My advice would be to shop around in your area for an automotive machine shop and talk to them and their owners. Many like the "vintage" stuff and look forward to doing them.
I have always done my own assembly and purchased needed parts from reputable suppliers (Rock Auto and ebay on line). The only thing I don't do is boring, crankshaft grinding, valve jobs or alignboring.
EGGE Machine in South Gate has rebuild kits and if you find a machine shop which will dissasemble it for you and tell you what it needs it definatly is a good way to go. Rememeber all engines are just air pumps and it's not rocket science to check bearing sizes, side and thrust clearance they do it to every engine.
I have 2 shops in Orange county that do my boring if needed and typical valve jobs. Another for more trick valve work.
Marine Crankshaft in Santa Ana is the only one I'll let touch one of my cranks. Most of my bearings come right from E-Bay today.
The biggest thing is making sure you are starting with a good block and head (not cracked). One other suggestion would be to look at "marine" rebuilders since you live near the coast. Their stuff needs to work the first time and for a long time. Good Luck
