I got some more information today, and the news is bad!
>
> After the intake was reinstalled and the block pressurized, they found a crack
> in the block on the left front corner, right above the oil filter housing. My
> friend told me that this is actually the second block the engine builder did,
> because the first block cracked in the same place! The engine builder now
> thinks the AFR heads are "drilled wrong".
>
> Has anyone seen a 5.0 crack like this? (twice????) Any ideas?
The engine builder believes the block cracked because the Felpro wire loc head gaskets didn't compress properly during torquing. They are building up the replacement block without having the cylinders bored for the wire locs, and will use standard graphite gaskets instead. The engine will be done in a day or so, and I'll post how it came out.
John