I need some advice on what to do with my 350. I tore my 350 out of my donor trans am to put in my good body trans am. It will be TPI FI engine and I don't have any plans to upgrade runners or intake at this moment. When I pulled the engine apart it was full of sludge and had a slight mark on the one cylinder that could be cleaned up with either a hone or a slight bore. IT has 193 heads on it. I called the local shop and they said for 200 they would hot tank and bore the cylinders, for another 280 they would completely rebuild the engine minus camshaft. Im trying to decide if it would be best to just have it bored .30 over and leave it a 355 with mild cam or to have it stroked to 383 with mild cam. Im not looking for a street/strip car, just a weekend driver that has decent power

 

I say if you got the money to spend, go for it. Does the shop do custom builds?

 

Yes the shop does custom builds i just havent asked how much it would cost for a 383 build

 

First of all, it's a substantial price jump from your $480 rebuild to go with a new stroker rotating assembly. And without some better heads to support the lungs of a stroker, I think it's a waste. If you stroke it or even deviate much from the stock cam specs, you'll need a tune to get any benefit from it.

Frankly, I'd have serious concerns about what's really included in that $480 rebuild. I'd hazard a guess it's little more than cleaning up the parts and slapping it back together Does that extra $280 include the .030 over pistons and re-balance?

 

yea what shop are you talking about, Killeen/fort hood area people see your a soldier and just want your money and give you complete crap for the end product. Ive got a 383 stroker LT1 that was rebuilt by a guy in belton, he's well known if you want his number just send me a pm.

 

The 480 is the machining and the rebuild kit which includes the bearings seals, ring, i thought he said pistons as well i dont think that includes crank

 

By the time you take labor into account ,you are not going to get much in the way of quality parts ( pistons , rings , bearings , cam bearing , etc ) for that price.

 

Once you have to bore a block the only major cost difference; 335 vs 383 is the cost of the stroker crank
http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...3750/overview/

( offset by the cost of a regrind on the old crank )
and some labor to clearance the bottom of the block.
You have to buy new pistons either way

 

Oh, I agree. The point is if he wants a DECENT motor, it's going to be a helluva lot more than $480, stroker or not!
I was thinking a complete balanced 1-pc main stroker assembly.
Add a ~$150 adapter if you used that 2-pc mainseal crank above.

 

so i called the guy back and asked him how much it would be to just build a 383 short block out of my 350 core and he quoted me about 1200 for the short block, without touching the heads

 

i was looking, would i benefit better by building a 355 with vortec heads or a 383 with 193 heads

 

I'll take "355 with Vortec heads"

 

An example only
The 1 pce RMS version available for similar price

 

i think im going to take the time and slowly build a 383. Currently working on moving so the car is being placed on the back burner so im just going to slowly work on getting the engine built

 

So been looking into doing my engine and I'm starting to look into the lt1 swap. I found a guy that wants to trade a 94 caprice lt1 and trans for my 350 carb and 700r4 or I can get a complete lt1 out of junk yard for 300. Would it be better to do the swap or built 355 or 383 tpi. Also should I swap my 700r4 to 4l60e or just reuse my 700r4. Guy says it comes with all harnesses up to ignition switch

 

You KNOW what you have now, so keep it that way... or you will probably find out you've got three times as many bills as you did before you started swapping things.

You already know the answer for 355 vs 383. Bigger is ALWAYS better if budget allows to be done properly.