Why would you want to put a V-8 into this car?
When they were new, even ROAD AND TRACK magazine considered the 6 cylinder with overdrive to be one of the greatest sleepers on the road! The performance specs ran circles around the Chrysler Hemi, Rocket 88 and even the Hudson 6 used on the stock car tracks in the early 1950's. The trick is to make sure the car is tuned up to factory spec and you drive it a bit on "restricted" courses to get the feel of the thing.
Granted it is not in the league of the Road Runners, GTO, Shelby Mustangs, etc, but hey, the HJ 6 runs on even today's regular and gets upwards of 30 MPG with the o/d
Jack mueller
Club Historian