Worth it to build my 273?

I like the idea of building the smaller engines, I'm finishing up a 318 for my EL5 Dart that should be pretty fun, hopefully around 350 hp. But I'm not hoping for 12's, I just want to have fun and still be able to drive it everyday.

If you really have to get in the 12's to have fun, then you should probably look at a bigger engine. The 273 would probably get you to the mid 13's, maybe even low 13's, without a ton of trouble. But 12's are a different story. Not saying you couldn't do it, I'm sure it can and has been done. But at that level it would cost more and probably wouldn't be as fun (or easy) to drive on the street. Just depends on what you want.

Now, where are you in CA? I can make you a heck of deal on a '74 360 (its in the classifieds)... :D