Engine Suggestions

I'm about to start the buildup on a 1981 Chevy C/K 1500 Shortwide, stepside, 2wd. I'm having trouble deciding on what engine setup to go with. My dad has an old 327 out of a '68 Nova SS he said that he would give me. That sounded like a good idea at first but now I'm not so sure. At least it's a free start.......But I was also thinkin' about building up a 383 stoker motor. The idea is to have a street truck with some punch. In the 430-500 hp range with about the same on torque. I'm only 20 and this is my first build so I don't want to get too crazy. I'd like to keep it pretty simple and and like everyone else keep it as cheap as humanly possible. I know the 73-87 Chevy trucks have a lot of room under the hood and I'd love nothing more than to put a 496 in it, but that probably isn't something I can afford right now. My buddy has a '67 Firebird 400 convertible with 433 on hp and 450 on torque and he blows my '04 5.3 regular cab Chevy outta' the water everytime........I'm ready to do something about it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Speed-O-Motive makes a 383 kit for the small journal 327 block. Check it out, then check out these dyno-proven small block Chevy combinations. Go through and pick out the 383 builds and pay attention to the max torque and the rpm's where it comes in.
http://www.speedomotive.com/ps-30-8-...3-cid-kit.aspx
http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html

The '68 327 block should have large journals. It's just a 350 block with a 3.25" crank.