advice on stock 460 rebuild...

It's been about 30 years since I rebuilt an engine, so I need some advice please!

I have a stock 460 in a 70 Lincoln Mk III. It has 90K miles on it. Compression was between 180 to 195 on all cylinders (dry). I'm using about a qt of oil every 200 miles, no noticeable oil leaks on the ground. Small puff of blue smoke on start up, but no noticeable smoke when running. Engine seems to be running strong. I just replaced the original carb with a Edelbrock 1406 and the dist with a rebuilt one. Still running points on it. Has almost new steel timing chain/gear. All accessories on the engine are in working order.

My neighbor has a big shop with a lift and everything I need to pull the engine and put it back in. What I'm not sure of is whether he has all the mics and other equipment needed for a quality rebuild. I used to rebuild engines back in high school, did a pretty good job but that was using the auto mechanics shop at my high school.

I'm thinking it's going to need a rebuild soon and I'm debating which route to go: (no matter who does it I want quality parts that will LAST)
1. Pull it myself and send it to a reputable machine shop for rebuild
2. Pull it myself and rebuild it all myself, just sending block out for cleaning/rebore, etc.
3. Giving it to some local classic car place and have them rebuild it.
4. Getting a stock crate engine and dropping it in.

pros/cons of each:
1. I live in San Antonio Texas, so I'm sure there's some good machine shops/rebuild shops out there. I personally don't know of one, but I'm a little reluctant to trust someone else to do it right.
2. This will take longer, and I'm not sure I have all the right mics/tools.
3. Mucho $$$$$. You'd think it would be done right, but will it really?
4. Worried about the quality of the rebuild and parts.

So what are your thoughts/suggestions? I'm thinking I have plenty of time on this engine before I have to tear it apart so I want to plan this thouroughly.

Thanks guys!

sell me the motor and go buy a crate motor that way you'll know what you have just my thoughts

given any thought to replacing valve stem seals , compression readings equal to all cyls ? not leaking oil anywhere? has good vacuum reading on guage , steady needle ? has the right pcv valve in it ?

I have a 73 460 in my old wood hauling truck that smoked pretty bad on startup and some at idle. I put new valve seals on it and no more smoke. I think it only had one or two left on it. the rest had hardened and broke apart. It doesn't sound like you really need to rebuild it.

i hate most crate motors so i would check it out completely and decide from there which route to go.

Thanks for the advice so far...right now I'm leaning towards just replacing the valve stem seals. I should be able to get that done in one weekend, barring any problems.

One thing I forgot to mention is that my flexplate has the teeth rounded off in spots, so I need to drop the tranny and replace that also - but that's kind off separate...

I've done other engines seals heads-on before, but I don't own a valve spring compressor. Can you guys recommend one that will work on the 460 correctly?

i have a LISLE conpressor and it works well. As far as the motor goes, dont take it apart unless you are commiting to a total rebuild. It sounds like changing seals is a good place to start and dont go further until you need to.

k, found the valve spring compressor at Amazon.

Are the keepers the old two-piece kind?

I don't need any special tools other than the valve spring compressor and the hose to keep the air in the cylinder, right?

Other than getting the seals and the valve cover gaskets, is there anything else I need to order?

make sure you put each cylinder on TDC when you working on each one.

When I replace the seals - what's the best way to adjust the valves? The way I remember is with the engine running, back off till they tick, then tigthten 3/4 turn.