I went through the Ford SVO catalogue last year and posted a few weights about 302/351 stock block, Sportsman, SVO versions, aluminum version, etc...should have printed it out somewhere, I guess its in the archives but don't remember the title to find it.
I have a 289...302 block for all practical purposes, that is stroked to 347...everything that can be replaced with aluminum is on the engine and my goal, as the car was a ERA 289, was a stock appearing engine, low 8.2 inch deck height with the lowest weight possible short of an aluminum block...( which is a dry sump engine so all the monkey motion of a remote tank, lines and dry sump pump may negate that advantage...although you could relocate it to the right side of the trunk area for balance).
Anyway, if you aren't going to stroke the 351, do the small block and save at least 40 to 50 pounds and have a lower c.g...if you are looking for a good handling track car with more power than 90% of us "wanna-be drivers" can use anyway in anything but a straight line.
Engine life???...is this a daily commuter???...most of these cars never see more than 5000 a year, and thats the first wildly enthusiastic year.
The really serious 351 engines seem to have main bearing spacers to decrease the diameter of the main bearings for lower rotational speed on the crank to...~289/302 speed.
So, other than rod angularity, side loads on the cylinders and pistons, rings in the
oil pack, all related to the shorter deck height, who cares?...if you aren't doing serious racing in endurance events, looking to be smog legal for 50K+...the lighter weight seems worth it for a street or track car...
If you are a power guy, stroke the 351 to 400+, and forget the weight...have fun, but why run a 351 when you can run a lighter 347...stroke the 351 for lots of torque and power, or skew the car to lower weight for quicker handling with the small block.
Whatever you do you will have fun, just think it out to maximize your configuration...stoker kits are pretty cheap...you want easy low rpm POWER and TORQUE, go for the big cubes...stroke the 351.
Pete