most guys rebuild them an do all the gaskets depending on miles ,if you got the money remaned would be good to,the 96 ss though may be worth money one day ,so if you keep that engine an rebuild the whole thing may be the better choise if you got the money karlperformance sells remaned lt1 engines ,as well many others jegs , as far as value best price thats is something you will have to do with phone calls emails so on,talking to guys that know these engines ,you have the 300 hp engine in that car ,i think,that was in the corvette cars for a few years too,an lt4 could also be put in the car too was 330 hp,awhile back i seen a 96 ss on craigs list Buffalo NY for $4500.00 low miles ,but most are selling for alot more ,some people dont know what they have the 1996 was first time the ss was back since 69 aprox an not alot of people no it,they think 98 ,an not many were made of your car,i would rebuild it get all the parts needed an find a local that knows the engine ,an do it up ,if the car still runs ,an just the gaskets need to be done. well they will know a good mechanic that is ,thats knows the cars so from $1500 for gaskets to 3 x that for a rebuilt engine is a guess,but you have a pretty rare car ,that is overlooked sometimes ,an may take time for value to rise

 

Thank you. I plan to keep the original block so I think you answered my question.

 

well there are a few ways to go, cost will be the same or less to pick up a rebuilt/reman block as it would cost to do yourself, or could have your block stroked to a 383, could pick up a stroked rebuilt/reman'd block. finding a good replutable place can be the hardest part. gettting your block stroked at a good shop will run 3-4k heads intake and cam done with elliotts will run 2k+

 

Thank you both.

 

As a general rule it is cheaper to buy a remanufactured motor then it is to rebuild a motor. Think of a remanufactured motor being built on a assembly line vs a rebuild is one man machining and building one engine at a time.

I would look at jegs and their blue print line. Looks like its right around 3K but I am sure there is shipping and core charges. IMO there is no way to get a fully rebuilt motor for 3k and no machine shop I know of will give a 30 month 50,000 mile warranty. I would define and engine rebuild is every single wear item on the engine inspected and made to be within factory specification.

Again in my opinion the only reason to rebuild a engine is to keep the car matching numbers or to have it built to a specific performance level. The whole number matching thing as an investment could take 15 year just to break even on a 96.

 

my thought was rebuild gaskets till he said 10 years sitting now in the progects threads,but yes remaned

 

There is a guy locally selling a 1996 Corvette LT1 at a reasonable cost with "low" miles. Will this work on my car without a lot of hassle? I'd like to save as much money as possible for the machine work/rebuild on the original motor.

 

yep direct fit. most of the sensors are the same. intake same as well.

 

Craby... You are great. Thank you so much.