I was in the same position you are currently in 5 years ago with a 68 Charger, a tired 318 and minimal experience. I decided to keep it original and build a semi-daily driver because I thought it would be cheaper. It was not cheaper, although I have been very happy with the result and learned a ton, but if I were to do it again I'd go one of two routes . . . assuming your car is currently running.
1. If it is a "one-legger" I'd put money into a limited slip 3.55 gear and a take a good look at that transmission as it might need a shift kit or some new clutches. Then drive it, get to know the car and develop a realistic sense of everything else that may need to be done (brakes, wiring, new ball joints etc . . .) and what your budget will be. Most of all, have some fun with it and learn some basics such rebuilding a carb or two, how to set the timing and tune it and figure out how much you will actually drive it.
2. Rather than initially pouring money into the 318, save a the extra dollars to either stroke it or put in a bigger motor. I should have stroked mine. Somebody on here says "fill your library before you fill your garage" . . . Word to the wise, because even if you decide to go the route I did and keep the 318 with the stock crank, you'll still want to be smart about how you select your carb, intake cam and heads. I didn't know a lot at the time (and didn't know about this forum) and so I ended up spending a bunch of money on a valve job and a pocket port on the original heads :/ and then boring and decking the original block. The upside is that I did build a great little driver that was getting 20 mpg before I started changing the gears in the rear end and the transmission (because I wanted more torque and fun), but the down side is that I only have 192 hp to the rear wheels and 225 lbs of torque.
So at the end of the day it depends on what you want to do with the car. Anyhow, congratulations and have fun with it! :hello2:
