Crate 360 vs DIY Built

I highly recommend this old Petersen book; it has a ton of general rebuilding info on cars of this era and shows lots of illustrations that helps you understand general operating principles, and includes a section on engine overhauling. I learned a ton from this book; it does not have everything on every car, but it has so much info that you can usually get started in the right direction from this.

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300 HP and 20 mpg is doable, you just need to go with a torque motor build with a torque cam and good breathing mods (mild porting, moderate sized valves, headers with long collectors or H pipe, good intake manifold), not a cam with lots of duration and overlap and a wild lope that is made for lowest et's on the strip. Compression ratio in the 9.5 to 10 range tops (with today's fuels). Light valve train parts and good lifters that won't tend to pump up will help you rev to 6k. Have the bottom end balanced with the right external parts, rods prepped (you can find best info for this engine on this forum I bet), journals polished, perhaps rods and crank shot peened, and everything in the bottom end measured and re-measured for clearances, and then you can rev without fear. I'd stay away from high RPM stall torque converters, and no steep rear gearing is needed on the street; you can do fine with a tall rear gear in the low 3's range with an auto trannie; moderate level of shift kit in the trannie. 600 cfm vacuum secondary carb will do adequately and keep good mileage. Put $$ into good internal engine parts and all new stuff, including oil pump, distributor, timing chain & gears.