Ritter 59 degree iron block
SO a 7000 dollar aluminum bare block waiting for assembly ???? Ritter will only survive if he sells it for 2900 COMPLETE... ready for assembly ..
This is why it won't survive.
I know you are looking for an X or R block and I have my eyes and ears on one for you as well. If, you find one, that's a big IF, I'd say expect 1500-2000 dollars for an unmolested one. Mine is a 2 bolt cap so I left in and used studs. So I had to.....bore, hone deck, line hone, size the lifter bores, tube the oil gallery.
None of that is cheap. That's the way it is. How do you expect someone to build a block with the EXACT dimensions you need? How will he know the diameter of your crank? How tall should he make the decks? What bore size, if you don't have the Pistons?
None of this is cheap. Not sure why Ritter won't make blocks with the 2 standard lifter locations and standard cam bearing bores. Maybe he does.
But everything else should be rough finished and the machinist should finish that stuff to his specs.