Well, I understand where you are coming from about the 400. I already have a 400 that I paid $200 for. It is standard bore and will clean up at .020 which is good. Eventually I want to buy a dart block anyways when I have a little better financing. This particular 400 is just for me to have some fun for a little while until I either A) Move up to a big block or B) Buy a 400 Dart block. I'm not even going to spend a whole crap load of money on this motor. The way I break it down is kinda like this:

Block & Machine work: $200 plus $225 for deck/bore/dip/freeze plugs/cam bearings.

Pistons: Hypereutetic $200ish, I might be able to get a forged set from my machinist for around $250 so that's something to think about.

Crank: Cast Steel SCAT $203.00, I've asked about this and these cast steel cranks are supposed to be really good.

Rods: 5140 Steel "I" Beam with arp bolts for $180.00

Add that all up and I've got a pretty good shortblock complete for $1008 dollars give or take a few bucks. (if these prices look abnormally low, it's because I buy all my engine parts from a wholesale place out of Kansas City called Motorville/Star Performance)

I'm going to use my heads off the 350 that I had in the car (441 Castings), I'll buy a new intake manifold, I really like the Professional Products Crosswind Series Manifold. It's pretty cheap and it has some pretty good reviews on it.

As for the carburator, I'll be buying a Demon from motorville but I still need to figure out the CFM that I need and the type of carb that I need.

That's kind of the idea I had in mind, I'm not sure how realistic my goals are of a mid 7 1/8 miles are but I'm trying to break into the drag racing scene and the only way to do that is to try it out.