How to choose an engine

  Every speed freak loves to talk motors. You'll notice once you listen long enough to the old timers that certain motors seem to make more power than the laws of physics say they should. The prime example of this is the 340 Chrysler. Another example would be the 327 chevy. These are motors that I stay away from. They come from a time when manufacturers didn't worry about emissions or reliability. Since the power is in the heads and cam you should instead build the biggest motor available within the design or brand you want to put in your car. 340 Chrysler motors have mostly been rebult 2 or 3 times by now and resto guys pay a premium for a good 340 core. Instead buy a cheap smogger 360 and put the power parts on it, you'll make more torque and power and spend less coin.  Instead of building a 327, build a 350 or a 400.
  The next lesson it took me awhile to learn is to go big block if at all possible. Once you've built a big block you never go back. The same rule applies here as above. Don't build a 396 when you can build a 454 for the same price and don't build a 429 when you can build a 460. The 460 Ford is one of my favorite engines. This marvel of torque production is sitting in every autowrecker in the country for cheap and most likely will get crushed because no one buys it! I have bought running late 70's lincoln's with 460's for 100 dollars! A few years ago i built a 460 with used pistons, a used wieand stealth intake and a mild crane cam and some unported cylinder heads and ran 12.2 @ 112 in what used to be a 4 banger 87 mustang. This is an extremely easy and cheap swap.  Everyone says chevy is the cheapest but no way. Not when talking big blocks. You can build a huge stroker 460 up to like 557 cubes and still use a stock block.  You need an aftermarket block to go much over 500 cubes in a chevy.  The 454 chevy is an awesome motor but good cores are getting hard to find. You can find all the 460's you want for $100 each any day of the week. 
  So to wind up todays ultra enlightening auto propaganda remember : Go Big!
over and out.

Oh yeah - one other tidbit, Chrysler guys are all pack rats. Most of them that have been in the mopar game for awhile have a huge shed or backyard right full of rare mopar stuff that they will die holding on to. They would rather let it rust away than sell it. When building 340's you need lots of spare parts because they blow up all the time. This should get some comments, no swearing please!