354 or 392? Hemi? Questions?

My 354 is still sitting on a stand, has an unmodified 318 single point distributor in it and starts and runs beautifully. It is the pre O-ring version and I do not have a gasket under it but it engaged the drive gear enough for test purposes. Would I want to drive it that way for very long? No. Does it drop in and run? Yes. I will probably weld up the shaft on an electronic unit when I'm ready do drop it in a project. There is a short bell housing 331 also. A few places make tranny adaptors for the torqueflites and GM trannys. To put the early hemi where a small block has been you need to extend the mounts down and in about an inch on each side. There are some internet articles with the scoop on it. Basically the guy welded a plate on small block brackets that relocated the rubber mount hole. I have a Clarke Cortez 4 speed transaxle that bolts right up to the industrial bell housing pattern and the torqueflite adapter kit so it's been a real struggle trying to decide what kind of machine to put an early hemi in....