Choosing the best 5.7 engine and Transmission

For the money, I would try to find a decent running, lower mile 5.7 Eagle(09 and newer) truck engine. The trucks were rated 395 hp. Intakes are better than car. Swap in the SRT 6.4 cam. Manual or auto. I've used the MDS/ auto cam without using the actual MDS. Either one is 220 bucks from Mopar. The auto cams used to be 70 bucks. They took a price hike for some reason. I've done this myself. It works very well. Don't have any dyno numbers, but, the "butt dyno" says hell yeah. With this cam, cold air, headers, and a tuner(Diablo), you should easy be at 425. The trans deal is a tricky one. The 545 is cheaper to do, but, can't handle a lot of power like the Nag. Not only that, but all the additional parts needed for the Nag. Read about that directly on Hotwireauto.com. Helps if you do have a donor car for that. The 518 will still require surgery, too.