Reply to "Preparing for a rebuild, need clarification on a few things"

The FIRST thing you need to do is find a mechanic that knows more about Clevelands than how to spell it! They are NOT Chevys and that seems to be most of the problem with builders. If there are no shops close by, a few hours drive or mail-order to a competent shop will be cheaper than changing cranks & bearings once a year.

Second, figure out how you'll be using the car; weekend drag racing with some street time will call for a different build than weekend open-track running, or all street, or...?

Third, get the correct flywheel/flex plate and front damper for the engine. Ford stuff interchanges throughout engine families and much of the 351-W stuff is balanced to different specs than the Cleveland. Balancing is an art so find a shop- maybe a race shop- that knows whats required.

Once these three things are done and the car is safe & reliable, you can think about souping the engine up. And engrave this on your wrist: do NOT use high-pressure or high-volume oil pumps in Cleveland builds unless you intend to race professionally with the car. They cause more trouble than they fix. As for boring the block, if you get to the point where you need another 100 horsepower at lower revs with a stroker, I would call SCAT (or Eagle) and tell them you want 010-over pistons; the default for rebuilding worn out junkyard blocks is 030-over but they have other sizes. Good luck.