Hi guys! New to the forums, not new to Chevys but new to the sbc. I had an LS1 Camaro and then an LS2 GTO before I went to the dark side and had a couple fox bodies. Now I'm back on the bow tie scene with an 87 MC SS. It has a factory rebuilt 4 bolt 350 in it, converted to carb, pretty healthy, but bone stock. It's mated to a rebuilt 700R4 (yes I have paperwork for both) I'm looking to make a few more ponies without adding a blower or nitrous. 400 would be nice, but maybe that's aiming a little high. This car will be a street/strip car with the emphasis on street. I'm not worried about gas mileage or passing smog, just want something that idles nicely, sounds mean and goes like hell through the entire powerband (or at least most of it)
Now, like I said I'm not too familiar with these engines, so at the moment I'm debating between doing a new high comp rebuild, or throwing a small blower on it, or just doing heads, cams, intake & carb, but leaning more toward the latter option unless you guys suggest something else. If I just do H/C/I & carb my budget is about 3k, but I suppose I can stretch it out if necessary. Obviously the budget gets bigger if I do one of the first two options, but that's a big reason I'm leaning toward the last option; don't really intend to go broke on this thing.
So my question; what is the best street/strip H/C/I/carb combo I can put together on this thing so I no longer feel like I'm riding around in granny's chevy?