Anyone watch the new engine masters?

I have a '65 Chevelle flipper project coming up. I did a bunch of pricing to see what I'd have to do to both LS swap it (EFI, 4L80E trans) and a 454/700r4 combination. Between buying everything to get it bolted in the car the cost was close to $14K. The 454 was $6K. In comparison a Gen3 swap I looked into a couple years ago was $17K, give or take. I'm sure these numbers can be beaten buy careful sourcing and some dedicated engineering that I wasn't taking into account on any of them. But with prices of an LA based driveline of similar output (this is say 400-500hp) being under $10K I can't see much savings if you have nothing to start with. The LS is s great engine. IMO better than the G3, but the parts are expensive for either option. At least by my definition.