I'm with Dave and Crenwelge. 383 stroker for torque for towing. like Jerry said, the short stroke requires high RPM to make hp as the torque isnt there.
since you want it to look original, put the 283 valve covers on the 383.
if you want to use it as a daily driver also, you may want to consider also going simply grabbing a late model salvage yard EFI motor and overdrive for improved drive ability and fuel management.
