Short Block Suggestions

[CUBaseball]

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?