So my 81 already is a non-number matching car and I am planning on keeping it forever because it has been a body style I have been after since I first started noticing cars.

My goal with the car has been to create the engine to hit 430-500 HP and keep it as a every other day driver.

so after looking up parts and figuring out how much it would cost to make a engine with the HP I am looking for I figured it would probably be more financially sound to sell the current engine in my car for 1-2k and drop it in a brand new crate engine.

My question after looking at plenty of crate engines, most around the 400-450 HP range I am posting this one as for worst case type example

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Perf...95#moreDetails

if I were to purchase this engine what else would I have to do to the car to handle this type of engine?
I am thinking new sway bars, different gears in the rear end, new transmission with the OD gear for automatic. Is there anything else I am missing really?

any input and help would be greatly appreciated thanks!

Oh also I was looking into the short block one, can this car fit the long block also what would the benefit be going long block over the short block?

 

You can easily make as much power with a sbc and save all the conversion pulleys , brackets ect .. Plug and play .. Look for something 406 to 434 CI ..

Your missing all the small parts , motor mounts, bushings on any area of suspension you take apart. Gaskets ,oils , coolant.

I am almost done swapping in a 427 sbc / 4L80e transmission and I also completely redid the breaks and suspension and will hit 20k by the time I am done.

Cost creeps fast , for me the brakes for instance. I did not really need them but got an end of season price on 100% new aero space componsnt nickle plated brake system. Saved 88 pounds and dropped 1485.00 for all 4 corners.. Not a planned up grade ,however at that price how could i not ?

So enter the project carefully Danial son

 

I recently built a 406 for my Camaro, making about 460HP...I already had the block and heads (but did have machine costs, as you will note)...The heads were DART Iron Eagle 200CC intake runners, 64cc chambers...

I ended up a little shy of $2600--you can expect an extra $300 or so for a "509" block, and heads will be a huge debate on here...You can probably expect to spend at least $1200 on a good set of heads--but you will also save some cash on the headwork noted below, and if you work with the head manufacturer to set them up for your chose cam, you will save some additonal cash that I had to spend on valvesprings, etc (in the "cam-kit" price below.

All in, I bet you could build a roller cam, 450-460 HP motor (like below) for about $4K

406 build
Machine work:
Block: cook and Magnaflux $60.00
Block: Bore and hone $110.00
bearings/freezeplugs $93.03
Heads: disassemble and clean $40.00
Heads: comp valve job $85.00
Heads: setup spring pressure and assemble $50.00
Balance assembly $125.00
Drill steam holes $0.00
Resurface flywheel $25.00
Comp Cams 7609 pushrods $90.42
Machine work total $678.45
Parts:
Cam Kit: K12-432-8 $983.27
cam kit discount ($49.16)
Roller rockers--CCA-17004-16 $165.95
Rods--Scat--SCA-25700 $283.97
Pistons--SLP-H615CP30 $168.39
Harmonic balancer PFS-80001 $60.00
water pump-SUM-311006 $67.95
Timing tab SPE-4237 $4.95
Head bolts NAL-12495499 $33.97
oil pan bolts SUM-G1570HS $4.95
Timing cover bolts SUM-G1574HS $2.95
Head gaskets-FEL-1014 $77.50
oil pump MEL-M155 $31.95
oil pump screen assembly MEL-55-S1 $7.95
oil pump pushrod MOR-22070 $14.95
Parts total: $1,859.54
Total: $2,537.99

One note--I think I had to exchange the oil pump for a different pump--price was the same, but do not go by the part number listed above

 

The blocks are all the same length. "Short block" means no heads included, "Long block" means heads installed. This is a lot more power than the car had originally, plus with age things degrade. If you drive sportier than a grandma, you may need to look through the rest of the drive line.