I just put a new 520 in my Road Runner for Drag Week this year: 4.375 crank, .030 over stock block, prepped with ARP main studs, 7.1 rods, .990 pin, 11.3 to one CR, ported "stealth" heads (by MCH), RAS 1.6 ratio rockers, MP.590 solid, 1/2" hemi pickup and hemi pan, stock valve covers (with some work to clear the rockers and hold down studs), 2" Super Comp headers, street dominator intake, HP950 carb. The engine is painted and other than the headers and the intake, it looks pretty stock (the intake doesn't even look that far off, I ground off the Holley markings on the front before painting). Drove it from Indiana to Kansas, ran Drag Week through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and back to Kansas and then drove it home back to Indiana. Changed the oil once and checked the lash twice. Best ET: 11.36 at 120.2 , pig rich, with wheel spin at @ 3900# with me in it. Best MPH was 121.1 at @ 3850# with a soft launch (11.53ET) while I was getting a feel for the new setup.

I agree, go for max cubes, but for appearances you'll be limited to the stock block and probably a 4.375 crank unless you go external on the oil pickup. With better traction and a little lighter you should be a bit deeper into the low 11's and it is pretty reliable. You might want to consider having MCH rework the intake when they do the heads, you'll need the CFM with an engine this big. I think my engine might benefit from a bigger carb, and I could swap cams around some, but it works pretty good and is very streetable as is.