I'd venture a guess that the average 302 with HCI and a decent driver could keep up with the stock modern muscle cars of today. For me the Fox is all about nostalgia and I love the body style and push rod sound when breathing through flowmasters. These cars become problematic for those that want to exceed the typical 302 w/ HCI and shoot for the moon only to land on jack stands in a lot of cases.yep yep
1. plan on getting mabe $.50 on the dollar for what you have invested if you sell
2. getting these cars to perform to what a stock muscle car of today does is often out of the budget of most guys. Getting a pushrod motor to 400+ reliable HP is easily $4-5k and then you need to address all the other components of the drivetrain- voila $10-20k.... and then you are afraid to drive it anywhere because it will get stolen/hit/breakdown etc.
I bought my current car for $5k and probably have another $6k in it, and it still has the stock brakes, 4 lug wheels, needs a better torque converter, and only makes about 350ish crank hp. I could easily drop another $3-5k ( vortech, 5 lug disc conversion, wheels,) but wondering if it's worth it at this point.
For me a stock long block with a Vortech or a 302 w/ HCI should keep the car fun, my wallet happy, and the car on the road. It won't be the fastest but it will be reliable, quick, and fun to drive.