Snail spool, I can understand what you are saying. It can hold true in some cases, but not in this one.
The guy who bought the long block assembly bought it right from dsmgraveyard about 3 years ago, and put 2000 or less miles on it. The engine went out about a year and a half ago. I have had the shortblock on an engine stand for about 8 months.
The way it came to my shop is fairly simple, there is a local guy that wrenches on 2g DSMs and has bought at least 6 short blocks from me, and I can not say how many heads. He got the nod to pull the engine and see what happened to it. He found the endplay issue and brought it to me, and used it as a core for one of my short blocks.
I even called dsmgraveyard with the number that was etched on the side of the block, and they told me when it was built and the cost ($4200 IIRC)