I guess we all forget how hard and long we could get a stock replacement piston/turned oem crank/valve job/cam lifters type build to last. 40-60k miles and not break the bank.
A good local napa machine shop can do better then oem work.
You could find a good core motor at a fair price.
My local napa does very good machine work and since they dont have a three letter name or race or performance on the building the same quality of work is about half of the "performance" shops.
How many miles do you figure on putting on the car in a year?
