I fully intend to have my LSx swap installed for $1500... I think your prices are WAY off on all fronts though. Maybe if you just buy everything off the shelf and but a complete pullout, new accessories, etc... the LS swap would come up to that, but thats FAR from a bottom line.
If the deals I'm working on go through, I'll have a running 5.3l for a total of $550 (5.3 w/ cracked heads for $200, and low mileage LS1 heads, plus some mill work to bring the CR back up and make sure they're flat, gaskets and new head bolts, used ECU and reworked harness cost me $150) That leaves me a grand for ancillary parts and a transmission.
Not so much...and I'm not bringing it up to argue, just a point of view. A rebuilt L31 can easily run you $1,500, a new one from GM 1,900-2,300. A 383 with all the machine work, new reciprocating parts, fully rebuilt heads, cam...etc around $2,000...a new GM one is about 5,000!!! A LSx which I've seen for easy 3Gs to get running on a mid-mileage motor.
That is not to say that you can't go cheaper, like you point out. There are multiple ways to skin a cat and with robustness of the small block tons of ways to build any one of them.
I've mainly researched the 383, with all new internal parts, plus heads, machine work, about $2,000 is what I end up with. Can you go cheaper? You bet! My basis: new parts so that I would not have to crack the engine open till another 150,000 miles.
