Why didn't you keep the original V8? You could have slowly rebuilt it over the years since you dropped this one in, spreading the costs and learning as you went.
The old engine was trashed, some one had done a botched rebuild on the heads it in the past and truly uggered it up.
I first got worried when I looked at the cam sprockets, look at the massive wear on the teeth.
I then found this hex socket stuck on the end of the chain tensioner, it must have over-tightened the chain and caused the wear, so metal particles throughout the engine.
How about a disintegrated chain slider too.
Surprising to find these botches on a rebuild looking so clean.
But the worst offence was to reuse the old oiler tube clips (along the top of the cam bearing towers) and RTV the tube in place instead. That starved the CAM bearings of oil and led to this movement at the back of the right hand bank cam. All four bearing were trashed.
So I saved the transmission, ancillaries, fuel injection system and a few other parts and the rest went to the scrap metal dealer for £50.
Also I had been scammed when I bought the car, it was registered and sold as a 450 but the engine was only a 350, so I was glad to see the back of it
Sure did, it was divine fate that I was able to pick up a reasonably good replacement engine and transmission for only £360.
Some other news, I was a bit suspicious about the compression readings, they were all very low but the engine does feel good, it always starts fast and pulls well. So I checked the compression tester and it is only reading about 3/4 actual pressure, I think there is a problem with the schrader valve. I have ordered a new one and will do the tests again next week.
So things are looking up.
Here is the car from a few years ago, 0 to 60 in first gear.