Ive built and still build lt1's. Not much call anymore, most is just my own stuff anymore. Most customers now are lsx varieties. Anyways, I dont build 396's anymore. The cost per cube is just too high. Well, to do it well. You can squeeze a stock pan on a 383, but not a 396 (atleast as far as I ve experienced) so about another 300$ there. Then a small base circle cam....special order and a few extra bucks, the extra work on the block, and then there is the oil ring going through the pin and a super short piston. Do they work, yea.
Do they make more then any comparable 383, not really in the real world.
I like low compression lt1's with boost. I use small cams, unported heads, low dollar valve train since they only go to 6000 maybe, and spend the extra money on boost.