Need a little guidance from the gurus

Due to life (moved and a new baby), my garage time on my Valiant has been reduced to zero over the last year. This may have been a blessing in disguise, as it has given me a lot of time to read and research as to what I want to do (amazed at the knowledge on this site).

Here is where I am at:

I am working on a relatively tight budget, but am realistic on what I want out of the car; a snappy daily driver.

I have found a couple of motorhomes with 360's and 440's with low miles and low $$$$, so I am thinking of going that route. Been trying to find some info on what type of rear ends they had on those chassis (my guess is several types) but hoping I can find one with a Dana 60 (if they exist) to modify to replace the 7 1/4". If not, either a pick up rear end or a ford 8.8 and modify those. 8 3/4" are just too hard to find and way to expensive.

If I go the 440 route (I reaallly want to), I have a pretty good idea what needs to be done from reading all the threads. Only thing I can't seem to find is info on a 727 column shift with the headers; can this be done?

Any advise or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, looking forward to getting back in the garage here soon :burnout: