Ill try and keep it short guys...approaching 200,000 miles on the original l98. Time for a new engine in the daily driver but don't want an unreliable handful to drive. Daily driver, remember? I want stock looking, but prettier engine- love the look of the TPI- but would like just a bit more 'get up and go' without hurting gas mileage. I know, I want a hot blonde with a PhD, right?

Anyway, the question is: remanufactured longblock with headers, gasket matched and ported intake, or remanufactured shortblock with what heads?
Is a shortblock with aftermarket heads with no work to the bottom end and a stock intake worth the money, or should I just go 'all stock' and save some cash? And what sort of HP could I get from the shortblock/heads route?

Sort it wasn't as brief as I promised!

 

What's your budget for the whole swap?

 

The tricky part is deciding what you find acceptable. What might be decent idle to me, might be to rough for you. What might be mild power to me, might be to wild for you. ...and as Vette mentioned....budget.

Here are a few thoughts based on my experience. I've been looking into this as well, because I have almost 200k on my shortblock too. Right now my only major engine mods are a zz4 cam, hogged out aftermarket Eddy/SLP TPI, and full exhaust. Couple other bolt ons, but those are the biggies. This set up passed emissions on a stock tune at my buddy's shop. I don't have the AIR, so technically it would fail, but it passed the tailpipe sniffer. I would consider it very daily drive-able. It's a night and day difference from stock. Your cheapest option IMHO would be a replacement stock bottom end, clean up your stock heads, get a similar cam and the matching valvetrain, and full exhaust. The TPI sits up top, is easy to work on, and you can search the want adds until you find a deal on a used set up, and swap that out later.
I think the BEST bang for the buck, AND ease of installation would be a L31 Vortec longblock. You can buy this new for about 2000, you can buy a core, and have it rebuilt for about 1000. Right there, with just a vortec TPI manifold you can bolt in new reliability, daily driveability, AND a BIG power bump over stock. Add a cam/valvetrain if the budget allows and get more power. If I was building a daily driver (and wasn't gonna go LS swap) this is the route I'd take. Now for me, a weekend driver, I want more power, but for a DD.......this is my

 

Thanks guys. I want to keep it around $2500-3000 if I can- I have to replace the trans too or have it worked on(the PO put in a 'shift kit' and I am getting whiplash every time the thing shifts- crap for driving round town). I can get a remanufactured long block for around $1700 and I have my heart set on the polished TPI that Arkansas Plating puts out. The thing is a piece of jewelry! So I am not wanting a race set up- just a fresh stock set up with a bit more pop.
I am not sure about putting a cam in it, since I live in Californastan, where the smog KGB make life a living hell. I just thought that since the heads are the choke point of any engine, perhaps putting on something that flows better would insure the most out of the engine. I know the TPI runners are the weak link when it comes to top end, but would heads help?

 

OK, I would definitely look into the L31 vortec longblock. Now you WILL have to buy the Vortec baseplate, but other than that, it should be plug and play. a MAF car tune can easily, EASILY run that set up. Although tuning for changes is NEVER a bad idea.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12530283

Heads are MUCH better than stock L98 heads. MUCH better!!!! The relatively small cam differences will be more than made up for with those heads. Plus you could always swap in an LT1 or 2032 cam, and (probably but don't quote me) still pass CA emmisions.

L31 cam is 191 -196 duration/ 414-428 lift on a 111 centerline
L98 cam is 207 -216 duration/ 415-430 lift on a 117 centerline

As for the TPI itself, just remember that polish is hard to keep pretty, even on a weekend car. On a DD, it's all that much harder. Just food for thought. It's not like cleaning powder, paint or chrome.

 

Just saw you have a 91, with SD, not MAF. ....I'm not as familiar with SD tunes, but I know they're let forgiving. That being said, it's still very similar to an L98, so I'm not sure what exactly you'll have to do. You may HAVE to get a tune, but that would still be the case with ANY significant upgrade, regardless of what route you go.

 

The intake is clear powdercoated by the way. I may just go new 'stock' with headers and be done with it- as a DD I need reliability, not spending every weekend under the hood, trying to fix ANOTHER problem. What kind of idiot try's to keep a 22 year old car on the road... Oh, that's right- me!