Easy to have the web convince you that 10-15k is needed to have a fun st car
Been debating a reasonable build for this L82 block I picked up and got to thinking why not do something fun without breaking the bank?

List stuff you had that ran exceptionally well without crazy expensive stuff.
All of these were "leave the hood shut" reliable

-10.3: 1 350
Camel humps with larger valves minimal blending
Isky 280 Mega cam
Holley 300-36 (Z/28 copy) dual plane
650 DP Cheap 1-5/8 headers

1970 Z/28
Fresh but stock, ported heads GM 140 cam
Stock manifolds smog pump etc
Stock rocker arms, dailied/abused it for years never gave me any trouble. Honest 13 sec car

-11:1 327 same head with a good home port job
Iskys solid version of the 280 (cant remember the grind#)
In a 63 swc with 4.11 that car was unreal for what it was

10:1 400 GM block
Some old world heads with some cleanup
Used weiand dual plane
750 DP
Generic HFT 234/244 112 (performer RPM) cam
Tire smoke in any gear was in a 65 Camino 4 spd undergeared

11:1 327
SSI 280 cam HFT 480/230/280 109lsa GM lifters
Torker, 600dp
Ran stock manifolds
462 heads stock
While not a barnstormer drove it daily for years was probably a low 14/high 13second car as I had tall gears in it.
Every part on that engine was used except for the cam

96 LT4 392rwhp
Home ported stock heads
Hotcam
Ported stockintake
Shorty headers
12.6 in Ca air, passed Ca smog Laid waste to my 90 ZR1

86 Iroc 350 swap
$950 Shortblock from Coast motor supply Canoga Park Ca
Paid $100 for a forged piston upgrade
$1000 performer Edelbrock heads minor cleanup
Lunati 256 voodoo HFT cam
Ported stock TPI base, aftermarket runners
Shorty smog legal headers
Passed Ca smog smooth idle and pulled every bit as hard as a 383..that was 15 yrs ago still going. Did it as kind of a joke didnt plan on it lasting long. 13 sec car all day and aside from a "Throaty" exh note had no lope at all.

10ish:1 396
Ported ovals
Crane (may have been Crower)HFT cam was roughly 236/24x 112lsa
Dual plane, 800 vs too tall a gear
DD that for many years pulled rediculously hard in any gear

 

I like the way you think.

Built a 350 with better heads, flat tops, and a Crane 284 with the Holley 300-36 intake and some $50 Eagle headers. It was impressive and reliable. This was a long time ago but it still puts a smile on my face thinking about it now.

 

Thx...cant make up my mind on what to do with this block...not like $ is flowing anymore and not sure Id trust this solid roller indefinitely. no reason not too just a weird feeling. So why not keep it simple and cheap is my thinking...it was more fun as hurting it was no big con$equence

May have settle on something similar as the convertible below...only a slightly different cam and a ported set of Chinese heads such as I have in the fs section. Those blowers are dirt cheap these days
Engine never turned enough rpm to hurt itself

Brings to mind 2 others, not mine
Friends 70 Chevelle convertible
Cheapest Speed o motive cast crank kit with a good balance job
882 heads with 2.02 valve, good valve job thats it. STock rocker arms
Isky 264 mega cam, headers
B and M 4-71 blower
Pulled a 3.08 gear (T400) incredibly well...textbook wrong combo but i was impressed with the amount of torque and how far it carried. Can only imagine it wiht a head that was 100+cfm better! That one appeals to me most as a backup motor for my 'El..miss the longer fwy trips.

Other was a guy id buy parts from sometimes. 70 A body also
He would buy a Goodwrench shortblock, re gap the rings; some old brodix heads that had been fixed a million times
Large SFT cam and loads of nitrous, if he broke it he would stick pretty much any shortblock under it and do it again. Ran 10s/low 11s on the bottle. Was a pooch NA but did the job
Back then it was considered pretty fast (early 90s)

 

Cheap reliable performance ... used or new ... OE iron L31 roller Vortec motor with a swap to larger roller cam ...

... And since you're porting offshore heads now ... Sell it's L31 Vortec heads & fit yours ... or swap Vortec's springs-retainers & run them.