i bought a truck so that i can start building a 350 for the 'maro. the car will be soley for crusing and maybe a rare day at the track. goal is 300hp and 350+ftlbs/tq. what year block should i be searching for? im looking for a combo that will revv but make usable power. thanks eric p.s. probably lots of questions like this but i figure my situation is specific to my needs thanks again

that's easy. any year block will do, but better to go with '87-up for the roller lifters. HP depends on heads, but stay away from the swirl-port heads, and it won't take much cam to reach your goal. In fact, you'll have 300 hp by 5000 rpm. But you said you want it to rev. That could be taken 2 ways. Do you want 6000 rpm, or do you just want it to get to 5000 very quickly, in which case, just get some 4.10:1 rear gears. If you build the engine to make good power to 6000 rpm, you'll be closer to 400 HP. And even so, you'll still want a 3.73:1 axle ratio.

ok so 87 and newer block. would it be worth looking for a low mileage vortec motor and caming it. and slap a carb on and remove the FI?

I'm happy with my vortecs but for the kind of money they cost to get all set up I'm not sure I would do it again. Vortec valve spring/valve lift limitations are frustration to deal with. Guideplates, screw in studs, getting machined for high lift... it costs a fair bit of money to make it all work.

That said, with Vortecs you could easily hit 300 rwhp with the right combination. I'd say an xe268 cam (or anything with a duration in the 220-230 range at .050, go roller cam and it gets MUCH easier to hit these power ranges) and Vortecs should hit that power goal very easily, especially if you're in the 9.3-9.8 SCR range which you should probably be trying to aim for anyway.