Update: the block is GOLD

[HonestAl]

Originally posted by Capri306
Finding a reputable machine shop within modest driving distance is my first chore! I'll need someone to check the bore alignment, install cam bearings, pipe-tap the freeze plug holes, bore the cylinders out using torque plates, and finish them to some oddball spec I'll have to find. Ugh, the dream has turned ugly! Hehehehe...

I'll poke 'er to about 4.030, maybe less to have room for rebuilding later down the road. Stroking is undecided as of yet. She wants to be a 408, though.

Why don't you look into a machine shop class at a Community College? You can save big bucks by doing the machine work yourself. It may not be available where you are but there is a class set up for people to machine/build their own engines at a school that I graduated from last year. One evening a week for about 3 mos. and you'll be ready to assemble it. The machine shop instructor even got me a deal on my pistons.....check it out!