1971 factory 318

Any thoughts would be appreciated............ok.

If you can here it run and it runs good and you see no smoke then.......

Check the bearings on one rod and one main bearing, if they look good run it.

Buy a good cam with a set of performance valve springs,intake,carb and a mopar performance ignition ,headers ----and your all set.

Don't over think it.......the major difference between a stock engine and a performance engine is not in the pistons and or short block.
It's everything else just mentioned.