So right now I'm on the college kid budget, but in the long run of course i want this car to be even better than right now. Car is a 1998 Z28, just rolled over 100k, I'm assuming this car has had a fair share of beatings before me..haven't pulled the valve covers or oil pan to see, but it doesn't burn oil
About me/Automotive

Im taking classes, but don't have too much experience, I can tear and engine down and reassemble it.

Cant do much for custom fab work/welding or body work

This car is going to be street/weekend cruiser, will probably take it to the track once just to get a time, thats it.

As for budget I'm not looking for anything more than $10k into the engine alone, but really in the end I'm looking for the most reliable horsepower for the buck

SO after all my research I've come down to stuff like the following:

383 Stroker kit+a smaller cam will put me in lower 400's, but I've read 97-98 blocks are kind of **** and cant really be rebuilt by much more than a mild hone? Can i just pick up a old 5.3 and stroke that? and to how much (safely) I could also sell my LS1 and put the money towards it.

5.3 Turbo I really want to do this but once again cant to much for custom fabricating, but huron speed has a good kit for $2k? I would either forge the internals for a larger turbo, or keep it smaller at about 6-8 PSI.

6.0 Cam/bolt ons Ive read is a very cheap way to make tourque

5.7 nitrous+bolt ons isn't my favorite, but ive considered it..really id rather not even go past 75-100 shots

5.7 H/C/I i feel like Im limited at 400~ish hp, because im not putting too big of a cam in there. And theres better HP for the money out there.

6.7/408, just bore out a 6.0, go with forged eveything, and nice heads/cam, but thats close to breaking the bank..it would essentially triple the investment of my car haha..

Open to suggestions/opinions, and would like to know costs for your build if its similar, thanks for any help!

 

What are your power goals, and define reliable?

 

Not as glorious, but the way I would go for good long term power that you could build on later would be the 408....pick up a cheap lq4/9 and get a great forged rotating assy for it. Then after that if you are running close to your budget you could still use your stock heads and intake till you could afford to upgrade them.....but if possible id try to pick up atleast an ls6 intake, then if money allows heads

 

Since this is going to be a weekend/street car, why not just go heads/cam/intake. With the right combo, you can be very close to 450 rwhp and over 400 rwtq going this route. You've already got the 5.7 anyway. This would be both economical and would allow you to buiild upon it in the future. With a decent set of ported 243/799 heads, a LS6 intake and a good custom ground cam, you'd be set. Of course, you'll need supporting mods., but to me, this seems the way to go. Power levels will be more than enough for one mean *** street beast.

 

A 408 longblock is $6500 + misc shipping fees. Add in an intake, your current accessories and some fueling and you could have a high 400s at the wheels for well within your budget of 10k.

http://texas-speed.com/p-655-tsp-408...ong-block.aspx

If it was me though, I would probably just forge the current engine for ~$4k, get a simple turbo kit for $4k and put the rest into a fuel system.

That way you can have the potential for 600+ at the wheels unlike an N/A setup that will be hard pressed to get to 500 for that same pricetag.

 

Our kit is on sale right now through this weekend! Can't beat this kit to get into boost! PM me more details on the special if interested!