"......It doesn't really encourage me to pull up to the track or the local hang out, pop the hood and look around only to see that everyone else has the same setup as I do......."

Yup you pull up to where-ever pop your hood and you have.......Drum roll please.......another SB Chevy

The SBC has been done to death with tons of both factory and aftermarket R&D. There are literally hundreds of proven combinations out there for this motor to make it do almost anything you want it to.

Just a sugestion from an old fart, figure out what you want the El Camino to actually DO then start looking at displacement, bore stroke combinations, power adders etc to make it do it. Their called proven combinations for a reason.