Probably not a big deal, because this engine is for racing, but an aluminum heat shield around the starter will make it last longer and still keeps the weight down.
Absolutely love solid roller cams. If you're going to build a race engine, just can't understand why anyone would go with a hydraulic for the strip? What fuel are you using with the 12.5:1?
static 10:1 dynamic with the camshaft gets down low 9’s:1 setup for boost on pump gas and yes this was not custom order lunati had this in stock pre existing part number.
With the money to spend on this, I'd go with a Bowtie block for the horsepower along with diamond pistons aluminum manifold stage 2 mild cam upgrade then efi it.
i used a bowtie block on a 400 that i built around the same time as this one, nothing bad to say about a bowtie but this block was outfitted with billet splayed caps and is much stronger than a typical 4 bolt bowtie, in fact if i built this engine with said bowtie im not sure how long it would hold together consistently spraying it with as much nitrous as this one is currently running. It would be fine naturally aspirated but with the kit i would not be confident in the caps on the bowtie
