Lot to be said for a remachined old block as opposed to a brand new one.

The block is cast, then it is bored, then over time it settles and goes out of shape a little, if you then rebore it then, its already settled and doesnt move again.

Certain manufacturers deliberately use very old blocks for this reason, they cast them and then leave them for years before use, famously including the monster turbo blocks that BMW used in F1, although they went a little furter, rumour has it they used to piss on them as well to encourage the blocks to age!