Please tell me I made a smart commitment....

To be honest I don't *want* to do anything other than a 383 with this car....the only hesitation I have is that I spent so much money with this whole 360 deal I started on last year including parts/labor, that I'd almost want to throw it in the car just because--UNTIL I get some cash flow to really get the 383 project going.

I don't want to morph this car into something other than it is. Long term goal--original restoration. Short term goal-- get the interior squared away, a running motor/trans, decent paint job and make sure all the other under the scenes stuff is squared away.

Maybe I shouldn't be thinking that way with this car, I dunno...

Why not? Sounds like a plan, you can get it squared away and drive and enjoy it until you get the 383 done. It certainly isn't going to damage the car in any way by temporarily installing the 360.