Travis Mitchell
Active Member
Hey guys, I have been reading through all of the gen 3 hemi posts I can but need some help making a few choices... I got my 74 Scamp gutted and I've been collecting parts to start getting it back together. Was a 318 727 car. My goal is to build a fun daily driver. Will likely only see some highway miles, and more just around town and road course only a couple times a year.
My last DD was a 2009 Challenger R/T. Pretty fun car, but my goal is to build something much lighter with a little more power.
I am looking for guidance on which Engine and Transmission to run.
I am planning to pick up a junkyard 5.7 (or hopefully a complete car I can pull everything from) and doing at least a cam swap. Want to be in the ball park of 425 hp & tq.
For the engine, what year and model car/truck should I be looking for? Have I understood correctly that the earlier ones are easier to work with, but are more prone to issues. Then the 09+ have more to deal with electronically but the eagle heads are a big improvement.
Then I am wondering what transmission to go with. Seems like if i am using hotwire already, then using a nag1 or 5454rfe would be the way to go if I am willing to tackle the tunnel and cross member. I have read mixed reviews on which one of these would be better for what i am trying to do.
I am assuming that if I just keep it simple and just run a 727/904 I will be wishing I did the extra work for either one of the newer transmissions.
Not totally opposed to the a518/a500 but if i am going to do an overdrive swap, I'd like to use the shifter and slap stick from the donor car.
Thanks in advance for all the help and input!
My last DD was a 2009 Challenger R/T. Pretty fun car, but my goal is to build something much lighter with a little more power.
I am looking for guidance on which Engine and Transmission to run.
I am planning to pick up a junkyard 5.7 (or hopefully a complete car I can pull everything from) and doing at least a cam swap. Want to be in the ball park of 425 hp & tq.
For the engine, what year and model car/truck should I be looking for? Have I understood correctly that the earlier ones are easier to work with, but are more prone to issues. Then the 09+ have more to deal with electronically but the eagle heads are a big improvement.
Then I am wondering what transmission to go with. Seems like if i am using hotwire already, then using a nag1 or 5454rfe would be the way to go if I am willing to tackle the tunnel and cross member. I have read mixed reviews on which one of these would be better for what i am trying to do.
I am assuming that if I just keep it simple and just run a 727/904 I will be wishing I did the extra work for either one of the newer transmissions.
Not totally opposed to the a518/a500 but if i am going to do an overdrive swap, I'd like to use the shifter and slap stick from the donor car.
Thanks in advance for all the help and input!