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The Block

The block is pretty easy, normally. All you have to make sure of is that the interior is nice & smooth for the oil returning from the head, etc, to run down as fast as it can into the sump. Check the bearings for alignment - If the they aren't straight it can be expensive to get it straightened by means of offset grinding & undersize bearings, etc. The bores must also be as accurate as possible, ie, exactly 90° to the crank, directly in line with the crank (If the block was designed that way, that is - Some aren't for various reasons), and parallel in every direction with each other.
When all this has been done, the block must be cleaned so well that you could have your mother eat off it. A lot of teams paint the inside of the block to make it more slippery for the oil returning to the sump, but you have to prepare the block very carefully to stop the paint flaking off and paint chips getting jammed in all sorts of places. All of the head bolt holes and main cap bolt holes must be pressure cleaned with a good solvent, and check the threads with a brand new thread tap. Clean the bolts while you're at it. Also make sure that the threads in the block do not come all the way to the top of the bolt hole, as they will tend to gradually work their way out, thus chewing into the head gasket.

The Honda engine shown here is a very advanced design for a road car, and is in fact better than a great number of dedicated racing engines. Note the extremely strong 'skirt' design of the bottom end, to reinforce the crank & stop the crank bearings from flexing.

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Other stuff - Other Tuning - Further reading and race car sounds

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