Hopefully you're talking about a new build. The machine work should be done after filling, not before. The water jackets need to be cleaned. The cleaner the better for the hard block to adhere to the cast iron. With the engine on the stand, level the deck surface in both directions. Install the soft plugs. I left a couple inches of water at the top of the jacket, since I drive mine on the street. With that in mind I ran two 5/8" heater hoses in each of the water jacket openings from the front of the block up to the deck surface. I sprayed them with a dry teflon spray so they'd come out easier. If you're doing a full fill, then you won't need to worry about that. Make sure the filler is mixed real good. I used a funnel to pour the fill into the top of the deck starting in the middle and working my way outward. I poured a little then used an electric vibrating hand sander (without paper) to vibrate the outside of the block to get the stuff to settle and flow into all the little nooks and crannies and remove air bubbles. Don't overdo the vibrating, just a little to steer that stuff into the smaller areas. Then poured a little more and repeated the vibrating. Till it was at the 2" level. Let it set overnight and turn the block and repeat the same steps on the other deck surface. With two inches of water at the top of the jacket I notice no heating problems on the street. Using a standard copper/brass 4 row radiator. Of course the oil temp has to be monitored since you're removing that cooling. I run an 8 quart pan. I didn't use the epoxy filler (Titanium filler, usuallly) around the lifter bores. Its a good way to control the oil falling back to the base, but probably has only a little effect in strengthening those bores from aggressive lobe profiles. I opted for a lifter bore girdle instead.
