Waking Up a Turd

There was a lot of good information in the previous posts. I used to have the same truck with a 360 and it last ran at Medicine Hat 10 or so years ago, its a good track.
25 years ago I don't remember to many 10.1 pistons readily available , TRW Domes , Diamond , and some flat tops (Claimers , used a lot of these)were common and KBs were coming out or were quite new from what I remember.
The best thing to do is figure out your intended use ,highway , cruiser , track or Friday nights , from there your tire , gear , and converter. A good converter is going to cost so factor that in.
The truck I mentioned had 4.30 with 28 inch ET streets and I drove it around the city for a season and it was fine for me but each to their own. Good luck with the build!!