yes, and no. i loves me some 318's but with his intended goal of 400hp that's just not feasible withing the constraints of the budget he's put forth. hence, 360.
if you read my other post, what it really hinges on is the 318 might be crap and starting out with a 360 could very well put him in a better position both financially and to meet his goal of 400hp. but again: we don't know. hence my suggestion to take it to the machine shop and find out, then make a battle plan from there.
i'm all about a 318 being great for a first build and it could turn into a fun little motor for not a lot of cash and a great experience... IF... the parts are viable; AND he resets his expectations HP wise.
play it out this way: say that 318 needs to go 40 over, there's 4~500 in pistons, and the crank needs turned 10/10, and the heads need a full tilt rebuild-- how much is that at the machine shop? a grand? so he's 1500 into a short block and heads that'll *maybe* support 300hp and he still needs a cam, timing chain, cover, intake, oil pan, oil pump and pick up.
fundamentally, when a 360 from the yard is $500 and you can get away with minimal or zero machine work then that's the play to make in this circumstance. yes, you'll still need some of those same parts: cam, oil pan, etx but the end goal of 400hp is substantially easier and cheaper to achieve.
anyway, at least the car's got discs on the front already.
thanks for coming to my ted talk.