Fixing up 1957 ford fairlane?

So my dad and I want to fix up his first car that we have at his old house. Its gonna need a new engine, so i was wondering if LS1 swapping would be viable? What is an ideal engine to throw in it, also we're interested in swapping the transmission to a manual to make it a little more interesting. Any estimates on how much it would cost?

You 2 need to know if you are wanting to keep the vehicle stock or not… Do a google search to see what engines will fit in the ford

Why work on junk?

How high is up? How long is a piece of string? "Fixing up" an old car usually costs about three times what you expect to spend on it.

If you're fixing up a Ford, then why would you want to put a Chevy engine in it?

You could make the GM LS with a Tremec work with some metal fabrication, but you have options on the Ford side too, with potent 302,351 W or C,400M and a few more, plus the modular engines (not a fan of those personally). Not as a hard/fast rule but for stuff newer than 56 I would stay Ford (or Dodge, GM) if working on a Ford, etc. Since the 352 T-Bird engine/Police would/was fit in that model you could be looking at a great engine sitting in it now.
I can see the appeal of the LS swap for weight/HP but you still have to look at computers and fuel delivery, etc and I would rather just deal with a carb or TBI system with HEI than MPFI. I could more easily see a 302/5.0 FI with a T5 than an LS and you can find them in trucks, cars.