[watahyahknow]

just read the whole tread sofar , extremely nice build
great job on it , maibe you can have the small block with the bad bearing you took out machined and build intoo a 383 , from wat i seen on summit a basiline cast 383 rotating assembly is 750 dollar
machining prolly be about 245 dollar
a set of new vortec heads with the valves and springs installed about 500 dollar
about 350 for missalanious like bearings and gaskets
say 1845/2000 dollar ...... its getting close to a pick and pull bigblock but remember this : when the 383 is ready its basicly brandnew inside and will give you enough power to pull a 2 foot treestump out of the yard
i just pulled these numbers using google but you could prolly get some of the materials and the machinework done cheaper

about painting the plastic
when the stuff is new they have a kindof wax on it to get it to release of the mould
when its used theres a big chance someone used siliconespray on it , wish basicly means nothing will stick
you might get lucky with the paint if you use a undercoat for plastics that keeps the top paint somewat flexible and realy scrubb the part within an inch of its life using a silicone remover before paint