I thought the Hemi would give it a bit more oomph and look badass under the hood.....That coupled with the thought of getting a fresh 331 Hemi for $1200.....I really just want it to be able to keep up with traffic on the thruway 65 - 70 mph comfortably. Like I said, this car is going to be used as it was meant to be during the summer....an almost daily driver. Picnics, park trips, beach runs camping.....It's going to be babied, but it's going to be used. The pic you posted looks almost exactly like mine, except mine has skirts, a visor, wide whites with baby moons, I can't see the front, but mine has 50's period fog lights and bumper overriders. It's also been lowered 2". I gotta say... I like that body better than the one they came out with for '49! I'm not going to do anything with the tranny that would require modifying the column, mounting out of place floor shifters, or anything like that. I love the look of the dash/wheel/interior in general too much to go screwing around with it. As more and more of these cars get hacked up and modernized, it leaves precious few originals out there. Although mine isn't "original" it wouldn't take much to get it back there.....I personally have an affinity for the look and feel rods of our fathers, although I may consider a brake upgrade for safety reasons-maybe power discs..... anyone know what's out there interchange wise?