I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but the 400 small blocks are not necessarly the best engine to start with for a major preformance build. The bottom ends of these engines do not generally hold up well at decent HP levels, plus the availability of hardcore parts to build "huge horse power and torque" is somewhat limited.

Personally, if your planning on a street strip car you might look into starting with a 460. These engines are readily available (you can often but a whole car for next to nothing). With the larger displacement you can easily put out equal or greater power with fewer mods (more streetability) than you would be able to from the 400. Additionally this 460 is better supported by the aftermarket parts suppliers.

I know it's tempting to think it's going to be cheaper to use an engine that you already have than to start fresh with something else, but often in the long run if you spend say $1000 more to get the same HP figures are you really saving anything?