I was absolutely ready to pull the trigger on a crate motor (had two in mind) and my neighbor told me I needed to talk to "his engine guy"--what did I have to loose.
So I spent a couple hours talking to him (even took print-outs of my crate motor specs with pricing) and after all his questions and time, I knew there was no way I could buy a crate motor built by someone I never talked to with price as a priority if his price was even close.
His price came back REALLY close to the crate motors when you consider the extras he was providing and that I'd have to buy with the crate motors. Now he's "my engine guy" and he's ready to start it when I get my headers. It will be broke-in when I get it as he runs it on the run stand to break it in. Oh, and he only uses Brad Penn engine oil. He swears by it after the oils were changed and he replaced a ton of flat tapped cams.
Mine is a flat tappet cam 351W turned into a 408W with a Edlebrock Performer RPM top end kit. 415 hp and 430-450 torque @ 9.5 CR.
I'd recommend finding a guy that builds them locally. I have truly enjoyed stopping-in during the build and talking to him as well as taking pics of the progress.