To be fair here, Randy and I have been talking for at least 2-3 months about this build and his initial horsepower requirements started out in the 700-800 hp range. After discussing it with him and pointing out the relationships between factory blocks, displacement, tunnel port head intake port sizes, rear end gears, and the like, we approached it with a 482 build and around 600 hp. I also added that if he really felt he needed the horsepower, the heads and intake could be modified and it would certainly help the horsepower, adding about 80-100 from past experiences.
I'm certainly not against using the factory crankshaft but we are back at looking at horsepower goals and streetability. Under no circumstances would I reuse those factory rods though, no matter how much they've been polished or loved on.
If you're curious as to how much horsepower a 427 would make in streetable trim, a 465 will make about 600 with a solid camshaft and unported heads/intake, going up to 7000 rpm. You're looking at around 525-550 hp with the 427 depending on the compression ratio and rpm range.
I do believe that there can be too many experts in the room at one time, so I'll leave this post and make my way back out to the shop.