by fbernard » 19 Jan 2007 10:56
I second Dave on that, the car would be more period-correct with a stroked small-block (or simply a well-built 360 or 340).
For a stroker, I'd rather buy a complete engine though, and store the original away.
Since you're doing a rotisserie resto, you're probably not aiming for strip use (for which a big-block would be nice), or road racing (for which a small-block is the only way to go - I should know, I'm trying to race a big-block and I end up mowing the lawn at each turn). You're probably going to invest quite a bit of cash and time in this, so you might as well rebuild the car as it was originally delivered.
As far as resale value goes, the fact that 70 and 71s are going throuh the roof will eventually drag the prices upward for 72 and later models -it has started already), even if they are not expensive yet (think about the 71- charger prices - a few years ago, nobody wanted them)
Of course, you could also have the bodywork made the classical way, and the drivetrain built for fun. In that case, save the engine and trans for later (you don't want to crack the matching numbers block or blow the original trans) and have a reputable shop build you a small-block and trans.
If you just want to use it on the street, rebuild the original drivetrain (I'd go for internal balancing though, Ma Mopar was a bit cheap on engine internals in the mid 70s).