BigMan52

Thanks for the heads up, 67mustang and slowstang. I moved here last June, and that was the vibe I was getting so its good to know I'm not crazy. From what I hear, this place used to be muscle car mecca.

I have used Automotive Technologies a few times and thought I had found a good place (not really for vintage cars, but I liked the vibes), but had a bad experience this last time. I guess we'll see.

67mustang302

It's still a muscle car mecca. There's just a lot of old school rednecks running around.

If you want a solid performance engine, just buy a short block from CHP or Fordstrokers and put some good heads and a custom cam from Ed Curtis in it. You won't ever have to worry about anything that way.

mr_velocity

The other option is building your own, still need to find a machine shop but otherwise its not too difficult. There is a TON of information available so all you need is time and an investment, yes it is an investment, into a few specialized tools which I'm sure you'll use time and time again even if you think this is a one shot deal.
Like 67mustang302 suggests, give Ed Curtis an email. I used him for my valve train components, I really need to get to RI, sit and have a beer with him. We're exchanging daily emails and he always gets me laughing. His advice has been spot on every time I've asked a question. My resto thread has my engine build progress including degreeing the cam, checking valve radial and ptv clearance, push rod length. I bet most of the builders don't do any of it, they just slap in the cam dot-to-dot and move on. Even if you get a cam from Ed, he will tell you to make sure you degree it properly, he'll even send you a nice word doc explaining the reasons why.

It seems like a huge challenge, if you have the time it's actually a very rewarding experience.

67mustang302

Building a SBF isn't that hard actually. They're very "assembly friendly," likely a result of Ford's love of mass production. =)

ic237

I would be very careful. I bought my engine from Titan Engines in Ocala florida and had horrible service. I bought a fully assmeble engine that kept over heating and then started to mix oil and coolant. I had to pay out of pocket for a shop to diagnose, remove the heads, send the heads to Ocala, have them clean the heads, send the heads back to me with a gasket set. I paid out of pocket to have them installed since their warranty stated " Must be ASE certified shop". Then after it was all said and done, I got stuck with all the bills. The owner Frank and his xitch Chuck keep giving me the run around for months. And thats after I even offered atleast collect half! Oh well. 1100 bucks for the engine vs. 800 bucks to fix it, and I am left with a stock POS that cost 2k.