hahaha, whats with the pic acrod? haha. i personally wouldve put the bungee strap over the crank pulley tho, this way if you have to stop too fast youl have a less chance of the engine toppling over.
edit : i didnt see the rest of your post, or maybe you just edited it? the only thing i saw was the engine in the back of the truck, haha. so youre gonna rebuild it yourself? if youre gonna stick with na, see if you can get the head milled, PnP'd, intake manny Pnp'd and portmatched, youll prolly gains close to 25-30 donkeys, haha.