After going to a car show Saturday I finally got motivated to work on my IROC again...

It wasn't really all that hard, just frustrating - The pass side motor mount shell (that bolts to the block) was caught on the mount itself and wouldn't move. I tried everything.

Anyway... I went home after the car show and gave the engine a quick yank back with the engine hoist and low and behold, the engine moved forward, and it was just a matter of disconnecting some ground wires on the back of the block and it was out.

WHEW... I'm more or less a weekend mechanic, but this stupid project took me a month (99.9% was due to frustration and lack of motivation)... The engine and tranny were still bolted together.

Anyhoo - Looking forward into this project....... engine swap.

As far as picking the correct engine size and combo... I've never done this before so I'm looking for some ideas.

I am more or less looking for a crate"ish" motor. I don't know if I truly want a crate motor or if it would be more cost effective to get someone locally to build a motor.

I'm also going to be srapping the TPI and getting an HSR so that will factor into this overall setup. I'd like about 350-400 hp after the swap.

Any suggestions? Ideas? Crate motor options?