the 144 is the baby brother engine to the 170 and 200.
it is not a bed engine, but underpowered in my opinion.
on a good note though, you can drop a 170 or 200 rite in the 144's place. the 200 is the better swap, it will give you plenty of power. and another good upgrade is to dump the 2 speed and upgrade to a C/4 3 speed auto trans. with this engine-trans combo, you will have a car that can run highway speeds without any problems.

oh, and by the way, $500 is a very good price for a sedan delivery. is it all there??