Sean and Stock49 - you guys are gonna have some fun! Speed parts for the 216 are relatively cheap and plentiful if you know where to look. I would stay with a fairly stock rebuild except for dual carbs, split exhaust, more compression, and maybe a full pressure crank conversion. Personally I would not change the cam, because the exhaust timing is what gives these old motors that beautiful "Rap" on deceleration. I built just such a motor (less the crankshaft modification) for my '49 coupe when I was in high school...I also followed the adage of the day - "If it don't go, chrome it! "!
You might also consider an early 235 "Hi-torque" truck block core as a starting point, the extra cubes are always nice. Put an ad in our classifieds here, or better yet, in the 12 Port News. A number of Inliners have 216 stuff that's in the "Free to a Good Home" category....
