How much would it cost

[turkeyrun]

Wampler Transmission in Walters.
He is an old drag racer. Builds TH350 or 700R4 bulletproof. Grandson paid $3150 for his.

Talk to him about your motor, too.

Knew a really good guy in Lawton. He went broke during the Gates / Fauci biohazard release. The ones that took are supposedly good, but I I do not know them. Shop American Custom , Classics, HOT Rod, I don't know. They are on Fascist Book, but I can't find them.

 

[Tinytim]

I would suggest that you go find a lower mile LS 5.3 and the trans out of a junk yard wreck….$1,500 and way better performance, IMO.

 

[Seadog]

To have a 350 Chevy, and a 350 Turbo transmission rebuilt? If I pull the motor and trans then deliver it to the shop would it be cheaper? Who could rebuild them for me?

Thanks.

Mike

I’m up in the City area. You are going to have sticker shock. Prices have skyrocketed. Had a friend that just had to have his transmission rebuilt. Labor and parts was just about 5 grand. He priced around and that was the cheapest. Everywhere else was more.

There is a place in Texas called Scroggin Dickie. They sell new engines and transmissions. I bought a new 350 4 bolt main. Brand new long block. 3 year 50,000 mile warranty.
At the time It was $1000. Around 2002 I think. Now the same long block is $5000. Just looked it up about a month ago.

Same thing for a 350 transmission there. Would’ve been right around 5000 for a new one. And that doesn’t include installation. Crazy thing is I’ve always been telling people about this place because they had the best prices. They were like a Walmart of engines and transmissions. They buy in bulk and sell cheap. Not anymore

Joe Biden Inflation is kicking our butts

 

[Shadowrider]

Crate it. Pick your level of performance and go with it.

^^^ This is the way. Depending on vehicle I'd go LS swap. So much performance so easily had.

 

[swampratt]

If you go LS do not get the 5.3.
I have driven and raced against many of those 5.3 engines and even towed with them in newer trucks 2012 and -2013 with 6 speed automatics and they are a huge gas burner and power is like the old 327" chevy. pretty low on TQ.

Yea I bad mouthed the 327" chevy I am allowed to as I have built those and used them and have a recent built one with 2 hours on it sitting in the corner of the garage.
It was so weak compared to my 350" I pulled it out.

If you must buy a crankshaft and pistons because yours are all chewed up or needs turned you can build a stroker with scat crank for the same as a 350"

Now if you go lS the 6.0 does impress me.
I had a few chances to get 5.3 engines for 200 bucks complete and passed on them because the turdiness of them.
If I need a turd engine I will build a 305 or 327.

I do not like having to spend extra on engine mounts and converter adapters and electronics for an LS swap either.
If you get one make sure you get the fan and everything.
Some do not have a fan and some people then go with electric fans.
You best have a good alternator for that.

 

[trekrok]

I'd vote for the LS swap too. If you are talking stock-ish I wouldn't have an issue doing a 5.3l. They are relatively cheap and you can get one with trans and all the electronics (and definitely get all the electronics) on a pallet.

People sometimes get intimidated by the wiring part, but the information is out there and it really isn't that bad. I used the factory harness and just stripped out all the unnecessary wires. That's pretty satisfying and you are stripping out way more wires than you are keeping. I swapped a 5.3l into an 80 series land cruiser and it wasn't terrible. The worst part was motor mounts and squeezing it into a bay designed for a 6 cylinder. If you are working on a vehicle that's more popular with swaps, kits will be available that will make it easier.

I don't necessarily think the 5.3l is a dog. I watched a show last night where they swapped heads, cam, rockers and intake/carb and made 400hp. That's pretty respectable to me. That said, if you are going to spend the money to do that work, I don't know why you wouldn't start with a 6.0 to also gain the .7l.

I think a crate motor would probably be cheaper than paying a local reputable shop to rebuild it one-off. Plus I have trust issues on these things. Are those really clevite bearings in there or did I just pay for clevite and get a china special? Once that motor goes together, you are pretty much at the mercy of the shop's integrity as to what parts and machining occurred. Yeah, trust issues.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I would ask is numbers matching important? A 1970 LT-1 in a Vette, I'd rebuild it, assuming it was numbers matched to the car. Not sure if the Turbo 350 was in that performance era, so this may be a bad answer. If it's not a collectable vehicle, then crate motor, you get a lot of performance for the money, but even then you may consider upgrading.

What type of vehicle is it for? Collectors do place value on tributes and restomods. Sorry for the digression, I tend to place value on a finished project versus cost into it.