OEM or Mopar?

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the long absence. Had to take a medical break. They found and removed another tumor. Things are good right now. Just recovering and glad to be back talking about anything but medical crap.

I've been trying to decide what to power my project car with. I am doing a walk down memory lane. My first car was a 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk. I never got to finish the car. Some wise *** kids in the San Fernando Valley thought it would be funny to remove the caution cones and signs from a hole the gas company had dug in the roadway of Sherman Way Blvd. Not so funny when your car goes into a three foot wide, six foot deep hole. Kind of screws the frame up a lot. So I pulled the motor and put it in a cheapy Lark wagon I picked up and went out and set an NHRA N/S/A class record at two tracks in Southern California. But I never forgot the Hawk. I bought it at age fourteen and rebuilt it from the ground up. I did everythign including the automatic transmission myself. .090 over 289, self ported heads, pop up pistons, Howards cam made to my specs (dual pattern), two 2bbl carbs on a Wiend manifold, 4.56 gears and more. Proudest moment came in 1969 when I grew tired of all the "Stupidbaker" jokes and comments and challenged every member of the auto shop class and the whole school to a put up or shut up race at little lyons after school. Five races and fifty bucks later the Stupidbaker jokes were history. The only comments after that *** licking were "there's that Studebaker that beat the 57 shop car". Admiration replaced ridicule.

So here I am today. I have aquired a donor body. It's in rough enough shape that I won't mind modifiyng it. I plan a complete square tube frame. Alston front suspension. IRS rear suspension. Tilt fiberglass front end. But when it comes to power I get split between my first love, Studebaker, and the motivation that carried me through the years, Mopar. I have access to a hot 289 that just needs to be refreshed. I know that I want to use a 904 or maybe a late model Mopar auto with overdrive since this will be a road car. The car will also be set up for a five or six speed manual trans for those times when I just feel like Ronny Sox again. I also have access to a 360 Mopar running motor still in the car with 904 to boot. I have toyed with the idea of putting the 360 in a 1969 Mustang to make a FoPar for my wife. And the idea of using a Stude motor would be more in keeping with the nostalgia theme of the car. So I am soliciting ideas and thoughts from my A body buddies. Let'r rip!

Dan