LS engine in a V code challenger ?

['Cuda Hunter]

They are more prolific than the original small block chevys and they seem to be showing up in everything because they are cheap power. I can appreciate the cheap and the power part, hell, I have a Suburban with one in it and I used to race chevys, but I just get tired of seeing them pop up in everything from street rods to late models and being emblazoned across the masthead of nearly every magazine as the end all-be all. FWIW, at the 50k mile mark, my late model Hemi in my truck feels stronger than the late model LS in my Suburban. Easy power is out there n other makes, it just costs more.  Like ragtopdodge said, its stupid what we have to pay for power.

The irony of this build is they opt for the LS because it is cheap, easy power, but then they hack up an expensive car to use a cheap power source and say that the restrictive timeline is why they did what they did. Really? It just doesn't add up to me, especially since early in the build, there was consideration of using a retired Dodge Nascar  motor. There is more going on behind the scenes than someone is admitting to, or the builder/owners are really that uneducated about the Mopar market and the E body segment specifically. I really wonder if this car isn't a rebody with a V code vin that the market has collectively shunned, in which case why not hack it up and piss off everybody who ever questioned it.

I'm really not opposed to wildly modified cars. I loved the Allan Johnson G Force Cuda, while most here did not. They kept the engine make to make which keeps the heart and soul of the car in alignment. Cross pollination of makes just doesn't feel right to me and that includes putting small block chevys into pre-war Fords as well. Just because its cheap and easy doesn't mean its right.

Thanks for answering.  I can totally agree.

[Haddixj]

I like the car. It is something someone wanted to build and then it looks good for what it is turning in to. Who knows what the future plans are for it. I know if they plan on any decent amount of boost the new Hemi is out on the stock short block. The Ls motor can take a beeting and if it dies $500 later you have a new short block. If they are building this car to race then it makes sense to make the most amount of power the cheapest way. Failure will happen in a race car.
I went through this when I built my race car. It is a moly tube chassis with a 70 duster body on it. I had no motor or trans for it but did have an old bbc. Ran it blew it up and built a new motor  BBC based dart block brodix heads for 10k and that was assembled and dynoed. That can't happen with mopar. Any one that says it can has never done it with all new parts.
I will more then likely restore my 71 cuda back to factory but I may put the 6.1 hemi I have along with a passon trans and make it really fun to drive.

[HP2]

Any oval or road course racing I've been involved in mandated make to make engine families. They aren't like the wide open world of bracket and Super class drag racing.

However, given the mods to it, I doubt it would be eligible for most road racing classes, short of NASA's American Iron Extreme class, and the lack of a cabin cage and its subsequent bracing tells me that isn't its intended application. This is a Goodguys racer at best. Maybe they are gunning for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge.