Originally Posted by Fredo
Ok, here we go.
As far as rebuilding a smallblock, a $1000 budget is fairly slim. Not to say it can't be done for that, but saying that you aren't going to get the components you might want or you might have to reuse some parts you might not want to.
Starting with machine work, that is going to be where a good chunk of your budget is going to be blown. Expect to spend anywhere from $500-1200 depending on parts used and whether or not the machine shop does the assembly work. I know you can get out of a machine shop a whole lot cheaper if they don't do the assembly work. But, I wouldn't suggest doing the assembly yourself unless you have done it before or you have the help of someone with a good amount of experience.
Let's just say you do the cleaning, checking of clearances and end-gap, and the assembly yourself. With vatting and magnafluxing the block, boring the cylinders, line boring the crank journals, new pistons installed on the rods, rod and crank bearings, cam bearings pressed in the block, freeze plugs pressed in the block, heads checked and fluxed, and valve seats reground, you're probably going to get out for $500-600.
Let's also say you let them assemble it, labor and parts, you aren't getting an assembled long block out of there for under around $950 unless you are slobbin the machinists knob.
Now moving on to what needs to be put in it. Usually, a motor that is up the miles is going to need the block bored and the crank turned. Bsically, most of the time reboring and turning of the crank usually turn out to be a .030 bore, and a .010 under crank. So obviously, you'll need .030 pistons and .010 over bearings.
Oh yeah, an intake manifold, just run some sort of aluminum 4bbl DUAL plane intake. Do not run a single plane. It will have better throttle response and low end torque on that type of motor, and with a $40 adapter plate, you can bolt a TBI throttle body right on top of it.