The spray cabinet is, or at least used to be the preferred method for block prep. You need to strip the block down to bare bones- - - -even remove oil gallery plugs, freeze plugs, etc. There's no such thing as "clean enough", particularly where oil passages are concerned. We cleaned up John's 261 engine parts with a vat of boiling water with lye and Dawn dishwashing liquid in it, heated over a wood fire, followed by a good scrubbing and a boiling water rinse. I use rifle and shotgun brushes and cleaning rods to scour all the crud out of passageways to remove anything the pressure washer loosened up- - - -otherwise any leftovers end up in the bearings as soon as the oil pressure in the freshly assembled engine builds up. There's a "no-micrometer" way to check cylinder taper using nothing but an old piston ring, a feeler gauge, and a calculator. Send me a PM for some details on that procedure. It's easier to explain by email or a phone call.
Anybody with a few brain cells to rub together and some common sense cam build engines. "machinists" don't really walk on water- - - - -they just want everybody to think they do! Some of the oldtimers I learned from in the mid-1950's were barely able to read and write, and they had no concept of CNC machining, mainly because those machines didn't exist, but they were expert engine builders. People who insist it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars of specialty equipment to do a good engine job should come talk to my garden next spring- - - - -I'll save a fortune on fertilizer!
Jerry
