392 & 8hp70 65 Valiant

Ok, after hurting another couple pistons and some sleepless nights of contemplation the turbo 408 is gone! It was a hard decision to give up on the turbo’d small block but I have decided that even when it was together and running (it was fun!) it wasn’t the vision I had for the car. So I decided to sell everything I had that pertained to a small block and 727 to help pile a stack of cash the size of the trump tower and start a Gen3 hemi build. I was tired of piecing together stuff to “make it work for now” and trying to get by with alternatives. I’ve been working on this for the last year, haven’t gotten as far as some but I’m not in a rush to cut corners and push to get it on the road. I want to do it right and make sure it’s solid to jump in and drive anywhere I’d like to go. I picked up a 2020 6.4 BGE and an 8hp70 8 speed from a guy I found on facebook, that was a pretty interesting experience LOL. It was supposed to be a low mile take out that I was going to put a cam in and run. After looking it over and disassembling the engine to a short block to get ready for the cam I decided that it was the appropriate time to just go through it and make it reliable with some quality parts. At this point the engine has made it through all the machine work and is ready for reassembly. I’ve got the transmission cleaned up and ready to mate to the fresh engine. With the cam and piston/rod upgrade I’ve got a 1320 challenger converter to keep it all working together nicely. While waiting for the engine to show up (6 months) I trimmed the front frame rail flanges, cleaned up extra holes and unnecessary stuff on the firewall and started to source what I needed to get a heater back in the car.

What did you find in this advertised low mile take out that made you decide to rebuilt it?

Would like to know what to look for. Areas of concern. And what to expect from these "take out" motors.

Thanks for the post and great pictures :thumbsup: