machine work prices and more

[anthonychacon80]

Here is what I paid. They did every thing but put the lifters, pushrods and rockers on. I did that myself and finished it off with the manifold. Pretty basic.

I brought in all the parts I KNEW I wanted, and then went with Autozone stock quality parts for things I did no think mattered like Rings.

They let me come in while they were working and see work in progress. Since the block was low milage they did not need to do a magna flux or anything like that, but I would do it the next time I have that block rebuilt.

 

[online170]

wow, you got a massive discount on something.

Id say he didnt charge you either for the rod conditioning or crank polish. Good deal.

 

[anthonychacon80]

wow, you got a massive discount on something.

Id say he didnt charge you either for the rod conditioning or crank polish. Good deal.

It is not listed on the invoice, but the price included Honing too.

 

[online170]

When my 472 blew a headgasket, it COULD have just been refreshed, but I noticed a couple of things that in my opinion needed to be corrected. First off, the engine was "rebuilt" and had very very few miles on it. Maybe 1000miles.

1) There was 1 piston that was different from the other 7. For whatever reason, 1 piston needed to be replaced at the previous rebuild.
2) Of the 7 stock pistons, 1 piston had a broken off skirt. Meaning the one that was replaced was probably cracked, one more had cracked, and so the remaining 6 were probably not far behind.
3) Cam was wiped out looking. Looked more like a bad core than a bad cam grind.
4) Rods and Main Bearings were chewed up.


This meant that the MINIMUM parts that had to be replaced was;
1) One Piston (but ideally all pistons)
2) Camshaft
3) Lifters
4) Bearings, Rings and Gaskets.
Minimum Labor required;
1) Hone/Deglaze Block
2) Clean up deck surface (heads and block)
3) Knock out plugs and bearings, and knock new ones in.
4) Polish Crank
5) Reassembly

If you work out the minimum parts above, I could have gotten 1 used or new piston from MTS, install it on the rod. New cam, lifters, bearings, rings, gaskets, etc... Polish crank, hone the block, clean and rebuild the heads. I was looking at about $2000, with parts, shipping, and local labour. (The canadian labor seems to be more expensive). If my rebuild was going to run me more than $1200, it was not worth doing for a "stock refresh" type build.

I decided to jump the gap from $2000 to $3500, and go for quality parts. I probably made $1000 in mistakes, and another $1000 in fancy parts I didnt consider, like studs, valves, valve seals, porting, etc..

I couldn’t bring myself to hang new forged pistons on stock rods, so I got new rods. I couldn’t bring myself to install these new parts into a stock block, so I had all the machining done. Bore/hone/line hone, ported heads with bigger valves. Big-ish camshaft.





My point is, I would not go through the trouble of exotic machining for stock parts. And I would not put shiny new parts in a poorly machined block.

That being said, measure the block out. You may not need any machining at all. A lot of the stuff I did was for peace of mind. Very expensive indeed.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

i have measured various parts, cylinders, main and rod journals and everything is still within spec. again i was asking about all the various work an engine MIGHT need just to know more about what goes on at a machine shop and how much all of it might cost.

i honestly think if i switch out the crank, hone the cylinders (i have done that before so i have experience with that), get new pistons and rings, rods and slap it back together it'll probably be just fine. i still want everything cleaned thoroughly but i'm not sure oven cleaner will really get everything off and out of the block and heads. i know when you clean a block it needs to be THOROUGHLY cleaned.

the more i think about it, if i wanted just a stock type rebuild i could just buy a long block from a parts store and drop that in. i have priced those out and they're 2K with core exchange. a marshall long block is 2K plus a 350 dollar core charge for a 500, a 472 is a mere 11 bucks cheaper.

i'm gonna rebuild the 350 i have with a cheap rebuild kit from northern auto or where-ever and use it while i get my head straight with this cadillac engine. it really isnt making sense to spend all this money for a stock type build the more i think about it. it's like a half-*ss build and i dont like doing things half-*ss. it's full *ss or no *ss. ok no more *ss talk.

 

[online170]

i'm gonna rebuild the 350 i have with a cheap rebuild kit from northern auto or where-ever and use it while i get my head straight with this cadillac engine.

Theres a disconnect here. Why is the 350 going to be cheaper to build than the caddy for a stock type build?

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

i'm gonna rebuild the 350 i have with a cheap rebuild kit from northern auto or where-ever and use it while i get my head straight with this cadillac engine.

Theres a disconnect here. Why is the 350 going to be cheaper to build than the caddy for a stock type build?

because SBC parts tend to be cheaper, much cheaper. northern auto has a master rebuild kit for the 472 for like 1K, the one for a 350 is less than half of that. the 350 master kit starts at 200 bucks, the cadillac master kit starts at 862 plus dollars. both kits have the same parts. i'm also not worried about the 350 lasting longer than a few years at most so buying quality parts for it isnt a priority but it is for the cadillac. so i'm ok with buying marginally ok parts for the chevy. also if i'm taking the engine to MTS then i'm looking at having everything done at once, that means i'm going to have to save up money for that, i wouldnt have to with the 350.

for all the parts i would like to have for the caddy it's going to be 5K plus, the 350 wouldnt cost near that much. the 350 would also give me some experience in building an engine, i wont get that when i send my caddy to MTS. i would be getting other things out of it besides a running engine, hands on experience IMO is priceless and not something you can put a price tag on. what do i learn from sending the caddy to MTS? nothing. 350's are also a dime a dozen and i only paid 50 bucks for the one i already have, i paid 500 for the 472/th400. both are good prices but i wouldnt care if the 350 blew up, i'd be angry as hell if the 472 did. caddy engines dont pop up in my area that often so how i approach each build is different. i can get 350's all day long for a song and a smile.

 

[online170]

If you compare the master kit yea... The chevy pistons are more mass produced. But if you use a re ring kit which is all you really need then the prices are much more in line.

Not sure why the caddy needs quality parts, itll work just fine with cheap stuff.

Thats a neat site. I had never looked up northern before. Might have done things differently if i knew about them.

 

[dogsht]

They have an excellent catalog that they will send you for free and you can get on their mailing list for excellent specials flyers or light catalog. Kind of like Jegs or Summit only they also have a lot more automotive assembly tools and such.

 

[Bonnewagon]

"it really isnt making sense to spend all this money for a stock type build the more i think about it." I was on that same fence too. I rationalized this way- I needed a dependable 301 for my daughter's '79 Firebird Formula and so I had it rebuilt as well as the T-350 transmission. I thought I would get it back when she was through with school. Oh, I got it back, smashed all to hell. So out came the fresh 301 and I continued to use it, even converting it over to a manual trans. So I got a beautiful smooth long lasting stock motor I am still using years later. Money well spent. Flip side. I have a '68 Firebird convertible and a '68 4-bolt main 400 HO/RA motor that needs a rebuild. I haven't gotten past the "stripped down/parts everywhere" phase so should I get the motor done while my excellent machinist is still around? It's a lot of money and I may never finish this car. This sh*t keeps me awake at night too.