273 swap to 318/ build, cost, potential, daily driver

Would you be able to elaborate how do you mean better off? As in readily available to find a good one worth building? Or overall period build potential for my needs? I don’t want to swap any parts off of the 273, just going to pretend it’s not here, so what’s involved in building the 5.2 or 5.9 for a basic cruiser? Trans options? Exhaust issues? Thank you for chiming in!
Easier to find a good core. The LA stuff is getting really old.