I have heard also that 97's are particularly hard to swap compared to the 98-03's. I don't know why but that's what I've heard. Maybe you could email Morad or ZZP and see if they've done it and if so if it's really as hard as it's cracked up to be.
If nothing else, you could just buy a '97 l36 engine and mod the crap outta it before you put it back in!
_________________________
'97 SE with alot of mods