i've asked the seller to take some pics of the casting numbers, he said he'll do it next week as the block is at his machinists. my biggest problem is that it's in Florida & he says it'll cost about $300 to ship to Ca. from there it's only $80 to get it shipped down under via my shipper. if it is a legit block then i'm ok with that. i've e-mailed a few engine guys in the US & asked them to find me a suitable block but unfortunately no one wants to help someone on the wrong side of the world. 400 blocks down under are scarce & those who have them think they're worth gold. i had originally bought an engine off Moparts from a member, most of the engine was good but the block was stuffed so hence why i'm looking for another.
thanx for the input from those of you that have helped.

I just tossed a 400 block on the scrap pile because three of the cylinders had 0.090 or less on the side wall. This was a super nice looking block that had already been dipped and magged and had some machine work. It would have been easy to sell for a premium price but when I looked at the sonic numbers the value dropped to $0 and it went on the scrap pile.

Well if you lived next door you could bring your hand truck over and I'd help you load it up. But I don't think I'm going to bother going to the hassle of crating it up and shipping it to you!

All three thin cylinders are on the same side of the block. Looks like big time core shift to me. The block is rough bored to 4.370 and was ready to be honed for pistons when it came to me. I sonic tested it and said it wasn't any good.