AJ's Opinion; Just for you 318 streeters

I'd say 9 times out of 10 most would be better off grabbing a running 5.9L magnum since it makes 300-320 hp in stock condition add small cam 360 hp easily and decent powerband 1000-5000 rpm. Second choice a 5.2L magnum same heads just a 4bbl cam headers away from making 400 hp, LS guys love 4.8L/5.3L they can make slightly more hp but the Magnum is what we got nothing stopping the chev guys from running small cid.

Secondly is getting traction in the street if your just building a tire burning throttle blip rocket than ya you want the most cid for low rpm torque.

But say you want a balanced driving experience, say got early 4 gear A body make it handle a little a want to rev through the gears and hook up well from a stop and not have crazy power so you can enjoy at street speed 0-80 mph so like 300-325 hp well a 5.9l magnum it makes that hp stock but it peaks at 4500 rpm cause its a truck engine.
Makes for a good daily driver and fun car but not a hot street machine that you can rev through the gears a 273/318 would fit the bill more on that one. Sure you could build a high revving 360 or 572 for that matter but hp gonna be so high your gonna have to drive 100 plus mph to enjoy or short blips of the gas that will melt tires at will.