Thanks Ed, (and Slowman) for the reply and the offers of assistance. I am constantly impressed by the heavy hitters here at RJ that offer to help the local low budget Saturday night guys like me. Pretty cool. And you were correct, damage is not as bad as I initially thought.
I have a bad trait in me in that I am pretty quick to hang the black crepe paper and drop the flag to 1/2 staff. Being a low buck kind of guy anything that hasn't already been budgeted tends to be viewed as a disaster.
I had a couple of local builders stop by last night and inspect the internals. General consensus is that I did the right thing by tearing it down when I did. I was able to minimize the damage.
Block needs to be tanked, all new bearings installed. Rods look Ok as does the crank (cast iron) but rods and crank will get inspected and crank will get polished. Cam and lifters also are survivors. Cylinders, pistons and rings are also still good.
Damage was caused by a rookie mistake by the engine designer/builder (me!). Roller rockers were installed upside down with relation to the rocker pivots. Posi locks were galling as they were not clamping to the machined area of the pivot. Valve lash had actually clearanced itself an additional .013 as a result. I was trying to adjust ignition timing and fuel curve with .036 lash adjustment.
All in all it could have been worse. Instead of a $3000 - $4000 rebuild / upgrade I think I can get out for a $300 - $500 freshen up. I still want to get a baseline on this setup and prove the concept of the mechanically injected little block Ford on gas and it looks like I am going to get that chance. If it holds together through the summer then I'll have the time to properly plan out and budget for the alcohol upgrade.
Thanks again for the offer of assistance. Can I save that offer as a "Get out of Jail Free" card? :lol:
Murff