I couldn't ask this on a Chevy forum, everyone would give a knee-jerk "350" reaction. I know this isn't purely Dodge, but I have a 85 El Camino body and I can't decide which is the overall best choice. I know the 400 will drop right in, but finding one is the hard part, while getting one aftermarket is somewhat pricey. The 360 short block could come from a totalled truck, send the block and stroker kit to a machine shop and get some aftermarket heads. But, the 408 won't just slide in, and I have no idea how much fab work that will require. Either engine will be aftermarket EFI, and I plan on using Keisler's six-speed manual transmission. I don't to use a 350 because I kept tripping over at the last car show, and the engines I want are bigger (I'm honestly not trying to compensate for anything). If anyone can help or suggest something like how to wedge a 6.1 HEMI in there . . .

 

keep a chevy a chevy and a dodge a dodge. why do you want to drop a 400 in it? you could bore and stroke a 350 to a 383 with as much power, if not more, easily with aftermarket parts

 

Well I for one think that slamming a Mopar stroker 408 small block into this thing would be sweet. The Keisler t56 Magnum is the aftermarket version of the TR6060 that the Challenger SRT-8 uses from what I've seen in studying it. Which means it should bolt right up to a 6.1 Hemi. Mopar Performance has a full wiring harness and ECU kit to allow installation of one of these engines into any chasis you like. So basically all you need from there would be to solve any clearance issues that you may have (firewall, transmission floor tunnel, inner wheel wells, steering gear, brake booster, etc... if there are any issues in the first place) new motor mounts, probably custom headers, custom crossmembers, a customized driveshaft and you should be up and running with the 6.1L/Keisler T56 Magnum combo. basically the same stuff if you decide to drop in a 408 stroker (bellhousings from what I understand are available) and those things can make some outrageous power when built right! But, you won't want a block from a magnum style engine to build it with as these blocks are all thin walled cylinders. If you went Mopar you'd have a seriously powerful and seriously durable engine. Lots of pros and cons from both the Mopar and Chevy stables. Too many to discuss. But Yeah I think a Hemi Powered Elk would be awesome!

 

454 big block!

 

hmmm, almost a year old, lol

 

lol never noticed that ^

 

lol....i see these old threads come up a bit latly

 

Oops! My bad! Wasn't paying attention to the date code!

 

dont worry about it...happens all the time

 

hell buy my 396 .30 over got all the power you'll need and then some, i built it to be a torque monster but its in pieces right now and you could change a few things, but a big block will fit, i had the same motor mounts for my 396 that came factory for the 305 that was previously in there, theres really 4" of difference between a small block chevy and a big block, now if you were tryin to weasel this in say oh a monza then yeah your going to have some fit issues, but not an el camino theres plenty of room.