As you can see, a lot of different ideas and views here. That's good because it exposes you to all the ins and outs of making your car work. Once you get it running, I'm sure you'll be just like the rest of us and will make it go quicker & faster! Because you have so many parts already, just consider putting a cam in the block you have now, bolting the top end on you own, putting some gas in the tank and make some passes. You can always go alky later if you choose. Just be sure and take 10 or 15 gallons of water with you for cooling when using gas. Back in the late 70's my altered and feds all ran on gas and the cooling was a bit of a pain in the ass but it worked. After a run I'd pick up the chute and open the water drain petcocks on the block and then let it drain. Let it finish draining in the pits and then let it sit and cool for 20 minutes. Then filled it with warm water from 5 gallon containers setting in the sun on the roof of the trailer to avoid shocking the iron. Took about 30 minutes turn-around time as I recall. That was with an all iron big block but it worked for us. BTW The custom radiator built for my current altered, the water pump, the hoses and fitting along with the water fill manifold came to a little over $1k. It's worked very well so far, we'll see how it works in a couple of months when I double the horsepower and the additional heat that goes along with it.
