[danhr]

You aren't going to hit the stock bottom end limits with option one. Guy up here in Pittsburgh has all of that done on his, plus heads and a blower cam and he's doing just fine. imo, the stock bottom end limit tends to be around the 700-750 rwhp mark.

option two.... well why would you stop at 376 ci? you could get a forged 416 for the same price? Do you not want the extra cubic inches?

option three... if you are only getting 550 rwhp out of a 454 lsx, you need a new engine builder or you did a very mild build. lol. Once you hit that 4.125 bore, power numbers go through the roof.

A big question is, how long do you think you will be happy at the 550 rwhp mark? The mod bug is very addicting. The other two options give you room to grow on, the first one, not so much. If you think will be content with the 550-600 rwhp mark... I'd say go with option 1, and add a cam in there. That way you get that "mean sound" that you want from the lsx454, but keep the costs relatively down.