Reply to "big block vs small block"

Having been on the supply side of this equation, the bottom line is budget & goals. Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go? You may want as much as possible, but this most often is not realistic, unless your last name is Rockefeller.

The engine in Gary Hall's purple passion uses a Fontana block (mega $$$). Due to its 460 cubic inch displacement I would assume it is a tall block (351W deck height). I am not aware of any small block Ford that has been bored & stroked beyond 460 cubic inches. But isn't that enough?

If you want to swap motors, the 351W will swap the easiest, next would be the 400 like Gary's project (although the exhaust will be custom $$). next would come the 385 series because the parts to do the swap are off the shelf. The FE motor will be a custom job.

The 385 series (429, 460, 514) & FE (390, 427, 428) are longer than the 351C, 351W, 400, so you have to shove the tranny backwards & angle the half shafts more than they already are, this is not good, it will build heat in the U-joints and wheel bearings and shorten their lives.

your friend on the PIBB, George