My experience with the Shelby blocks, although I feel is an excellent product, the same as it is with other after-market blocks, all critical machined surfaces need to be addressed to some degree.
We will bolt plates to the block decks with rings to apply pressure to the top of the sleeves, heat in the oven for a couple of hours to say 275° - 300°, then I use an air hammer on the deck plates to provide a vibratory effect, in a progressive pattern at the elevated temperature, this will sink the sleeves further, attempting to insure against any further significant sum of sinking in service; when measured before and after, there is always a loss from the original protrusion.
Crankshaft main bores line-honed, if only lightly to establish straightness, check bore for size as at times they may be under sized adequately, and if the bore centers aren't off greatly, just allowing the mandrel to make a couple of passes to clean up insuring alignment , just don't bet on being that lucky. And in a some instances we've incurred another machining operation as we've had a few alloy FE Cross-bolted blocks of different manufactures pass thru exhibiting truly excessive interference/press-fitment between the main cap and block skirts to the point of, if not addressed, feared casting failure due to the excessive deflection imparted as transitioned from the block main saddle bulkheads to the skirt, this requiring some reworking for a more comfortable fitment.
Deck the block with the BHJ Block-True fixture, although generally these blocks have proven to be relatively square in reference, the top of the sleeves seem to wander in parallelism. In proof of this, just make a pass with the mill for decking at a minor shaving value (.0005" =/-) as measured of the mean height of the sleeves and look at the mosaic pattern often resulting.
Obviously, bore (if applicable) and finish hone with torque plates installed, to the desired finish and clearance. And with aluminum vs. iron blocks greater consideration needs to be given to the intended environmental operation as to piston to the resultant bore clearances.
Yes, measure lifter bores for clearance in relation to the intended lifter, and again remember the bore diameters will change with temperature and the aluminum doesn't take to being to tight with the resultant displacement of the oil film!
Check for lower block casting clearancing particularly in instances of a stoker crank.
Inspect and assess the oil delivery and drain-back systems for first, proper execution by the manufacturer, and whether it is suitable for ones' intended purpose; there's always something needing massaging.
And yep, cam bearing installation, and hope that the manufacture did this right enough in both bore diameter and alignment (as rectification is a P.I.T.A., and yes we've had to fix/repair a few others in this area for a number of reasons), that there is adequate interference or press-fitment for bearing retention (again, the aluminum dimension is sensitive to temperature and respective bearing shell retention) and likely are also bored from both ends of the block. Although I agree with the use of a locking compound, I question the real effectiveness as I have witnessed examples were it was not. If one truly is concerned for the possibility of the bearings walking out, then a mechanical retention feature must be added, which I would probably consider particularly for lengthy endurance race applications just as insurance.
And .........ummmm.........
But they don't come out of the box ready-to-use, although I have seen a few pressed into service as such, but.........
Scott.
