318 Build? Help!

the key to this whole endeavor is two fold: making power down town (ie under 5K) and maximizing the the parts to work together in the best possible way.

i like the idea of the bumping up what is surely dismal compression with either of those pistons and pairing them up with those 596's, with the stealth up top and a reasonably sized carb that should provide excellent throttle response, and a modicum of fuel economy (i mean, what there is to be had from pushing that brick thru the air).

the trick here is going to be the cam and resisting the urge to go big. i would 100% pick something with a split pattern that is around 450 lift with sub 270 duration. the old purple shaft P4452759 was an absolute gem for a build like this with 430"/.450" lift, 260/268 duration 110LSA. heck, even a stock 360 2bbl cam would do well.

with something like this, the devil can be in the details. your tune needs to be spot on, and that starts with the distributor. get it curved properly for the upgrades you've done and the type of driving you'll do- this part is far more important that what kind of box is sending the sparkle pixies to the end of the line. you can free up some HP with an electric fan, duct in cool fresh air, utilize lightweight components where you can. i don't know how married you are to the block huggers, but some tri-y's would probably be a much better fit producing more low and midrange power. ounces add up to pounds and in the same way a few hp here, a few there from some simple tricks and you could be realizing 20+ hp right in the meat of your operating range.