[DETON8R]

Go with a small block Chevy. There are more parts and set-ups than you could ever imagine, mild to wild to insane. There are a ton of how to books, how to hot rod books, and other info available, check ebay or amazon for those kinds of books used, the info never goes bad. The parts are very-very plentiful, and the are so many used parts that are such a deal, and there are more configurations then you could possibly imagine. Again mild to wild parts and cheaper than LS or BBC parts.

I've been told by a couple of machine shop owners in the San Francisco Bay Area that their business base for SBC machine work has dried up for everything except race engines, because there are so many companies like Summit and Jegs that sell crate motors or rebuild kits so cheap that nobody uses a machine shop for a full rebuild any more. They get jobs boring and honing blocks, align hones, block and head decking, head work now and then, but the days of top to bottom SBC machining and rebuilds is long gone. Might be a different story where you are, but around here that is the way things work here.

If I was going to do a small block, I'd find a nice 4 bolt main core, then source a kit with crank, rods, pistons, and cam kit for my needs, then select some ported heads, aftermarket or ported OEM heads, and go that way.

Another option is to call around to a few machine shops or speed shops and put the word out that you want a good core SBC. There are LOTS of rebuild-able core engines with a ton of speed parts out there, and there are a LOT of car owners that are replacing not-very-old SBC low mileage carburetor engines that have all the goodies you would want in a SBC with a more modern EFI engine, and they can be had on the CHEAP. With a quick tear down and minimal machine work, an engine like that could be freshened up and brought back to life without a ton of money, and you can put it back together the way you want it.