What is the best small block engine out there?

DR you just quoted 1/2 of the Chevy High Performance group, they go nuts for those 383's.  

i think the DR has been peeking under my hood
near perfect desciption except for bore size and rod length  

THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA PUT IN MY 1980 K-10, BY THE WAY I FORGOT THE ROLLER CAM & LIFTERS. I HAVE'NT DECIDED IF I'M GONNA  RETRO FIT MY ORIGINAL 4 BOLT MAIN BLOCK, OR GET A LATE MODEL ROLLER ENGINE.  

i used an old style block and the last time i priced the stuff to retro-fit the cam/lifter pkg along with pushrods and all the gaskets to do the swap, it came in at $850-$900...

so on that note, if you haven't stared yet, go with the later style block, the initial investment may be a little steeper but the factory lifters and pushrod can be reused on the new cam...so the price of the roller setup drops by half already...  

Will everything as far as motor mounts, bell housing & accessories bracketry hook up without modification?  

what i had in mind was a newer genI/II block that had a factory roller cam and one-piece rear main seal...and yes, all your existing bracketry will bolt up...and the tranny too

does the air still work?
are you going to keep the air?
some manifolds have the bolt holes for the rear compressor bracket, others don't...for the most part, the dual-plane stock-replacement types will...another thing with that rear a/c bracket, i don't think it'll clear tall valve covers that will be required if you run full-roller rockers but don't let that stop you, surely it could be modified to work

and if you run headers you'll have to modify the lower compressor bracket...seems like some header companies offer a bracket for that, like it comes with the headers...never had a/c and headers...headers will also affect the power steering adjustment bracket but that is a really easy fix

if you have a welder anything is easy  

Yes the a/c still works, I want to thank you for all the help.  

glad i can be of some assistance

got to thinking about that lower rear a/c bracket...bolts up to the second and third (from front) exhaust manifold bolts, right? going off memory i never thought i'd need...measure the thickness of the exhaust manifold (from head mounting surface to the backet mounting surface), when (if) installing headers use washers (or something similar, like metal tubing) to shim the barcket to the correct distance from the head...use some good quality grade 8 bolts and it should work pretty good  

10-4, I've seen some modifying gadget laying around in my shop just like that. I will keep you posted.  

my last post about lower a/c bracket may be some faulty voodoo...
got too looking at my headers yeasterday, and what i suggested won't work in my application...but again, if you have a welder and some scrap metal, anything is possible  

We'll figure something out, thanks alot.    

anytime