Welcome etothepii, I do not think there really is a clear cut definition for a hot rod so whatever you want is what you should do, always build the car your way not what someone else wants (its your money and your car). Now for those that really want to put a big motor in a little British car why not go all out like this guy and drop a 460 into a Spitfire, at least you will not have any trouble smoking the tires on it. Here is a site full of little car/Big motor conversions.http://britishv8.org/swaps/examples.htm
My dad is big into LBC's and has a number of them http://www.my4lbc.com/