Andy, I had a whole high school shop full of eager grinder operators! A couple of local racers at the Nashville round track sponsored my engine-building program, financing the parts, and giving the promising trainees places on their pit crews during the summer race season. We would do the engine machining and buildup, then run-test the engines on a water-brake bellhousing dyno. The engines hit the car already broken in, and ready to win races.
Jerry