392 swap vs 340/416 build

The Gen3s are great engines, but are not without their problems and weaknesses. I had started my build with a 440-6 when the Gen3s came out. I especially fell in love with the 6.1 SRT-8s. I got rid of the 440 and bought a Gen3 crate engine. I intended to do minimal if not no cutting on my no-rust, really clean '69 Cuda. Was going to keep it clean, simple and minimal cost.

Despite what some will tell you, if you want to do the job right, with everything fitting like it would if it were a 416, no rubbing; vibrations; rattles; dented header tubes, etc. etc. it's going to take you a lot of time and considerable money. If you're OK with a "project" car that you can't drive for years, a Gen3 IS a really nice engine, except for it's short falls. If you want to build and engine, drop it in a drive it, stay with you 416 build.

While I am looking forward to finishing my car and enjoying it someday (I'm building it to look and drive like it was factory engineered to be there) I would have to seriously re-considered my original decision to go Gen3. If I had stuck with my original plan, I would have been driving it for the last 5 years or more.