Kip Martin does great work and is probably more affordable than the next guy I suggest. His shop is around Deer Valley & 67th Avenue.
He currently has the SS/L record at 10.19 with a 289 Mustang and he has a close working relationship with both of his sons who work in the pro-stock engine building team of Reher-Morrison.
The other guy is Bud Yancer of MACH Development (see
www.machdevelopment.com) and is located on 38th Ave & Indian School. He is one of those seldom seen or mentioned reace engine builders as many of his customers will mis-lead others away from him. But he just had a #1 qualifying '68 428 CJ Mustang as well as a #1 qualifying '67 383 Barracuda recently in Stock. And he had my '70 AMX 390 as #1 in Stock. How's that for diversity?
And the guy knows Chevy's. In fact I just saw a dyno last week on a 9.8:1 427 BBC that made 656 HP on 91 octane.
The shop is entirely in house which includes crank grinding, cam building (not spec'ing, building), coatings, flo-bench, balancing & dyno. About the only thing they send out is the nitriding treatment.
But if you only want 8-9 under he may not want to work with you. And if you want it on a budget and quick, he's not the guy either. But if you want it right (fast and durable), he's the one. Personally, I would love to see a 396/375 out of his shop. I absolutely believe you would have a one-up on all the other 396 experts.
And without a doubt, Advanced clutches is the only way to go. See
www.advancedclutches.com or see many comments in line at
www.umtrnorth.com/forums for stick only race site.
You can call me if you like, I live in Anthem, e-mail me for my number if you like.