Rebuild or not
 

I have a 1977 coupe with a L-48 4 speed and just turned 85,000 mi. No mechanical problems, but I'd to "freshen up". Give some suggestions. Motor is unmolested.

As long as you have good oil pressure, the only good reason to freshen it would be leakage past the rings or valves/stems. As long as it passes compression and/or leakdown tests and isn't blowing oil out the tailpipe, I'd leave it where it is and spend the money on other things, of which there are plenty on these cars...

thanks

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Tune it and drive it.
:)

Drive it as hard as you can. Miss a few 2-3 shifts. Now you need to rebuild.

Yes ... and No

Seems your OE motor is good for time being; so No, leave it for another day.

But for now, Yes; get yourself a cheap, rebuildable core 350 and begin that extra-performance project,

I would start purchasing all the components to rebuild it and store them up on the shelf until you are ready to pull the motor apart.
Plan ahead for what you truly want for performance.
I started collecting parts for the body off resto/mod of my 73 big block two years ago and I now have almost everything sitting on the shelves in my garage.
Build it once and build it right.

Look into blueprintengines.com some really easy on the wallet items and who knows you just might scratch that itch for something a little hairier than a 180/210Hp. They are very helpful over the phone and will actually build what you need to fit into a Corvette. Worth a look. :flag: