[chiphead]

I estimate you could do a quality rebuild of a Pontiac 400, (with you doing the assembly) for about $6500. Add the 2K for engine R&R, and 1500 for incidentals, carburetor, exhaust, wires, hoses, motor mounts, fluids, etc, and you get over 10K pretty fast. Now that the cost is out of the way...

So is a shop doing the whole car or just the engine? Hard to tell from the term "doing a restoration". It can be anything from an engine swap to a full frame-off restoration.

If you're worried about the engine, wait till you get to paint and body. Whooo boy, that bill is gonna be $20K to do the basics nowadays. Be sure the shop gives you a soup-to-nuts estimate for everything. Lots of projects get halfway done and abandoned when the owner realizes it's gonna cost $40-75K for a shop to do a turnkey resto. This is not boogyman prices, this is what it costs to fix a classic in 2024.

I would absolutely find a engine shop that really knows Pontiac engines. Most shops don't care about them, they'll throw them together any which way, with bottom barrel parts that won't last. There was a guy on the forum just the the other day with a high dollar engine that got a cheap set of KB pistons. He can't eve run it hard for fear of it chunking a piston ring land.

A basic recipe that will live is:

reuse stock crank
reuse stock tin (oil pan, valvecovers, valley pan, etc)
new forged rods
Autotec forged pistons, dished to reduce compression to 9.5 for pump gas
Use the rebuilt 62 heads, have them checked out again by the pontiac shop
new balancer
blueprinted 60psi oil pump
hardened pump shaft
reuse stock intake and carb
HFT cam, like a 068, summit 2802, etc.
Have the block bored the smallest amount required (usually 30 over)
Have the block get the other usually shop proceduresI

That'll cost $4500-7500 depending on how much you can do yourself and what parts you can re-use.

No need for exotic stroker cranks, wild manifolds, expensive carburetor, etc. A basic 400 will easily make 370-425 HP and make you smile. My 67 has a '69 400 with 62 heads, its a fun mill.

I'd use a HFT to keep price down. A roller swap is going to add $1500 due to roller lifters and the changes to the heads. The roller cam will need different springs, taller valves, taller rocker studs, etc, it adds up.

Let us know how much specific engine parts selection and machine shop advice you need. The rabbit hole goes deep when it comes to engine work. We can recommend some pontiac specific builders with good reputations. There is one specific guy to stay away from, IYKYK......