Unless price has gone that far up in the last 2 years, I think HSR with fuel rails is under $600. Will still be high and take up half the bill.

...you guys all do find it easy to spend someone else's money i see.


the truth is, plain and simple, that a 1500 budget will not get you a good well rounded street car to take on LS1 cars. A car needs overall upgrades, ie; trans rear brakes engine suspension in order to accomplish this.

However, 1500 will get you a fun driver that can be reliable and something to be proud of.

I would say invest the 1500 in the car. Suspension, maybe upgraded brakes, basic cleaning and tune up stuff. That can make the car feel a lot better.

Yup. Or hold off until you can spend some more $.

^ Save up for an LT car >_>

Can do if he wasn't set on tpi or a reman shortblock... and a fuel injected 5.3 swap is more $ than an ls1 swap..

this is all true.

guys....the 1500 is my engine build budget....not the car budget

thats exactly what i am looking for, just a little more power in a budget friendly, street friendly package

i would wait till you have more money to put into the motor, im building my second motor and ive learned its better to wait and do it right with quality parts. would you rather wait a little longer and build a fast reliable car or build a motor based around 1500 and run the risk of things breaking, costing you more money in the long run. its always up to you but id say wait keep saving and buy quality parts. make a list of everything and see how much it costs then save, having a price range and trying to buy parts to fit in that budget isnt a good plan IMO

ah ok, well 1500 for engine build still isnt much.

can you just clarify if thats for the rebuild or machine work or for the main componennts etc? like do you consider headers in that or not? what about an ignition system/new dizzy?

Heres 2 of my experiences with sbc...
I did a 383 build in my old 88 iroc vert and i bought a longbloack minus valvetrain for 1800 from a company, the cam lifters, rockers pushrods easily set me back another 1k. the billet dizzy and 6AL ignition box was at least another 700, then new carb intake manifold at least 500. That was 4k right there without even trying hard. No machine work was needed.
That was also reusing my accesories, but i did put a new water pump and a new serp belt bracket mount on the drivers side due to damage i found. another 500 added on. Then thermostat, thermostat housing, motor mounts, bolts that actually fit with headers, headers, catback, new clutch, trans rebuild. but like you said all that would be separate from the 1500.

Then i also did a 350 TPI swap into a 87 Monte SS. I got a stock 87 corvette used short block for 200 off ebay, had a "noise". tore it down and found a wiped out cam bearing only. Had the bearings replaced for 1-200(cant remember) and then ordered the rebuild kit, rings, bearings, gaskets etc. And I wanna say that was maybe 400 or so. 100 for a set of 350 tpi iron heads. I resused all stock internals, but switched to a speed density tpi system. I added tubular edelbrock headers(only things that fit the car with a T5 trans mounted up). With all the nickle and dine stuff, I easily hit 1500 with just that motor build. (not counting the headers). Thats why I think 1500 for even just a engine build limits you. That particular 350tpi monte SS was dynoed and made a mere 221hp/3xxtq(give or take a few...it was in 2005, ill try to find true numbers now). now 221 at the wheels isnt impressive but considering stock internals, injectors etc, the motor new had 245 at the flywheel, the air filter and headers/catback made me a decent amount. But still FAR from being able to take on ANY LS1 car.

He could probably pick up used vortecs and run the gmpp cam they use in the 330hp crate motors for $500, but that leaves 1k for intake, shortblock and misc things.. in the end he's going to have to make some serious sacrifices to obtain that goal...

also looking at making a little bit of it back when i sell the running 305. a perfect senario would be that i pick up a cheap un damaged block, even if it needs a rebuild for an f-body, i have a set of cast tpi heads already, they just need to opened up a little. so in thoery im looking to 1500 for a bottom end only, i don't think thats too much a stretch. i am not figuring and of the other nickel and dime stuff cause i don't have to yet, headers will fall into my exhaust budget. the serp set up and manifold i will carry over from the 305 thats in the car. all the sensors i have are either like new or working order so i really don't need them. and the prom, well i am going to have to source one of them. even if i said ok im just going to do a 350 swap, still need a good 350+knock sensor, which is nothing and i'll need it anyway+prom. and im not going to just get a 350 and throw it in there, im going to have to rebuild or at least refreshen it before i put it in just for my own piece of mind

ok, fair enough, at least your not expecting 12s in the 1/4 for a $1500 build lol..

god no...this not going to be a crazy build....im not expecting anymore than somewhere in the 13's

i just figure if i have to replace the crank, i might as well go with a longer stroke, and then i though a 377 would be good, but then i need rods and pistons. hence the above rotating assembly

and with a 377 i can keep the stock bore, which is another budget friendly move

My Nova combo, with prices:

Started with a running '74 350 and re-used the block and rotating assembly after it passed a leakdown test/inspection. Did a lot of cleaning.

650 Holley DP- I had it, but freshened it, figure $200
062 Vortecs w/screw in studs, LT4 springs, rockers and Manley valves -$300 used
FelPro 1094 Head gaskets - $60
Edelbrock Vortec intake- $75 very lightly used
XE268 Cam, CM pushrods - $120+ $100
Oil pump and pickup - $50
Gasket set - $50
Vortec intake gaskets -$33
Water pump - $50
Fuel pump - $80
Incidentals - $100

I actually totaled it up and it came out at under $1500. Assuming you have your ignition system already and go with a carb for induction. Ballparking with real world dyno tests of engines with Vortecs, the same cam, and same compression puts it around 375hp or so.

If you stick with your fuel injection and have to do anything with the rotating assembly I think your budget is too small. I would also spend the extra $ to go with a roller cam if your block can take it.

do you have a good 400 block on hand? Solid, machinable 400 cores don't fall off trees anymore. Thus the new SHP block. I'd rather do a OE 1pc roller block 350, lots more of them, EFI friendly ROLLER cams. I think your best bet if you keep EFI is find a complete 350 TPI motor and go from there.

The plan is to use a 350 roller block with a 383 crank to achieve 377 cubes

unless I'm thinking wrong, a 350 with a '383 crank' is a 383. A 377 is a destroked 400 (350 crank). Guys used to build those in the old days with an eye towards high rpm. Kind of like a bigger 302. which is a bad match to OE TPI.

A 383 built for torque might be great for tpi. w/o spending $$ on an intake that can pull past 5000 rpm building a motor designed to rev high is no use. Although I still think the best bang for your $$ is a simple 350 +.030.

what trans & rear gears are you planning on? if you want to save$$ you need to plan the whole system together.

It is a 3.75" stroke crank. Final cubic inches depend on bore.

A 350 with a "383 crank" is a 377 if it's std bore.

I've never known anyone to do that and not overbore lol so when I hear 377 I think 400 4.155b/3.48s

Neither have I.

i thought 400 with the 377 too aka a destroked 400 that you can rev high.

but as an example, that used 350 block i put in my monte was std bore when i got it and did not need to be bored at all so it remained std bore, still is, ran great...but my ex has the car now and i hope it blows up with her stuck in it...

on a brighter note, its friday fridayyy...

What is the power limit for a stock TPI intake 350 all motor?? Are most of the power gain from swapping over to a better intake like mini ram/stealth ram?? Thats what I always thought.. If you do a stealth ram and a nice cam on your 305 you should get a very nice increase in power without spending over your 1500.00 budget.. Maybe even get some head work done.. If you had more to spend then I would say get a 350 and do that build but if you do a 350 build with the stock TPI intakes on it would it make more power then a H/C/I 305 with a stealth ram setup?? If I rememer that year 305 tpi vrs 350 tpi was only a 20 hp difference or so.. 245hp for the 350 and 225hp for the 305..

I miss my TPI cars...

By serious sacrifices I mean running the carb and getting a used shortblock :moon:

changing from EFI to a carb is not cheap if you don't have any of the stuff - carb, carb tuning parts, gaskets, intake, throttle parts, f/p reg, distributor, air cleaner, impact on auto trans, etc. and let's not forget passing emissions considering the OP's car.