All excellent advice. Good tool work is a must. dont forget to check the head. I had my mill man install the new pistions on the rods for me too. You need a ring compressor sleve to tap the pistions in. I also use foam insted of a box so I can drawl the area like the timing cover, and push the bolts into the foam. I use a seprate box or bucket for each area of the job. Like one for underneath with all the tranny parts, one for all the acc parts, etc. Good pictures durring the job help alot. If you need a core bolock let me know, I have 2 but Im in Pa so I dont know how much it would cost to send them.
EB master build kit is great and a great price. Includes nice brass freez plugs. He is also very helpful. A new set of head studs from EB is advised, they are like $25 I think.
Oh and I found all kinds of junk in even my cleaned block from that water sensor on the rear left side of the motor! It seems to be a blind passage in the water jacket where lots of stuff settles.
That crank bolt is T-I-G-H-T. It took a static breaker bar with an impact socket, a jack stand, a pipe and a sledge to pop it. 2 man job. My impact gun was powerless on it.