I daily an ls swapped e36 m3 and while it is faster and cheaper to mod and operate—- it totally removes the special nature of this platform. I would not rec it for anything but a race car.
FWIW a manual 360 and a F1 F430 are comparable in price, but if you're thinking about maintenance costs the robot brain in the F1 will chew up far more in clutch replacement cost than belt changes in the 360 if you drive it regularly.
If I end up have to replace the clutch in either a 360 or 430, then I would probably convert it to stick with Art's stuff. Was at Fields C&C in Orlando this morning, saw a tasty 360 I liked