A couple of tips for you guys I picked up rebuilding my '62 261.
Have the pistons and rods balanced, its a good $150 investment.
Before you install the crank, have the machineshop drill and tap the front of it so you can install the front pulley with a standard sbc crank bolt.
Rod bolts- You can use big block chevy rod bolts, they're lots cheaper than nos/re-pop 261s. All you've got to do is bevel the head on the bolt a little to make it look like the original, otherwise they'll hit the cam. This isn't a big deal and is done routinely in stroker engines.
Tap the front main cap and drill the timing cover to be able to bolt from the outside rather than the inside.
Don't forget to put in the baffle on the crankcase side of the draft tube hole before you put on the oilpan. (oops!)
Don't forget to drive the pin in the middle of the driverside of the block to cause the oil to circulate, if your engine is 'new' enough to have come set up for that. If not, consider drilling and tapping the block to set it up, or have the machine shop do it, there's a thread or tech articl here on how.
