I've made my decision. This morning I bought that vortec 350 block from Red, and I want to duplicate the 357 that is in my Intimidator. Its very dependable and actually economical if I keep it in the primaries on the carb. That engine pushed his gold Scimitar over 70 and it should be powerful enough for my needs in the CV23. I will have the expense also of another drive, and I'm pretty sure a new prop, so in order to not break the bank but still be able to run with the pack that is what I intend to do. The block is going to the machine shop on Friday, and sometime after Thanksgiving I will start putting it all together.
Intimidated, good luck with your 400 SBC. I ran Reds 387 stroker in Burnin Daylight at Red Wing and the difference was minimal (2 mph) not enough to make me want to build a higher torque engine. Actually the response on that engine was almost instantaneous, but I was running a high dollar 25 pitch Power Tech prop with it that really woke it up. I think I remember you took the hook out of your hull, so your performance will possibly surpass what I was able to obtain.