Thanks for the link Keith, I ordered some as well.

Don't believe all the silly hype about vehicle prices without seriously checking for yourself. I am an old school tight wad at the age of 40 and just bought my first new vehicle last Fall. I got a 2018 4 door 4x4 XLT with lots of bells and whistles for $38.5k and probably could've gotten a little lower but finally caved as it was getting late.
Union labor and corrupt politicians coupled with dumb voters and a complicit media are what has ruined the majority of our industries. A change is taking place but I think we are too far down the tracks to turn things around.
I can't see GM and Ford merging as that would marginalize too many potential buyers. I personally as a die hard Ford fan would be totally disgusted and be very glad I just bought a new truck to hopefully last me the rest of my life along with my classics.

Glad to hear he is okay, a great die hard Ford guy. He recently had unexpected engine trouble as well and went back through it and now this. Did he have his new car there, a 63 Falcon?

Wire transfer is the "go to" for large transactions. I discussed it with my bank President whom I also know and he deals in high priced classic vettes (notice I didn't say friends), after being asked to share my bank account and routing number needed for the wire. He said there is not much they could do with them anyhow. That still didn't give me a warm fuzzy either and the "dummy account" isn't a bad idea.

Based on what I have read, this block is about 1 week too late to be a candidate for a 135 car. They were built in the same week this block was cast. Supposedly they had mid December dated blocks. But what I would do is look for an assembly date on the front knorbs below head deck to give a better clue.
From a value standpoint, if it checks out good, it should be in the $2500-3k range mostly if someone needs that date.

One thing I recently learned that prevents a very common issue, was to remove the rockershafts and tap on the top of each valve to make sure they are not stuck. You will know by the sound when there is one stuck or not and this will prevent major issues. You can also oil things up a bit while you have better access.

+1 Most likely and hopefully a gasket issue.

Greg I found them and will send you a pm with my info.