Heres the best thing about a MoPar motor;
The intake manifold, RPM and the air gap model as well was given some of the highest praise by not only Vic Edelbrock as the finest intake of all the small block engines, but Dick Landy also said it was a fantastic peice.
The only down fall is price, in which, if it isn't a chevy, your paying more period. (Fact)
Why go the "Me too" route on an Chevy engine?
Also, Chevy pays for 18* heads. We have them stock with a stronger valve train. (Fact) Oh, also, a stock 340/360 head with 2.02 have been known to run into the low 12's without porting. A bodies are very good for this since there light and lighten up better than most cars.
Our stock blocks are stronger than there race blocks. (Fact)
.904 lifter, something the Chevy engine pays big for. This larger lifter allows much much more aggressive cam profiles. (Fact)
727, stupidly strong tranny
904, quicker in the 1/4 while useing less power, it will need a bit of beefing to equal the strength of the 727, so don't short sell it.
The 360 is an excellent choice for a street or strip. The longer stroke of 3.58 is really good for torque. 4.00 carnks kits are out there and at a good price worth looking into.
The 318 can be bored out preety far if it sonic checks for a .060 bore. That will get you close to the 4.00 mark. This would be a good thing to check out if it is possible to avoid valve shrouding and a larger valve. (1.88 intake)
At this point, the 318 becomes a good canidate for a high performance engine. (Not that you need to .060 over.)