Well my z is getting kind of boring and I think it needs a fresh motor soon. It's at 133k miles and sounds like it needs some lovin. I'm thinking of just refreshing the motor a bit and going with a 355 and going the cheap route, but if a 383 isnt that much more then I could possibley do that.

What should I look for? Any reputable rebuild kits, or places to order from? I'm not looking for too much in terms of hp, just something around 400hp. That should be a breeze NA right? I will definetley be spraying on this motor too.

Budget is some what of an issue but not a big deal. I was thinking around $4k?

I've built a few motors already so all this could be done in my garage, minus the machining.

My other option is selling the camaro and buying a srt-4...but we wouldn't want that now would we

 

There is no cheap route when rebuilding a motor... I thought that and 10k later I wasn't finished yet.

 

$4000 is a lot of money to rebuild a motor with when you are only shooting for 400 hp. This number should be easily reached with a 355 with good portwork on the heads and intake as well as a good cam grind like the cc306 or hell that would even be reachable with the lt4 kit. Just tuning can get you 20hp over stock. With headers and a good catback, theres some more hp. right there youre probably looking at over 400hp with not much over $2k. Remember the Camaro LT1 already had almost 300 hp to start with, so adding 100 hp isnt a very big deal with these ridiculously high potential engines.

 

10K is what I have invested... including a tranny rebuild... but all of my parts were at cost. Im looking at over 450rwhp.

 

I just built a 383 shortblock for 1800 $

Scat crank 250$
Cat 5.7 inch floating pin rods (4340 steel I beams)-210$
Sealed power forged pistons with 12CC dish 325$
Rings 50$
Bearings 70$
Machine work- slightly above 500$

Throw in a new cam 245$ a set of new lifters 200$ pushrods 100$ rockers 200$ and a set of ported heads with new springs studs and guideplates 1700$ and your really close (plus you'll need a new fuel pump and injectors 400$)

and a tune.

Basing it off what I just said youre right around 3 grand and have money for a nice set of headers, y-pipe and a cat-back.

I built my 383 shortblock with used parts for about 1500$ then add another 1650$ for the heads. I already had the exhaust system conveter (3000) and gears (3.73)

And in a full weight 97 WS-6 with M/T sportsman pros on the rear the car knocks down 11.70s to 11.50s pretty easily at 115 to 117 mph.

 

Yeah I was thinking 4k should be more than enough for parts alone for an ENGINE rebuild. Machining would probably take up $1000 of that? Thats just for the engine. I'm sure way more money can go into the CAR than that. I guess I would need to upgrade other parts on the car as well. The tranny also has 134k miles on it, and only on its 2nd clutch that is still holding.

The diff should be fine for only 400hp you think?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

As long as you build the shortblock to make 10.5 :1 compression (I would go for 11:1) with the heads you choose and it can go to 6500 on ocational blasts you'll be fine.

Heck my own motor has no real trick parts in the bottom end (except for a cut up Milodon windage screen...lol) and I hit 7000 on each WOT blast. Its been together for over 2 years without any signs of real trouble (did have an eagle cast steel crank eat the thrust bearing though).

As long as the shortblock is sound and has the right potential for compression , the cam and head selection will put the power where you want it.