I appreciate all of the feedback.
I picked up the pair of GT40p's for $100 then added the spring kit, so there isn't much invested. The valve job and cleanup was pretty easy as well with only 1 valve needing replacement. They weren't even very dirty. The 1.7s are a serious consideration.
I simply don't want to sink a lot into this engine until I figure out if I like it as much as I hope to. I daily drive a C7 Grand Sport, so I'm not even worried too much about reliability with this one, I just want a manual transmission car to rip around in and I always liked Foxbodies.
I'll certainly replace the oil pump and timing chain as those are cheap. I have head studs and ARP main cap bolts for it already as well as a new clutch assembly and a ton of spare and new parts (I bought a parts car that came with a mountain of brand new parts from Rock Auto that they tossed in). As I said, I will probably grab the 1.7s as well as some new pushrods once I know the length (I already have the solid lifter/adjustable PR to size it). I've build a number of engines over the years, Chevy, Mopar, even an Oldsmobile for a boat, but this is my first SBF and I don't know the platform the way I do the chevy's. I've also had some turbo cars before and even doen some minor tuning on them, so I'm not that intimidated by the boost side of things. I tend to start conservative.
I've also got a 4-post lift (I despise jack stands anymore) and I'm kitted out with tools and a 30x60 workshop as well, so an engine swap isn't really a huge problem if I want to go that way. The bigger time eater I think will be getting the Terminator X all wired up and working, and getting the turbo stuff fitted. That's easy to pull off later and swap on to a new long block. I really don't want to try to start up a brand new $$ build and have trouble getting it all working right, so I'd rather start that route with a used engine that I won't feel bad cranking over with little/no oil pressure 100 times before it starts.
If I find that this doesn't make me smile enough and I like the car, I'll probably build something from the ground up using either 1 of the 2 other shortblocks I have and replacing all of the internals with a new rotating assembly, or starting with a brand new Summit block and new rotating assembly. With that I would certainly do aluminum heads. This isn't meant to be a race car, it will probably hit the road 1 or 2 days a month (assuming my wife doesn't take it over
)
This is what it's going in BTW
