Is a 69 Yenko COPO camaro faster than a stock 69 with a 427 dropped in it? No but the Yenko is worth about 4X the latter. Its all in the name or production numbers. 340 is a bored out 318 with 360 heads...or 2.02's. Destroke a 360 and bore it .040 over. Add 340 slugs and go to town with only a larger main bearing. Heck add Hamburger bearing spacers and run a 318 poly crank, balance and go. Nothing mystical about a 340 'cept the short production run and higher compression of the early ones.. Everything else is a bolt on factory part. I agree, a 318 dollar per dollar is far and away a better value being the block is about the only difference in a build assuming pistons are going to be replaced anyway.