pretty much, the funny part is, if they would have put good rods in the motor from the factory, there would be many more forced induction mod motor cars around putting out 500. the block itself is def. stronger than a 5.0 block. the crank isn't that bad either.

for that matter, the 5.0 crank, rods, and pistons will long outlast the block. The bean counters at ford caused that problem long time ago.
There are some old school racers that also swear there was a quality control problem with 91 5.0 blocks that included a higher nickel content, they supposedly are much stronger and I've talked to a couple that had 91 blocks hoarded as another racing secret.