The PT is a tall car, which makes it easy to get into and outof, a good thing for us old folks!
I'm building another single-person car that is VERY low slung, more for long daily commutes than a grocery-getter, so getting in/out isn't so often.
More research,
Chrysler 3.3 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia basically is the 3.3 and 3.8 are the same, and current so a 3.8 would be a good swap into the PT. HP and Torque similiar to the 2.4 Turbo. Put a turbo on the 3.8 and you'd get too much power. The wiki says the SRT-4 motor has different plumbing than the PT-GT. One for sale locally for $2.5K with only 8k miles, not cheap, but still alot of work to get into the PT.
Hate to disappoint, but right now taking the ghetto approach, and patching up my head, and got a 2.4L block from a '96 stratus at the pick-n-pull to get the car running again. It's a slightly different block, gonna try to make it work and get the car running again while I consider more options in the future.