Gene,
Yeah, I used the 57 to get the right wheel base measurements and figure out how much I need to cut from the Dakota. I was using the cab measurements t make sure everything else would fit close to how I expect and give me an idea of the brackets I need to make or move. The main reason I started down that rabbit hole is the 57 frame from the center of the front wheel to the front of the frame was about 7 inches longer and that got me wondering if the front grill and everything would fit the right way.

I was leaning towards a gen III hemi but I think I am going to stick with building a carbureted 360 and maybe stroking it. Most of the ones I can find are 2500-3K with 100k miles on them and that's just the engine. By the time I get a transmission and rebuild the 5.7 it would only be about 1000 to build a fresh 360 that I would put the first mile on, technically. That's probably something I should have decided before I started but I wasn't even sure the 5.7 was possible as easy as it is now until recently.