Hey all; thank you for all the help/info. Oldmanmopar, I appreciate that last post. I've been reading and studying the stroker situation, and I've almost scared myself away from that. Its been on the back burner for a few years, so maybe I had my head in the clouds from all the bs magazine articles. I know, the internet is always right, (lol) but it seems a stroker kit, when built proper to justify it, really needs a good aftermarket block. Seems the consensus is, by the time you 4 bolt cap/girdle a block, plus short fill(shouldve done that already smh), plus all the other stroker "insurance" prep, its not a -huge- stretch from a good aftermarket block that would be- much- better for the engine I had in my head.
On to the machine shop...I was kind of hot on the way over, and halfway there I realized I needed to chill. Its hard earned money, but I figured Id be shooting myself in the foot going in hot. So I walked in, nobody was there but the owner and his employee, and I kindly rehashed the same concerns I've shared here.
The machinist was -very- apologetic, and he happily agreed to re bore/hone the block with a plate. no charge. I'll buy the darn plate. I'll use it again/sell it/whatever. Still cheaper than taking it somewhere else at this point, right? He also had just cleaned up the decks, but didnt square them to crank/cam datum as he didnt have a fixture for that either. sigh. BUT he is ordering a bunch of new tooling and said he will get a 440 decking fixture also and throw it back on free of charge and square it right. I found out my bro in law has bore gauges to check taper, so Ill follow up myself. The crank was $150, so I kept it. Prolly about all its worth, but its fluxed and turned .010/.010. It also seems many people use cast cranks with lighter pistons to get the bobweight down? I have questions about this Ill ask in another thread to keep it on topic. Gonna leave this open ended for now, until I get hands on block and follow up with more numbers.
As was mentioned earlier, this may be "another one bites the dust", but If I can build a nice 440 out of this yet, Ill consider my stupid tax relatively low. Should've found a more "Mopar" shop, but this is where I'm at today. I expect even a 500hp 440 will be a chore to hook asphalt in a 72 Dart Swinger, so I will have other things to worry about. Anyone thats been following this, Ill appreciate your input in my other thread so I can order what I need. Cheers till next time.