another budget job

hi again guys. I posted a while ago looking for advice on a budget build for the 2v motor in my 70 Cougar, and got some good but not very specific ideas on what to do. No doubt because my questions weren't very specific. Now that I'm closer to pulling the trigger on this thing, I'm forced to realize that my budget isn't what I hoped it would be. So, I'm wondering: given the modest budget of $3500, how would you build it? I'm looking to do a street build with the torque to compensate for some good cruising gears, c6 auto... redline about 6k maybe? It'll see occasional strip duty (on street tires) but i realize that the bruiser i'd hoped to build is not in my near future. I'm leaning toward 4v OC or quench heads with 4" stroke as a starting point???

On the other hand, I can get an already assembled std short block for real cheap (300 or so)... maybe putting most of the money into the top end would be more worth it? I don't know.