390 w/open chamber heads

Well at least I have a very good idea about what questions to ask and what answers to look for. If you're not a machinist, or at least someone who has dealt with this sort of thing, I can see how you could be easily fooled into thinking that you have a deck and bores that are parallel and perpendicular to the crank CL. I truly wonder how many guys are out there thinking that their engine is correct when in fact it may not be. Wish I had a computerized laser measurement system like the one we used in the aircraft industry, that would make it a piece of cake.
Oh well, I'll talk to the machinist in the engine shop and hear what he has to say. Like I said they race their engines on a weekly basis so get to test their own products.
Just so everyone understands, I'm not going to get my block zero decked. I'll get it squared up, parallel to the crank and perpendicular to the bores. I'll zero deck only if I need to based on the pistons and the heads.

thanks again for the nice easy RPM formula,
Treblig