I know it depends but how much?

[Inspector71]

Like so many others, I'm trying to decide if it makes more economic sense to go crate or rebuild. I have a 1971 360 that will be street driven but I want it to move. If I supplied the aluminum heads, intake, carb, and headers, can anyone give me a ballpark as to what it might cost them to rebuild it considering the machine work (decked, honed, all the good stuff) and put it together. I realize it varies from shop to shop and regions in the country and so I'm just looking for a best guess. Thanks.

 

[Budnicks]

You can almost buy a "Crate engine" for less than what the parts are thru a shop, I still like to pick all my specific parts & build my own combos even if it is more money... sorry that's not really any help with your, shop cost question...$500- $1000+ in a regular machine work, $1500-$2000+ to do it right, assembly Costs $$$ really depends on who's assembling it, is it a local schmoe having his $8 an hr employee assemble it ?? or a big name engine guy doing it ??... I'm pretty sure Ray Barton gets more $$$ { worth it too} than the local schmoe's shop does, for engine assembly...

 

[vanrj1]

My builder charged the following:

Disassemble & inspect short block $75
Degrease Block $60
Hone cylinders to proper clearance $80
Assemble long block, from oil pan to intake and painted $500

Additional parts I got from him, push rods ring set freeze plugs misc. $281.50

Heads were already done so add that. The parts will add up quick even if you buy them yourself.


It's the engine shown in my avatar pic

 

[snakeoil24]

My builder charged the following:

Disassemble & inspect short block $75
Degrease Block $60
Hone cylinders to proper clearance $80
Assemble long block, from oil pan to intake and painted $500

It's the engine shown in my avatar pic

vanrji that is actually a reasonable price. In fact it is 200- 300 lower than here in the North.

 

[vanrj1]

vanrji that is actually a reasonable price. In fact it is 200- 300 lower than here in the North.

Yes, and he is meticulous. He's built 2 engines for me.

 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

That wouldn't get you crap aroung here............

 

[Sonny Black]

That wouldn't get you crap aroung here............

Bigs,you got that right.....

 

[IQ52]

Man these prices quoted just kill me. By the time we get done with an engine we will have generally 40 man hours or more in the build. Like Budnicks says, it isn't 8 bucks an hour. But........the laziest engine we ever built for someone's car made 640 HP on 91 octane pump gas and the last two went 772 and 785 horsepower on 91 octane.

Will they last? The most recent engine has 56 full power dyno runs just testing different carburetor and manifold combinations for the owner. With the oil and water the same temperature in the 7th and 56th pull and using the same manifold and carburetor, the engine made exactly the same horsepower 742. It takes very careful component selection, preparation and assembly. It's not free and it's not $500.

Did a rebuild for the ex-wife and her husband, including the engine R&R for $1000. BUT.........my son works with me, still loves his mom and even did some head porting on the rebuild for them. Yep, he did the pricing too.

So what does it cost? Hmmm? $2000 minimum.

 

[Inspector71]

All these responses were a huge help. All of them. The problem with the crates is, I'm not sure what I 'm getting and how much detail went into the build. And, like some of you pointed out, with a machine shop build, I can ask around and find previous customers who are happy or not with the work and move on until I find one that I trust. I would rather pay more and get something done right. In my area there are are two, maybe three that come highly recommended. One forum member spent 2500 for the whole job plus some top end parts at a place that is supposed to be the best around. Again, thanks folks. This helps.

 

[Budnicks]

Man these prices quoted just kill me. By the time we get done with an engine we will have generally 40 man hours or more in the build. Like Budnicks says, it isn't 8 bucks an hour. But........the laziest engine we ever built for someone's car made 640 HP on 91 octane pump gas and the last two went 772 and 785 horsepower on 91 octane.

Will they last? The most recent engine has 56 full power dyno runs just testing different carburetor and manifold combinations for the owner. With the oil and water the same temperature in the 7th and 56th pull and using the same manifold and carburetor, the engine made exactly the same horsepower 742. It takes very careful component selection, preparation and assembly. It's not free and it's not $500.

Did a rebuild for the ex-wife and her husband, including the engine R&R for $1000. BUT.........my son works with me, still loves his mom and even did some head porting on the rebuild for them. Yep, he did the pricing too.

So what does it cost? Hmmm? $2000 minimum.

IQ52/Jim Impressive #'s you & Cody are putting out there, Loven' that, "IN HOUSE DYNO"... Do you have a daughter I can meet ??...LOL... I want the stormen' $1000.oo rebuild engine with ported heads deals...LOL...

 

[Hemirunner]

Man these prices quoted just kill me. By the time we get done with an engine we will have generally 40 man hours or more in the build. Like Budnicks says, it isn't 8 bucks an hour. But........the laziest engine we ever built for someone's car made 640 HP on 91 octane pump gas and the last two went 772 and 785 horsepower on 91 octane.

Will they last? The most recent engine has 56 full power dyno runs just testing different carburetor and manifold combinations for the owner. With the oil and water the same temperature in the 7th and 56th pull and using the same manifold and carburetor, the engine made exactly the same horsepower 742. It takes very careful component selection, preparation and assembly. It's not free and it's not $500.

Did a rebuild for the ex-wife and her husband, including the engine R&R for $1000. BUT.........my son works with me, still loves his mom and even did some head porting on the rebuild for them. Yep, he did the pricing too.

So what does it cost? Hmmm? $2000 minimum.

IQ52, You, like me, are part of a small percentage of enthusiasts that actually know what it takes to do the job right, make big power, and have it live. You don't slap these things together. You wouldn't believe the time it takes to just properly gap rings and then CLEAN them.... I've watched alot of people just SKIP this step, take rings out of the package and pop them in the engine!! No cleaning, gapping or measuring!! LOL You can bet the $500 guy isn't doing much measuring, as that's incredibly time consuming. I'd ask him if he even owns a valve guide dial bore gauge................. just my .02..... your mileage may vary...

 

[IQ52]

IQ52/Jim Impressive #'s you & Cody are putting out there, Loven' that, "IN HOUSE DYNO"... Do you have a daughter I can meet ??...LOL... I want the stormen' $1000.oo rebuild engine with ported heads deals...LOL...

The dyno is so much fun! We are set up in an area where the are no covenants or zoning, but there are a few, six, homes within 300 yards of the shop. We shut the dyno down by 5:00 PM and don't run it on Sunday. Cody was in his house, which is 100' from the shop, when I made a pull and he said, "Dad, it sounds like an airplane is landing on the roof!" Neighbor's wife once said, "Sounds good, I really enjoy it." We've told them all if they are having some kind of family function or get together, let us know and we will shut it down for them on that day.

Nope, no daughter.

- - - Updated - - -

IQ52, You, like me, are part of a small percentage of enthusiasts that actually know what it takes to do the job right, make big power, and have it live. You don't slap these things together. You wouldn't believe the time it takes to just properly gap rings and then CLEAN them.... I've watched alot of people just SKIP this step, take rings out of the package and pop them in the engine!! No cleaning, gapping or measuring!! LOL You can bet the $500 guy isn't doing much measuring, as that's incredibly time consuming. I'd ask him if he even owns a valve guide dial bore gauge................. just my .02..... your mileage may vary...

Crazy isn't it? Every engine gets the guides honed to the proper clearance, even if it's a brand new head. If the guide clearance is too big to start it gets a new guide and then honed. Then you check the valve job on the NEW HEADS.

Scrubbing the rings, deburring the ends. Think about setting up the torque plate on the engine BEFORE you gap the rings, using one of the same head gaskets you will run on the build, setting the same bolt thread depths as the heads will provide, using the correct torque sequence and THEN gapping the rings specifically for each individual cylinder. How about measuring the bearing clearances for every rod and main bore. Carefully setting the main thrust I've had the crank in and out 7-8 times! We use $220 worth of oil (break-in and what it will use on the road) and $60 worth of filters (we cut two of them open, one after break-in and one before we deliver to the customer) to be sure we have everything correct.

 

[Grabinov911]

Crate Motor: Type web address; push button; type credit card number; engine arrives at door; install engine; drive car.

Custom Motor: Call engine shop; Call another engine shop; Settle on Engine Shop with no idea what you're going to have to pay them; Call engine shop; order parts cause engine shop doesn't get around to it; call engine shop; send back parts that engine shop doesn't like; wait for call from engine shop; call engine shop; order more parts that you hope are the right ones; ask engine shop how much you owe; wait for call form engine shop; remind engine shop that they have your engine; order one bolt that engine shop is waiting for; call engine shop; have parts delivered directly to engine shop; wait for call from engine shop...

I'm not actually sure what happens after that. It's as far as I've gotten.

If I lived in Idaho in a neighborhood of 6 houses where it sounds like there's an airplane landing on the roof (except on Sundays) I'll bet I wouldn't have this problem...

 

[Hemirunner]

LOL, yeah I understand that.... but....... if you deal with the right people they give a full quote up front and THEY spec out and supply all the parts used and it's up to them to hit the HP number they tell you it'll make and if it don't live through the dyno, they cover it..... if you deal with someone other than that, well, you're there now........

 

[IQ52]

LOL, yeah I understand that.... but....... if you deal with the right people they give a full quote up front and THEY spec out and supply all the parts used and it's up to them to hit the HP number they tell you it'll make and if it don't live through the dyno, they cover it..... if you deal with someone other than that, well, you're there now........

Right on, if its a $4500 build or a $20,000 build, while on the dyno the engine builder owns it. I've had nervous customers who couldn't wait to get the engine off the dyno after three pulls because of their fear it would blow up. I try to tell 'em, "If I can't safely make 25 sucessful dyno pulls on your engine, and it still be perfect, you done been cheated!"

Hah, been to dyno contests where the "winners" blew up and couldn't make any more dyno pulls after the required amount. You need to build a safety factor into the engine that is above and beyond where you will take it. That is another reason I don't recommend taking your compression ratio right to edge of the gasoline you intend to run. If you drop the compression one point and lose 12-16 horsepower from the 400 you already have, do you think that will ruin your life? Leave it on the edge and you could ruin your engine!

 

[67 coronet]

Right on, if its a $4500 build or a $20,000 build, while on the dyno the engine builder owns it. I've had nervous customers who couldn't wait to get the engine off the dyno after three pulls because of their fear it would blow up. I try to tell 'em, "If I can't safely make 25 sucessful dyno pulls on your engine, and it still be perfect, you done been cheated!"

Hah, been to dyno contests where the "winners" blew up and couldn't make any more dyno pulls after the required amount. You need to build a safety factor into the engine that is above and beyond where you will take it. That is another reason I don't recommend taking your compression ratio right to edge of the gasoline you intend to run. If you drop the compression one point and lose 12-16 horsepower from the 400 you already have, do you think that will ruin your life? Leave it on the edge and you could ruin your engine!

amen brother!that needs to be the gospel of eng building right there.