcing a truck engine would be better suited to my plans, but they go for gold around here, even with high miles, and you don't know the history, unlike the patrol car engine.
Feel free to share ideas and input. I want to get everything together to make this go as smooth as possible when I pull the trigger.
-Joe
