Hey guys, I'm new here to the forum and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your ideas. I just bought a completely stock amc 401 from a 1977 J10 to put in my 76 CJ7.

block 3-198951
head 3231475-1
holley 1850-4 600 cfm

I've got the wide ratio T18, a Dana 300 with 4:1 gears, and 4.56 gears at the axles. This CJ7 is going to be for rock crawling and trail riding mainly, but I don't have a rig or a trailer to get it there, so it's going to have to be able to keep up with the club members on the way to the trail (70 mph). The engine currently has a 600 cfm holley carb on it. I took the heads off and did an inspection and everything seemed to be in pretty good condition. It has a ridge at the top of each cylinder so boring it out is a must. I've never done an engine rebuild so right now I'm kind of intimidated because of all the different options. I don't care about having 400+ hp or anything, but I don't want to have any regrets either. I mainly care about the torque curve at low RPMs and about how reliable this thing is going to be. All of that being said, my budget is about $3000 for the rebuild and swap into the CJ. Any ideas on pistons, camshaft, intake, carb, exhaust, rings, lifters, oiling mod, bearings, rockers, etc??? I know this thing as been done to death but it seems like most the other threads are looking for high hp at high RPMs.