I recently compiled a collection of quality parts to bolt on to a 4 bolt, .040 over short block I had aquired from a private seller. However, upon disassembly of the short block I found that one crank counterweight had been grinding the block in one area, to the point that both are useless without machining. At this point I would rather spend the money on a new short block than have mine machined. I have been looking at the ZZ4 short block but my wife will veto that idea. I'm looking at a $1000-$1500 price range. Any suggestions?

you can get a GM longblock for around that much with a warranty. Have you looked into that? the shortblock would probably be cheaper.

I've looked into it a little, I would perfer a shortblock as I have brand new upgraded vortec heads and %100 of everything else to finish the motor, other than the short block.

This is what I was talking in reference to the shortblocks
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=42913
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=184534
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=183227
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=197315
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=197317

Thanks for the Info, that last one looks good!