Old school engine rebuilding wisdom welcome here

[DeltaMustang65]

I've been thinking of pulling the 289 out of my '65 mustang this summer to rebuild, blueprint, etc, and was wondering if anybody here has a little wisdom to impart on someone for their first real job.

I've rebuilt engines before, but they were little 4-bangers in my college engine rebuilding class (an elective). I have shop manuals to help with the 289/302/351 small blocks, but I've never worked with these before and I want to do a really good job. (As well as keep the engine looking very close to stock)

I know little stuff like porting/polishing/bowl work does wonders even with the stock cylinder heads, which I actually want to keep. If I go that route, would some stock looking roller rockers be cost effective? Also, I'm thinking of switching over to a 302 crank and flattop pistons with a cam to match. The 2-barrel 289s had dished pistons, right? I have several cam #s which Summit suggested for a strong 289 street build. I also currently have an Edelbrock F4B aluminum intake manifold and a Holley 4160 4-barrel 390cfm carb that I'd like to keep on the engine if at all possible since they're near new.

I know there are other ways to increase performance/reduce friction and drag that are economical, it's just that I'm not familiar with them since the only rebuilds I've done were straight rebuilds, not hot rodding. If it matters, my goal with this engine is a modest 300hp at the flywheel with torque to match, but if it's possible to get 300hp/tq at the wheels while still remaining economical, that would be even better. Actually, 300hp at the wheels would be as far as I'd like to take it for this car.

P.S. The transmission is a C4 auto freshly rebuilt with a shift improver kit. Hopefully this or the differential (stock 8in. with 2.80 gears) won't prove to be a weak link behind this engine.

Thanks in advance everyone.