[streetstar]

just from your description and not having any pictures, -- i would go for the long bed in clean condition.

You can find Chevy big blocks to swap in later if thats your thing. I would rather start off with my own block and rebuild it reliably rather than trust an old performance-oriented build done by someone unknown

i would have to see a timeslip to believe a 12 second et in one of these trucks too -- plenty of trucks with stout motors never get out of the 13's because of traction issues and horrible 60 ft times

But besides the drag racing mumbo-jumbo, thats my opinion -- start with something clean and fix it to rip later --

This is just me personally, but i am also leery of anything with "done, but in primer" bodywork too unless i have had a chance to go over it thoroughly with a magnet or unless i knew what it looked like before. Cost to just spray one with topcoat can easily exceed 2 grand and only goes up from there if the bodywork is suspect

But i should also mention that i have no preference either way, for long or short beds -- my viewpoints are for trucks in general, and a nice longbed is worth much more to me than a pieced together shortbed