Torque Monster !

Torque in a NA engine is gonna greatly dependent on displacement. Most well built street strip level builds is gonna be 1.15:1 to 1.25:1 lbs ft per cubic inch. Which puts you between 575 to 675 depending on displacement.

But what really matters is hp, a engine that makes peak torque of 625 lbs ft at 3000 rpm vs one at 6000 rpm, the one making it at 6000 rpm is gonna have about twice the hp.

Besides budget 1st is I’d decide how much power You want to make, and with street level cam and cr will be around 1.8 hp per cfm of head flow with 10.5:1 cr and a 285 is cam. And start to narrow down parts selection from there.

The larger the cid the lower the powerband will happen, needing less gear and stall. For a good street engine you’d probably want to keep displacement around 1:1 to 1:2 hp per cid if it’s more street strip or full race you can go higher. If you go under 1:1 it’s gonna be more like a truck engines powerband.

so 500 cid would be good between 500 to 600 hp and 575 to 625 lbs ft. Which is gonna need a head that flows between 270 - 340 cfm to hit those numbers.