I don't have any experience with the 4.50 crank but it looks to me like it would pretty much force a guy to run an external oiling system which adds money. I'm also not sure if there are very many stocking pistons for the 4.50 stroke.

The 4.375 with 2.200 pins should clear with only minor grinding. I would assume that it will clear a 1/2 internal pickup but I haven't put one together myself. Once again, I'm not sure how many shelf stock pistons are available for the 4.375 setup. As soon as you go custom piston the bill goes up a bit more. External oiling adds at least $500 to the tab if not more.

I'm still on the fence with the roller vs. solid flat tappet question. Since we're talking about a 6500 rpm type of motor here it doesn't seem like a person would have to put a roller in it. And you certainly don't need the roller to make the 700 hp. Roller's add about $1000 to the tab by the time you get the lifters, bigger springs, better rocker arms, bronze gear, etc.

Reliability is a toss up. Lots of flat tappet melt downs these days but there seems to be just as many roller lifters biting the dust. Not to mention, the springs in a roller motor seem to require more maintenance.

I guess if a guy is going to want to go faster down the road then buying the roller now makes sense. On the other hand, maybe just building a reliable 700 hp bullet is good enough and the guy could spend the grand on the chassis where he'll most likely need it?