[302 LX Eric]

I think in your situation, going with DSS to build the entire long block is a good idea. One thing that I didn't realize when doing my 331 was all the required machine work. Having the block magna-fluxed to check for cracks, boring .030" over, torque plate honing, etc. Plus, once my engine builder started assembling everything we found that the girdle needed some minor clearancing for the Canton oil pickup mechanism. In addition, the oil control (windage tray) needed some grinding to fit as well. And don't forget about spin balancing everything. This can be very expensive (up to $500). With DSS doing everything (and doing it day in and day out) they will deal with all this.

In the end, it was well worth it. But, I was expecting everything to fit without any issues (maybe I was just too niave).

DSS does good work. I spoke to Tom Neagle (owner of DSS) on several occasions about my particular setup and what I wanted to do and listened to his advice along with several other companies just to make sure I was getting straight talk. And I was.

Just a quick example of DSS' customer service: When I took my stroker package to my local race engine builder, they called me back a couple hours later to tell me that my 4340 Forged Steel crank was 'out of tolerance' on the journals. My engine builder and race shop said that we could go ahead and use the crank (the material was great) but that the tolerances were slightly out on one of the journals and that they would recommend getting a new one since this is a high-performance engine. So, I called up Tom and he said no problem, just send me back the old crank and I'll send you out a new one as soon as I receive the old one. And sure enough, within a weeks time I received a brand new 4340 crank. Machine shop said the new crank was well within tolerance and so we proceeded from there.

Sorry to ramble, hope this helps.
E