I hope the OP does do whatever works FOR HIM. But he really never considered more than ONE option: crate or built by another person. I can't see much of a difference there.
I am not a mechanic by profession, heck I could never deal with the customers nice enough to get any repeat business
But when MY money is on the table, for a motor, a set of wrenches, milk at the store, I go for what gives me the best bang for the buck. Sometimes that means a professional (I'll NEVER hang/tape my own drywall again. Its simple to do, but just so un-fun I'll pay to make it go away), but most of the time that means I figure it out myself and DIY.
But were are talking about a Chevy 350... You can add significant power to a running motor by just swapping headers and new intake. That's about 30HP there. New cam, 30-40hp. A new set of heads, complete can add another 30-50hp so you can significantly 'warm up' a stock RUNNING motor for about $1-1.5k That's about 300hp and that can be done to any healthy motor.
You never have to machine a thing if you don't want to. There are far to many 'Farmer Hotrods' out there that have never been decked, bored, mic'd or fluxed. If its running, bolt on some go fast parts and run it.
My 270 from 1943 (yes, original serial numbered motor) is STILL on its original internals. The 58 235 I just did was also on original internals... but I got a rebuild kit to make it a daily driver. My L134 is .060 over, so next rebuild is gonna be spendy... but its an original wartime production motor... that mean sleeve it and rebuild it.. with the help of my harbor Freight engine stand
