Big handicap: the Ricardo quench head was still under patent, and you couldn't make a better head unless you:
1. paying him for a license
2. don't sell any
3. ruin the quench so it appears the same but doesn't work.
The Hudson 308 is not only very big but also has much racing research to draw on rather than starting from square 1.
There's another larger motor in your Dodge family: the Chrysler 265".
Much of the design work done on the Ford V8 now turns out to be dead ends, black swans, coincidence etc.
Read up on the KR motor.
