Yea. Block's finished. Bored, honed, square-decked, cleaned, new freezeplugs, and threaded inserts into the water passages on the deck (used for "Yates-style" heads only). I'm using conventional inline heads.

that's cool. Is it an R block then? or a Dart? I didn't think the Darts had those unecessary holes in the deck? Post up some pics of the block, I'd like to see it. It'll give me something to do!

It's the R-block...says SVO on the front. M6010-R302.

They have the Yates passages just like the NASCAR tall-deck motors. If you use regular gaskets without plugging the holes, they will seep coolant out the sides under the head.

I don't have pics of mine, but here's a shot of the plugged holes on an R302 block:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2..._ZX14/PIC4.jpg

Photo courtesy of Brent Davis.

Yeah, I have an R block for my renegade engine and did the exact same thing. Now the new boss blocks aren't round holes for some stupid reason, so you can't plug them up like that. I had to swap out gaskets and started using one Felpro came out with that works for the boss block. Ford introduced the boss and didn't have a head gasket for it yet, great huh? I hate being the first one to do something but that's the way it was for both the boss and my R. I drove to Bennett's to get my block years ago, because he was the only one in the country that had some. Anyway, sorry for the ramble.

Yea... the BOSS has one hole on the lower portion, and it's a triangular "as-cast" shape like the top holes on a normal 5.0L block. Not sure what to do with that...maybe hard-fill the block. LOL.

The R-block was definitely an upgrade over the old A4, but I'm not so sure the new BOSS is an upgrade over the R.

It's not! I am not impressed at all other than price. Price is good, but from now on it's Dart for me.

The shorter cylinders in the BOSS leave little to be desired too.

I'll just keep using 351W blocks for mine:D

Some folks say you can't do a 3.400 stroke "dependably" into the Boss block, but some have been successful with it. In fact, I believe Bob Kurgan is using that very combination in his NMRA Drag Radial ride. :shrug:

Indeed they're stronger than their OE short-deck counterparts, but I'd rather not even think about the block as being a potential shortcoming. :huh:
Not to mention I already have short deck accessories and want to keep it under a stock hood. :nice:

Yes he does.

Sounds like me....
You are correct in saying that the boss block is not an upgrade to the R IMHO.

After seeing the Boss block in person with a dial indicator in my hand I will stick with the Dart blocks. In my opinion the boss block is not as good for anything over 3.25" stroke as the Dart's. If anyone is looking to upgrade get a dart shp, sportsman, or iron eagle. The Dart shp will handle most anything that the ordinary street/strip car can throw at it. ;)

I believe the SHP block is within a few hundred hp of the sportsman block. It just has a little less cast iron in the cylinder walls, but not much. They just want to sell more blocks in troubled times! I know I am buying one and going to see if I can see 800 rwhp out of my current 600 rwhp setup. I will probably be stretching the limits of the intercooler and the blower, but what the heck! It's worth a shot, worst thing happens is 75something. lol.