Well, yeah they are cool if you want to use factory crossbolts.
Otherwise as mentioned, most are a gamble.
Plus the mounting points kinda limit them to 64 and earlier Fords. I have a C4AE and D4TE block stashed, they are nice to have, but I wouldn't overpay for one. In my case, the C4AE block came in a parts car I bought. The D4TE block I did buy ($200), but it had been magged, cleaned, inspected before I got it, so I consider much of the value being in that.
Hehe the C3AE block that was used to build my stroker had a few tiny cracks, well not cracks perse we weren't really sure what the heck they were (probably cracks). Also had a mystery leak that disappeared around a core plug (probably a small crack that got sealed with rust), ohh and it had a sleeve we (Brent) didn't know about until the block was decked. I think this sort of thing is probably more common than not.
To be totally honest, I have two vehicles, and will continue to only have two vehicles. If I ever did a engine build again I think I'd just buy a BBM block and be done with it.... yeah it would add another 6-7 months to the build timeframe, but who cares, it's just dirty paper. Heck, I shoulda done that for the stroker build, just cuz.
