b0banna

Replaced head gaskets march 2012, my motor blew nov 2012. Has been sitting since.

I'm a woman and I feel like shops see this as an advantage. Most places are telling me $2300-3500 which sounds absurd to me. Even asking for the "homie" hook up, they say it's $1800 to buy the new motor whole.

Since the top half was rebuilt recently, would it be cheaper or make a difference to rebuild the bottom half? Feel free to correct me if I don't know what I am talking about.

If my options are to spend over $2000, wouldn't I be able to swap something bigger in their for cheaper or roughly the same price?

redline9570

You can get a factory replacement motor for around 2k. Of course it does not mean quality to some of our standards but they do come with a 3 year 30k warranty.
Short block you can get under a $1000 or have your rebuilt for that price. These prices do not included removal of the engine. What I would do is go the a bunch of different shops to get estimates and check their references.

RamAir95TA

If you can I would skip the shop altogether and pick up a good used long block. They go on CL around me for under $1000.

If you don't have the means (a few friends, etc.) to remove/install it yourself then you're probably looking at another $1000 to have it installed. Unfortunately the $2000 estimate is fairly accurate.

parkers Z28

The local shops in my area charge 800 dollars " labor " to swap the engine and the dealer ship charges 1800 dollars. "labor" for an engine swap!!!
if possible I would do as Joe suggested and find some friends to help you
put a help wanted add up in your area and maybe someone on here can give you a hand !!