[neon_rt]

If I had a '98 Truck (that was paid for) and $10,000 in my pocket to spend, I would probably trade in the truck for one with a Hemi in it and go from there. I've seen Hemi powered 1500's on used car lots for $15,000. It seems like a better value to trade the '98 and $10000 for one of those.
As far as the 6.1 goes, I doubt if you could ever find one at any price to buy unless you have some real connections somewhere or are willing to buy an SRT-8 just for the motor. I saw in a news article somewhere that Chrysler buys back wrecked SRT-8's so the 6.1 won't be available except through them.