I went the custom build route on my entire car. had everything in the engine and trans and suspension planned out to perform together as a total package. So far it does exactly what I had hoped for. I have had it in some empty parking lots and thru my hood once or twice but it still isnt complete enough to go tag it and drive it on the streets.

A trip to the drag strip in a couple of weeks will give me a chance to start dialing it in.

That said time and money spent bet your A$$ fakesnake is dead on in his thoughts about crate motors. This is the last fully built ground up car ill ever do.
Next will be a good body and slap a 408 N/A Coasthigh engine and another TKO trans in and be driving that sucker.

Its all in what you want now more than ever more power and more options are ready available. Wasnt that long ago a slightly built 5.0 mustang could run with about anything else at the redlights.

 

Yeah buying a short block made it a lot easier on me and i got a 2 year parts and labor on it which is up in a month lol.I had the rest if it on in about 5 hours taking my time was my first ford engine done a lot of chevys but was my first stroker too.I had my buddy tom port my heads and order the right cam and watch over my shoulder as i build it.It idles a little rough but its mean over 1k rpms.Only thing i did different was over build my rear end and tranny so if i add spray or blower later on it will take it.But remember 400hp is dumb if you can't stop the car so make sure the whole car will take the power you want.

 

Ok now that we're talking outside the box. If money is no abject and I had a 68 coupe as my project car than I would look into using a short block from CHP. They have a very good reputation and have been around for a long time now. I would go with a 408W short block as a starting point.

http://www.coasthigh.com/category-s/40322.htm

 

The sad reality is that good custom built engines will always perform best, but can be prohibitively more expensive. Most people aren't going to be willing to spend $10-15,000 on a 347 for instance, when you can get a crate 347 for Under $10k. But it's also the difference between a 450hp and a 500-550hp engine. That's always going to be the single biggest factor in favor of a crate engine, is that virtually every combination must succumb to the almighty mediator....cost. Unless you can either mitigate labor costs by building the entire engine yourself, or have and are willing to spend the cash, crate engines are really the best alternative.

As power increases linearly, cost increases exponentially.

 

I have an inline 6 and I am thinking of having it rebuilt. I was going to get the parts myself and have a shop do the rebuild but a friend said let them get the parts so everything will be covered by warranty.

 

I own a car repair business. Let them supply the parts for warranty PLUS experience in knowing what's good, what fits, and where to go if a problem occurs. You'll pay more, but you'll get more as well providing you make a good choice in selecting a shop. Of course many performance shops don't offer a warranty, but the rest applies.