I'd get the one that's apart. Build it yourself and you know what you've got. I agree with using ARP rod bolts, but crank and head ARP bolts is a bit of overkill unless you are trying to make serious horsepower and racing Lemans. I would suggest new flywheel bolts, still available from Ford.
I tend to think that the
oil requirements at the bearing are the same for any make of engine. The FE has narrow
oil passages, so to obtain the
oil flow you need at the bearings, you need more pressure back at the fliter where the oil guage is tapped from compared to say, a Chev. The oiling mods are easy as cast iron is soft to work with.
I tried a HVHP pump once. Not good. Pressure pegged my guage. Puts a lot of stress on the dist, dist gear, oil pump driveshaft, etc. In fact, even with oil pressure in the 80s (HV pump only), some distributors can shear the gear roll pin. I had to double pin (nested) my Mallory for that reason. Anyway, that HPHV pump would also pump the oil pan almost dry when the oil was cold....took too long for the oil to drain back from the heads compared to what the pump was pushing through it. (And "yes", I did have restrictors in the heads.) How I tell? Once the car was started, I'd attempt to back out of the garage and the slight sloshing of the little oil remaining in the pan would allow air into the pick-up and my guage would bounce around.
Although expensive, I wound up using an Aviad oil pan. I called them and they added a rear bung for the oil temp sensor for free. 9 qts in the pan plus what's needed for the filter. I also made my "blue-printed" HVHP oil pump adjustable and set the oil pressure for about 85 psi prior to installation.
A strong recommendation is a heavy duty oil pump drive. I wouldn't build an FE, even stock, without one.
And buy a new balancer....I have just spent a ton of money re-building my engine because I set the timing to the marks on a balancer that was slipping and got massive detonation resulting in a broken piston.
Back to your prospective purchase. It would be nice to be able to presssure check, sonic check, etc. a block you are thinking of purcdhaasing, but the reality is most owners down't want you leaving with the block and possibly bringing it back damaged, or not returing to pay for it. I just take my chances on the purchase and have it checked after the deal by the machine shop for cracks, etc. If it's bad, an honest Seller may give you your money back. I do my own pressure test, but only at about 30 psi, double that of normal water pressure. Just leave it hooked up for a while, if there's a crack, the water will eventually seep out...er....most of the time. I may do the 100 psi check mentioned earlier next time as I once did split a block.....water jacket inside valley area cracked and split open. Guess I put more stress on the engine than it ever got in the old family wagon. Mind you, I had a few thousand miles on the engine before that happened.
Pre-oiling the engine prior to start up. Great idea. Happens automatically for me. I dont' use a choke, and crank it a bit before I pump the gas pedal to start it. I suspect the best thing is to switch from mineral oil to
synthetic once break-in is complete. According to Smokey Yunick,
synthetic has saved some of his engines even when an air bubble has been sucked up by the oil pump due to hard cornering, accelration, or whatever. Only bad thing about it that even the smallest of leaks,
synthetic will find its way out quite easily.
Holy crap, I'm writing a novel...and a very opionated one too.....sorry about that. Good luck with your decision.