So I'm planning on camming my stock LB9 and ditching the TH700 and going with a T5. (And a Y-pipe and tune). I already have Bosch D3 injectors. In my mind I see my LB9 long block, manifold out, radiator removed, transmission removed and think maybe I should just find a cheap used L98 or similar and put it all together on a stand and drop it in. I would go from a 305 to a 350 as a bonus. Is it the same cam? Same intake manifold? How cheap could I do this for?

 

Your in CA right, if you stick with your factory block emissions will be easier to meet, I would expect to spend from 3-5k on a project like the above, I don't really do "how cheap" but if you find a set of nice used heads and a new cam/lifters etc You could build the top end for about a grand. But expect to go over budget.

Hop on summit and price the parts, build a shopping list and then add $500 for odds and ends. Then look around used. Best bet is to find a already built engine someone is replacing.

 

I have a used L98 long block
needs rebuilt $350

 

I already have the cam and T5 stuff. I'm talking like well under $1,000 to get a decent 350 in there (all DIY).I want to bolt over all of the LB9 stuff that I can but just get the cubic inches and the better heads for as little $$ as possible. The only way I see to do that is get a L98 long block that tests good for compression, do the valve springs and seals, put the cam in, bolt up the clutch and T5, throw her in, hook her up, and get her tuned.

 

The CID is largely irrelevant to passing emissions.

I NEVER saw an emissions inspector check casting #s while I lived there. Not block, not heads, not anything else. Let alone ask for a CARB EO # for a cam. Unless you do something bald-faced STOOOOOOOPID, like paint it 60s orange-red so that it screams "LOOK AT ME!!! SOMEBODY'S P****-PULLERS HAVE BEEN ALL OVER ME!!!!!" or put some "Stage 4" cam with lots of "lope" in a 305, they will NEVER notice. And the exhaust gas analysis, being a PERCENTAGE of the bad stuff rather than an absolute # OF MOLECULES, is completely unaffected by making the motor bigger.

I would NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES buy the cheeeeepest motor I could find and swap it in; nor would I troll the bottom-feeders until I found the cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeepest "rebuild" I could. That is the surest recipe I know of for a motor that runs poorly, smokes, won't pass emissions no matter what you do, leaks EVERYTHING, gets beat by minivans at stoplights, has weird undiagnosable problems, and doesn't last more than a few thousand miles. In short, TOTAL disappointment. Back when I built motors alot, I could charge nearly TWICE what the "cheeeeeeeeeeepest" guy did (I knew who that was, and sent him the people who came to me and thought I charged too much), and just about anybody that knew anybody else that had one of my motors, would GLADLY pay what I asked, just because what they ALREADY KNEW that what the would get was SO MUCH better. Attention to detail MATTERS. And that's exactly what goes by the wayside when you go cheeeeeeeeeeep. Don't be fooled by a parts list: you know, so-and-so crank, such-and-such heads, whoever's cam & pistons, and so forth; it's EEEEEEEEEZY to take the same pile of parts, and get 25% more power OR MORE out of it by attention to detail, as opposed to just slapping abuncha stuff together. Likewise, using cheeeeeeeeeeeeep parts (*cough*skipwhite*cough*); big mistake.

 

I agree. Not worried about passing emissions. Just looking for a good, cheap long block that checks out good.

 

Don, I just PMd you on that long block.