Just Bought a Crate Motor for my 97 GMC / Want to Re-Build Old Motor (1st timer)

[fishmunger]

Well, I bought a nice 97 GMC 2500 extended cab about 2 months ago, super nice condition, only 110,000 miles...I put about 500 miles on it then while I was towing my boat up a grade, a main crank bearing blew. Talk about bad luck. Never overheated or anything, I was still able to limp the 50 miles home.

Anyway, so I took it to my mechanic who dropped the pan and found the bearing. So I ordered a new crate motor from Jegs. I got the L31 Heavy Duty 4 bolt main vortec motor. My mechanic will be installing it this week. I was also looking for break-in suggestions for it. I'd like to Run Mobil 1 Synthetic oil in it once it's broken in.

I'm planning on keeping my original motor (97 vortec, 2 bolt main 350), and trying to re-build it myself to keep as a spare. I'm pretty handy, but I've never re-built a motor before. I'm looking forward to taking my time on this project, learning, and doing it right.

I'm looking for guidance and sources on where I can start reading up on where to take my build. I want to keep it fairly stock, but I'm open to doing things that make it stronger, more efficient, torquier. I live in CA so I don't want to do anything that will make it fail smog later.

Just looking for suggestions, ideas, opinions...THANKS