Is that right? What was it used in? As we all know, the 340 rolled on in the A-Bodies (and B-Bodies) through '73 (though with a cast crank, etc)...and it wasn't until '74 that we got the 360.
I never said that the motor couldn't be made to be high performance...but imagine what your buddy could do with more cubes, higher compression, four bolt mains, a forged crank, or any of the other goodies on the earlier 340s. I loved my 318. It was always smooth, torquey and reliable but it had the manners of an engine suited to family hauling duty rather than a$$ hauling duty.
Rebuilding/hotrodding my original 318 is still on the table as suitable donors don't appear to be especially plentiful in the CT area....but given the choice, I'd prefer to start with a more high performance, bigger cube platform.