I'm thinking of building a pair of 540's over the winter. I want to get about 700hp out of each preferably running carbs. I can buy the short blocks for 5K each or would it be cheaper to build them up myself? What heads should I run, runner size, chamber size, valve size, alum. or steel? What cam? This is where I'm lost. I can do the assembly just fine. If someone could find a few minutes and start me off with some parts suggestions, block, crank, rods, pistons, heads cam. Any part #'s and specs would be great! Thanks!

at that power level you might be better off going with an aftermarket block or bowtie block for the simple fact that if you decide you want to run more power in the future you will have a very solid foundation from which to build onto later
(we all want more power after the excitement of what we just build wears off )
that being said if you dont have the money Ive ran over 800 on stock BBC blocks before with nitrous without any issues also so its just something to consider
There are so many options out there for components,
the forged kits from Eagle are nice and affordable,
usually 4340 crank, H-Beam rods and JE pistons will handle that setup without any problems at all and is priced well considering what you are getting,

Brodix and Dart both make great cylinder heads and so does AFR
its always nice to go with a custom cam for the setup as well,
I just got one from Bob Madera from Marine Kinetics at a good price, so maybe contact him and see what he tells you

You should give him a call and go over some options with him or look around for some other proven combos that engine builders offer or have built,

if you want to pm me I can put you in touch with a local builder that specializes in BBC setups that make a ton of power and are extremely low maintenance and reliable that run all day on pump gas

Aetco 540 short blocks,bob mandera cams and afr 335 cylinder heads..700+hp

I made 721hp with Gen VI block, AFR 315's and Bob's cams on pump gas. Call Bob and he can set you up. 585-654-8583.

I do think the 335's would make a little more top end power, but only if you want to run premium fuel and a fairly radical hyd roller.

You can get basic short blocks ready to bolt everything on for less than 5k each shipped to you. Ohio crank has been good to us in the past.

Get cams, heads and lifters from bob madero and you will have 700 HP.

It will depend on your exhaust though.

Running 468's, 8.5:1, H rods, stock cranks, Merlin heads, single plane with 750 blower carbs. I have a pair of 250 B&M blowers sitting on the floor for them. They had smaller 177 blowers on them from my Scarab but I took them off when I put the engines in the cat. I'm ready for more power now! I could put the blowers on them but then I would have to redo the hatch. That's plan "B" for now. Although that would put me about 700hp. I'm around 580 now, I was told? Oh yea, CMI elbow tops is exhaust I'm using now.