I'm getting close to 170k miles on my 1988 Trans Am GTA and it's starting to feel like the engine needs a rebuild. I've never done an engine rebuild before and I really want to do it myself, I love my "GreTA" and it would be an accomplishment if I did it myself.
I would be building this on a budget, I need to know what rebuild kits are out there, I'm also considering upgrading to a 383. I need to know what to look for and tips during the rebuild.
I don't wanna build a race engine, I want a good reliable engine with enough power to smoke some imports.
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I was researching upgrades for my 350 TPI last year and came across so many options you wont know where to start. I'd start first with a new cam and make it breathe better and make it go quicker.
they make better intake runners for geting more air in....higher compression pistons would help too

Now that my engine was ruined by Sandy, i am about to see if it can be honed out and rebuilt as a 350, since the block seems ok. Otherwise i'll be doing a 355 which i have no idea about lol. good luck, hope you get plenty of answers...i couldnt get anywhere here on trying to find where to start on getting parts or where to start looking for parts on building a 355

 

Do you have any machine shops near by? You're going to need the block cleaned up, ie. ridge reamed, honed, etc. With that kind of mileage, I would probably do a re-bore just to round out the cylinders, maybe 20 thou if you want to be able to re-bore again at a later date (next rebuild). As for a 383, you can get a used 400 crank relatively cheap, but the machine work to clean it up and size the journals, you might as well buy a ready to go crank from one of the crank manufacturers. Your budget will determine what you can and can't do as far as parts, but you can do all the assembly work yourself to save money, but then you need the right tools. Add up all the costs and a rebuilt short block might be the way to go. Only you can decide how much time and money you want to invest in the "rebuild". If you are going to do it yourself, be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort to get everything right and the time the car will be down. Which brings up another idea, get a junkyard 350 for the rebuild and keep the original motor in the car until the rebuild is complete and ready to go. Just a thought!

 

Personally I would say pick up another roller cam 350 block and start there. Drop it at a good machine shop and have them prep it for a rebuild. I would say until block is prepped wait on purchasing a rotating assembly. Theres no point in buying pistons that are .030 over (for example) if the block only requires .010 of clean up in the cylinders. If you decide on doing a 383 there are numerous complete, balanced rotating assembles available from everybody and their brother. Secondly, a good flowing intake manifold and runners are the key to making any TPI engine run. Do your research and invest in a aftermarket lower manifold/runner combo and have some porting done. Or swap to a Holley Stealth Ram, that works too. Also, with 170k it maybe wise to "build backwards," meaning start with a fresh rear end and trans then build the engine.

All that being said, there are a ton of TPI build threads on this forum, use the search feature, research other builds to better define what you want and the parts/work needed to get there. Good Luck!