1,200 HP FOR UNDER $3,500
Hot rodders are at a crossroads of sorts. New performance machinery from the factory is not only getting a lot more powerful, but also mighty expensive too. Folks with well-endowed wallets are gobbling up Detroit’s latest 500-, 600-, 700-, and 800-horsepower machines with gusto, leaving the regular-guy, DIY hot rodder on the side of the road playing catch-up. And it’s only going to get worse as the inevitable flood of uber-powerful EVs hit the road en masse. For those with gasoline in their veins, like it or not, the bar for what’s considered fast is now a lot higher. Mopar fans, however, are fortunate to have in their corner the third-generation Hemi, a powerplant that’s been in production for 20 years now.
Stellantis’ predecessor, Chrysler, put plenty of latent capability in its third-gen Hemi V8 architecture, and these engines are ubiquitous in salvage yards across the country. The largest variant, the 392ci Hemi, is made in two basic versions: passenger car (“Apache”) and truck (“BGE,” or big gas engine). The parts are largely the same, but the BGE truck version of the 392 (2014-present) is not only more prevalent (and thus less expensive as a used core), but also incrementally better in some critical areas, like the cylinder heads and block. If you’re a Mopar fan on a thin dime, and you want to leapfrog over the sea of belly-button Hellcat Hemis, Camaro ZL1s, Shelby Mustangs, and Corvette ZR1s (not to mention the onslaught of 800hp EVs in the wings), a junkyard 392 Hemi is what you’re gonna want.
While we discovered our junkyard 392 Hemi in a local wrecking yard for just $400, we know little about the 2016 Ram 2500HD it came from, other than the fact that the engine wouldn’t run before it was taken out. It’s a better-than-average deal, and when we spoke with a representative of EngineQuest Cores & Recycling we discovered that BGE 392 cores typically sell for $1,000-$1,500, still a relative bargain compared with a salvaged Hellcat Hemi and associated kit for around
