anything is better then stock for that year. they just kept loosing HP with each year. then you dont know what it was in, it could have been in a bonnie or some boat. then its a toque monster low HP engine.
the tail shaft of the tranny. if its short its more for the performance applications, long shaft, land yacht.
i put my 70 bird th400 in my 77 caddy. all i had to do was swap the tail shaft on the trannys. dead tranny was also a 400.