sounds to me like he has a lot of good parts and other work already done on the top side---these caps can be put on the 3 center mains and actually make the block a lot stronger because the outter bolts are angled(splayed) out inti the outter pan rail/main web junction. I do from 2 to 5 of these jobs every week and find that the eagle caps are cheap compared to the programs, milodons etc (well under c-note) and takes total of about an hour to install the caps and another hour to align bore then finish align hone block

Its all he needs to do , its simple (if the shop has the equipment) and about the only machine shops who won't recommend it are the shops who don't have the equipment or the knowledge/experience to do it.