I bought a 408 shortblock from BPE some years back and dressed it up with TF heads - it's an amazing engine. BPE offers excellent service, quality, and customer care. I honestly can't say enough good about them. They stand behind their work, and their work is amazing. Everything was immaculately clean, well prepped, excellent hardware used throughout, obvious care in their work, and great finishes on every machined surface - even the cast iron surfaces looked brand new and unused.
Several years after my BPE engine I did a rebuild with a local shop (trying to stay cheap). What I received at the end was a sloppy mess. It worked, there were no major issues, but the amount of oozed sealant on the core plugs and sloppy nature of their work in general (greasy palm prints all over the outside, over-application of lube around the valve stems, oozed sealant around manifolds and seals, etc) made me truly appreciate what BPE does. It also backfired, because while the shop-built engine stayed together, it did not end up significantly cheaper and it took months. I would have been better off just buying another from BPE!