Port & Polish the intake (both in the heads and the manifold). Lap & three angle the valves. Put in a cam with more lift. Shave the head a bit. Bore 0.030 over on the pistons. Get everything balanced and all nicely done.
Research as I think you can install corvette injectors or something, get more power out of it.
Oh, READ THOROUGHLY the instructions for torquing down the cylinder heads BEFORE you are standing next to the engine saying "Ah yes. So how do you do this!!??"
The top end of the engine is metric...the bottom end is standard. Have fun!
Get a box (cardboard box from amazon will work just fine), a sharpie, and a box of ziplock sammich bags. Everytime you pull some bolts off, put them in a ziplock and label them. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE it will SAVE YOU. Its easier to spend 15 seconds rummaging through a box looking for a ziplock labeled with what you need rather than a can of random bolts. Too many times people don't do this and its just a giant mess. My friend didn't do this and when we went to bolt his new cylinder head on, we had no idea where anything went. Spent so much time just trying to get organized.
Photos of what it looks like beforehand, TAKE MANY OF THEM.
Replace the oil pump.
Paint the engine AFTER assembly. Not all the little bits BEFORE assembly. Its crap.
Before dis-assembly, let the truck sit for a week. Everyday before and after work (and maybe before bed), hose down the ENTIRE ENGINE with PB Blaster. So when you go to unbolt everything, it won't suck. Pay special attention to the exhaust bolts. Both that attach to the manifold to the head and manifold to downpipe. Give them the super-extra treatment.
Speaking of exhaust. After you get the cyl. heads back from the machine shop, test fit the manifolds. Sometimes the warp and the bolts don't exactly line up. Take out your dremel tool and make the hole the bolt goes through a little bit bigger. That way you aren't wrestling with it later.
Get a cardboard box. Turn it sideways (or upside down, whichever you fancy) and punch 16 holes in it, all in a line. Take your marker and mark one of the line "FRONT". When you take out your pushrods, put them in the punched holes in order. That way you keep them safe and in order.
New cam followers, procure them.
Like to drink beer? After 3 beers, STOP WORKING ON THE ENGINE. You do things wrong when drunk. This combo sucks for building a decent engine. That said, after three beers, feel free to sit in the garage and continue drinking. Maybe use this time to clean up.
Rebuild it inside. Doing work outside sucks. Especially with this crazy weather we've been having.
MARK THE LOCATION OF THE DISTRIBUTOR. Also take pictures of the configuration. This will prevent all kinds of issues.
Take super extra time on the timing chain install. If it is wrong, your engine will run like crap.
That is about all I have to say on the subject.
