i just called a local machine shop in my area and talked to the guy for about an hour, turns out hes build quite a few lt1's and is very knowledgeable with them, even has a 96 z with a 396 lt1, offered to take me for a ride when i drop my block off, anyways...

he said if i brought my block to him, i could pick it back up as a complete 383 short block, with an eagle 4340 3.750 stroke crank and 4340 6inch h beams, and forged srp pistons, cam bearings freeze plugs all that good crap, he said it would be in the $ 2,300 to 2,500 range

thats a pretty good deal isint it? compared to some of the prices ive seen on websites and things, and ive asked around that heard mostly good things, only that he may take awhile to build it, but i have all winter so im not worried about that, just wanted some opinions on the price, thanks guys

 

That seems like a very good deal.
I just paid 2600 for machine work and parts for my 355. stock crank compstar 6" rods mahle pistons and a 4 bolt conversion.
Kory

 

Sounds good. Make sure they torque plate hone.

 

wow, that is really cheap.

 

Sounds like a good deal. General rule of thumb I use here in Texas is add up the parts and tack on another $800 and that should put you pretty close to what it should cost.

 

Yeah - it's a hell of a lot cheaper than us too, but if he's running a one man shop with very little floorspace then he might be running labor rates around $50/hour and the little "extras" will get tacked on later.

 

Yeah, and he's local so there's no messing with shipping problems or the mess of getting the block re-machined if it doesn't show up right.

Local is DEFINITELY the way to go with machine work and custom builds.