well, I should have just built the motor myself, but I don't know of a good machine shop anymore that is local, I ordered the long block from the net, it had a 2 year warranty and it actually took me that long to get the boat together, and ready for the motor, plus I had a lot of health issues I had to deal with which took even more time. I put all the bolt on stuff on the motor (timing cover,pan etc.) and I cant remember if I checked the timing marks , I think I did but cant remember where they were, I did not degree the cam, the motor was broke in by the builder not me, he ran the motor before shipping it, I took his timing cover and pan off and put my stuff on, I checked the bottom end and it all looked good, he was supposed to send me the specs on the cam and all but he never did , it is supposed to be a custom ground cam but I haven't been able to get in touch with him yet,,,,i thought getting the motor would be faster and easier on me but now im not sure,,,, the compression seems real low but im not sure where its actually supposed to be? I thought around 150psi?? whats a stock 454 with 781 heads at ? I know there are many variables like cam, pistons but im just saying whats ball park?