Yeah,Your gona need all the power you can get if you want to race those.

 

Ill be close to the trans am as t's a stock GTO motor, other than the heders that is. The corvette i probably wont be able to touch but it'll still be fun to race.

 

Take a 454 Block and put a 396 Crank in it to build a 427. The 427 is the Cheapest HP/Dollar Engine GM ever made. No External Ballancing and the Pistons are cheaper and they like to rev.

 

if you're looking for handling as well as performance, you are on the right path with a mouse motor. it you went big block (which I love) you have to try to find weight savings and suspension changes which only brings the build cost way up and then you still have a tough time trying to get back to a close 50/50 front/rear weight ratio

these days you can't beat GM for a crate engine

 

Don't know how much You can spend, but an aluminum head big block will handle almost as well as the small block and make EL GRANDE horsepower and torque. 502 Crate with aluminum heads is killer.