Another thing to think about: get to know the Pontiac guys in your area and see if anyone has a good running engine they will sell. I met a guy at the Lawrence, KS swap meet three years ago that was looking for '69 GTO parts, got to yakking & told me he had a low mileage '69 400 he wanted to sell. I asked him what he wanted for it & he said $400. I bought the engine & it still runs excellent. Has #62 heads on it, ran strong in my '68 'bird & 3.55's in the back.
Some may say it's a gamble, but something to consider. The $400 I spent was well spent, IMO.
