I read one of the car mags saying that the LS platform is going to be the 350 of the future for the hot rodding world. It's a great piece; even the basic 5.3 LS truck engine has all forged internals, 6 bolt mains, aluminum heads that will outflow any 1st gen small block, 290hp right out of the box, and you can buy great running ones from any salvage yard for $500 or $600 bucks. That's hard to beat.