Engine Machine Work Prices
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Machine shops usually don't like touching anything other than a SBC or a Ford. SBC and fords are what they know best. Anything, especially a buick, that's different usually sets off the "oh boy, here we go" part in their brain I guess. I brought in my '76 Blue Motor 350 Buick back in 2015 for a cleaning and overbore, they acted as if I brought in a box of farts. They did their work and did it well, but I could just tell that they didn't like working on it. It's not really a case of "oh just find another shop", or anything like that. They're ALL like that. It's very rare you get a shop that wants BOP stuff, let alone Buicks with all their exaggerated oil pump horror stories. imo I'd rather build Buicks all day than a SBC. They're easier. Shaft non adjustable rockers, oil pump and filter and distributor up front, Buick actually put some THOUGHT into the location of the plugs so they're ABOVE the exhaust manifolds, the distributor DOESN'T stupidly go through the intake manifold, but I digress.
Sidenote, I looked in my new Summit Tool Catalog, they have a new cam bearing tool from Performance Tool for $82. Use it on both your engines, use it once sell it on craigslist, etc. Or use it forever until it breaks. It's $30 more than having them put in, but after 2 uses it already pays for itself. Something to think about.
Sidenote, I looked in my new Summit Tool Catalog, they have a new cam bearing tool from Performance Tool for $82. Use it on both your engines, use it once sell it on craigslist, etc. Or use it forever until it breaks. It's $30 more than having them put in, but after 2 uses it already pays for itself. Something to think about.
It's ~$100 cheaper. Toss out half the stupid sh*t that doesn't need to be done, it's well under 2k. If Buick 350s were unubtainium and ATK was the SOLE source of them, or at least if they offered "performance" versions, people would be all over it. I have not heard of a single person that bought an old school reman Buick engine, ever. GN, 350, 455, anything. It's just probably slammed together with cheap parts spraypainted black with an *ss and a half camshaft with a warranty. there's just no reason to in this case.
The engine is designed to replace the low compression 72-80 engines, factory compression height deep dish pistons aren't available, so it's safe to surmise what's in it. Either way, it's not good. Someone could get way farther with 2k on an engine they own or a craigslist engine. I've never really understood the point of crate engines tbh.
I've found this to be the case at a several machine shops. If it isn't a Chevy motor, they just don't want to work on it because its "different". Those guys work on SBCs and BBCs all day, and they have no shortage of work, so they have no issue turning down a job on a Buick motor. Now this shop I'm going to has built several BAD *ss Buick engines, and they are one of the few shops that didnt go "Ughhh..." When I said "I have a Buick 350 that needs some work..."
Yeah I 100% agree. For roughly the same price I can build the engine I have, with whatever TA cam I want, with TA cam bearings, with a rebuilt TA oil pump, with 10:1 pistons, block cleaned and painted and ready to go.
Let's assume my rods check out and just need cleaned (even if they don't I have the rods from the 76 too, which have cap screws= better rods) (-$100), assume I only need a hone no bore (-$80), assume I don't need the engine decked (-$200), assume the crank only needs magged, cleaned and polished, not custom ground (also have the crank from the '76 and it's in good shape) (-$275), and skip degreeing the cam (-$125).
That saves $780 right there. I want to build this engine. I didn't drive all the way to Indiana for it to take it apart and decide I don't want to put it back together.
The '76 rods are heavier and quite a b*tch chunkier by comparison, you will need to use the '76 crank because it's weighted to match. Also, your cast pistons will most likely shatter or crack upon removal. First thing the shop will tell you if you say you want the pistons swapped over is "no garuntees, they'll most likely shatter." Plus, you have to pay for it. So there's the cost of that, and the cost of new pistons. Then they'll want you to balance the whole bottom end to account for the new pistons being of a different weight. It snowballs very quickly. Something along those lines. You don't need to have it bored out. It was running, and from the looks of the piston tops, plugs, and valves and the overall condition, it was running pretty well. All a hone job does is deglaze the cylinder to give a new surface for a new set of rings. Notice how your cylinders are kind of shiny or reflective, a new/freshly honed bore will look like this:
This is my '70 SP "Red Motor". You can see a slight ridge up top, and some scuffing. The vertical scuffs can be anything from the engine getting a little hot at one point and the pistons scrubbing the sides, dirty oil, from me turning it over with corn in it... they weren't deep enough to feel or catch a ring. Note all the little sparkles on the rusty part of the deck surface. It is IMPERATIVE you clean the sh*t out of the bores. Brake cleaner and shop paper towels until the towels are spotless. Careful of lint. Then wipe with WD40 or engine oil to prevent flash rust, it sets in fast. This was before I wiped it out, so it looks a little "rough". Your '72 was running. I'm 95% certain that your bottom end is fine. You don't need to have the crank checked out at all unless you want the piece of mind, just more money to spend. NA Buick cranks don't break. Their all high nickle (nodular). Type in "buick crank broke". First page only has two related articles, both of them for GNs, one of them was a scat crank. Type in "broken buick 350 crank". Nothin.
And $125 to degree a cam is pretty BS. If you have the tool (around that price), and a calculator it takes all of about 20 minutes to do. It's just a process to check the cam's spec card to what it actually is. TA is dead nuts with their stuff, so are most manufacturers now. Installing it straight up (referring to the crank gear) or dot to dot is good enough for a stockish build. It may seem like I'm shooting down all your ideas, I'm not trying to. I've been where you are now, twice. I've done it both ways, the "proper" way, and the "me" way. My '76 ended up costing me over $3,000. Most of that was machine work. All you need to do, is inspect, replace what's necessary, and make sure you have good bearing clearances, and A GOOD OIL PUMP. Best thing would be to buy a TA cover, they come all done, but I think you already have the bulk of the parts, no? Standard volume rebuild kit, wear plate, adjustable regulator, and shims to set clearance between the plate and pump housing. That's what gives you good pressure, aside from proper bearing clearance.
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At maximum, you would need:
cam kit (cam, lifters, chain/gears, springs)- Comp 268 kit, the cam itself isn't as good as a TA or a crower level 2, but it's everything you need all in once package under $350.
Full gasket set
intake valley pan (separate from gasket kit)
Cam bearings (which you have)
oil pump stuff (which you have)
main and rod bearings (if needed)
rings (if you hone, you should imo, but again it was running fine...)
freeze plugs (dont remember if they're included in the gasket set)
spark plugs (if you want)
wires (if you want)
valve stem seals (you can buy a tool or have a shop cut the guides down to use modern newer style seals, I use the older seals [ST-2002] on both engines with no issue. I use bigger 942-16 springs.
Alternatively, I do have a brand new set of comp 980-16 springs you can have for... half what I paid new. $25+ shipping if you're interested. I read the 980-12 (12 springs instead of 16) are the go to replacement GN springs, but you need to have the valve guides narrowed to use small positive stop seals (CCA-505-16) as the 980s are smaller in diamter than the 942s. Both are singles with dampers in them. 942s are the larges I would run without new keepers and lock plates. 980s are nearly the same size as stock, but with a damper. Stock didn't have a damper, so the 2002 seals fit.
That's all I bought for my red motor. I used a new balancer that I already had, bought another TA HEI, which are under $100. it would cost that much to rebuild either of your units. It's optional, but it's a really nice piece for how little it costs. Bring the timing all in around 2500-2800rpm, whatever you do. And that's basically my parts list for a "refresh" SBB. Only shop work was a good cleaning (was kinda grungy, tbh I wanted to leave it that way, but I think it turned out nice), and installing the TA cam bearings at the 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock position. Once again, they gave me the side eye, but I didn't care. I paid them to do a thing I said to do the way I said to do it. I would however remove the bottom end, file/dremel away the casting flash from the lifter valley, and use that as an excuse to get the block cleaned, core plugs removed, and cam bearings installed all in one fell swoop. Then it's nothing but re-assembly. Blow the block out thoroughly and use a steel bottle brush in the water jackets, chase/clean out the head bolt holes (they're all blind btw), and I used a worn roloc wheel to just dust over the deck surface. Just enough to make it shiny. Kind of getting ahead of myself (yourself?), but you can always look back on page 8 of this thread and skim through.
cam kit (cam, lifters, chain/gears, springs)- Comp 268 kit, the cam itself isn't as good as a TA or a crower level 2, but it's everything you need all in once package under $350.
Full gasket set
intake valley pan (separate from gasket kit)
Cam bearings (which you have)
oil pump stuff (which you have)
main and rod bearings (if needed)
rings (if you hone, you should imo, but again it was running fine...)
freeze plugs (dont remember if they're included in the gasket set)
spark plugs (if you want)
wires (if you want)
valve stem seals (you can buy a tool or have a shop cut the guides down to use modern newer style seals, I use the older seals [ST-2002] on both engines with no issue. I use bigger 942-16 springs.
Alternatively, I do have a brand new set of comp 980-16 springs you can have for... half what I paid new. $25+ shipping if you're interested. I read the 980-12 (12 springs instead of 16) are the go to replacement GN springs, but you need to have the valve guides narrowed to use small positive stop seals (CCA-505-16) as the 980s are smaller in diamter than the 942s. Both are singles with dampers in them. 942s are the larges I would run without new keepers and lock plates. 980s are nearly the same size as stock, but with a damper. Stock didn't have a damper, so the 2002 seals fit.
That's all I bought for my red motor. I used a new balancer that I already had, bought another TA HEI, which are under $100. it would cost that much to rebuild either of your units. It's optional, but it's a really nice piece for how little it costs. Bring the timing all in around 2500-2800rpm, whatever you do. And that's basically my parts list for a "refresh" SBB. Only shop work was a good cleaning (was kinda grungy, tbh I wanted to leave it that way, but I think it turned out nice), and installing the TA cam bearings at the 3 o'clock and 7 o'clock position. Once again, they gave me the side eye, but I didn't care. I paid them to do a thing I said to do the way I said to do it. I would however remove the bottom end, file/dremel away the casting flash from the lifter valley, and use that as an excuse to get the block cleaned, core plugs removed, and cam bearings installed all in one fell swoop. Then it's nothing but re-assembly. Blow the block out thoroughly and use a steel bottle brush in the water jackets, chase/clean out the head bolt holes (they're all blind btw), and I used a worn roloc wheel to just dust over the deck surface. Just enough to make it shiny. Kind of getting ahead of myself (yourself?), but you can always look back on page 8 of this thread and skim through.
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