Machining and rebuild costs...

[lg1200]

What up yall...I have a few questions about my rebuild project currently in process. I found a 4-bolt main 010 chevy 350 that I've disassembled and dropped off to have the machine work done. Now the company I'm working with (Chastain Engines) is reputable and I've only heard good things..so I'm contemplating having them rebuild the shortblock..Below is a breakdown of their pricing. I'm contemplating assembling the shortblock myself since I have to purchase the rebuild kit (pistons/rings,push rods,new cam and gear set). the problem is that this is my first time rebuilding an engine and I'm positive it's something I can do, but at the same time having a professional do it gives you a bit more piece of mind. What are some of your thoughts on this??

Price list
------------
Wash/Clean and magnaflux- 60
Bore/Honing- 160
Deck block- 120
Final wash and installing freeze plugs- 80
Clean/polish crank- 50

total- $470

If they assemble the short block they charge another 50 for assembling the connecting rods and pistons and 175 to assemble the short block. So that's $695 total for everthing. Now I still have to buy the rebuild kit which is another 300-400.

What should I do? I'm confident and patient enough to do this myself....I'm sure of this...OR should I stop being cheap and let a 'pro' do this instead?

Share your experience and give me your feedback fellas..thanks in advance.

 

[rccktmn2]

Like you said it comes down to peace of mind, if you assemble it and something goes wrong will the machine shop stand behind their machine work? If they put it together and something goes wrong then they have to. 200-250 to assemble a short block is about the going rate and their other costs seem pretty resonable so imo I don't think your getting ripped off it all comes down to peace of mind. Good luck.

 

[Lowproelco]

im in the same stage as you are with my block...I dropped it off and im also having them rebuild it and also having them internally balance it.... hes charging 650 to rebuild the the bottom end im going 30 over but i have to buy my cam of choice,plus 100 more to balance the crank and what not... so after its said in done lookin at about 900 out the door.. this is my first time also but i wanted to make sure the bottom end was done right. im gonna put the heads and everythang else in. even do the swap myself.....

if your confident then go for it do it your self you will safe some money... but if you have to buy the tools required to do it right then it might just be cheaper to have them do it.. plus a warranty if they do it would be nice also..

 

[CHRIS.O]

When you see how simple it is to put a short block together and how quick you can do it you will wonder why you questioned yourself 🙂 You are going to need some special tools. Ring compressor and a good torque wrench. Just make sure they put new cam bearings and freeze plugs in it. Cam bearing can be a pain in the *ss and you would need another tool for those. Make sure everything is super clean. It sometimes takes a while to clean all the shop dust out of a freshly machined block. You do not want to put it together dirty. Oh and I just thought of something else you may want to get, pick up some clevite rod bolt sleeves or use rubber hose. But they cover the rod bolts so when your installing the rod and piston the bolts don't gouge the crank journal. You shouldn't have any problem doing it.

 

[Bar50]

If you can follow directions found in almost any engine building manual, you can do it yourself.
Score a ring compressor, file, feeler gauges, rubber/dead blow hammer, air blower, harmonic balancer installing tool (DO NOT USE HAMMER TO BEAT YOUR THRUSH BEARING TO DEATH!) and torque wrench from the pawn shop, if you ask to talk to the guy, most times the more you buy the better the deal gets, please, pay the man in ca$h.

Try to find someone that has done this before to guide you, this helps a lot!

No rocket science. The machine work and tolerances should be the same, short of swapping some bearings around if the tolerances do not come out right. I left out micrometers on the tools above, just buy some plasti-gage. Unless you are building some exotic race voodoo stuff it will be fine. It confirms the tolerances/machine work was done right. Its cheap, found at most parts stores, buy a few!




Make sure you understand the rear main seal install, they suck to re-do!

Wash and clean everything, bore brushes in oil galley/passages are your friend.

Assembly lube is good, oil works just fine too, plenty of it.

Some guys paint the insides of the block with Glypital or Rustolem to seal in the casting and aid in oil return.

Silicone RTV is wonderful at sealing gaskets and oil passage ways, use with caution.

Buy the nice one piece oil pan gasket, trust me.

Buy a box of ziplock bags, number them to the cylinders, gap the rings for each cylinder then you can keep them right.
Buy some HUGE garbage bags to slip over the motor while its on the stand and you are away, at say, work, or we start over and clean and re-clean again.

Don't start until you have everything!

Add all that up(tools, supplies, etc) plus time (in hours X3 for your first time) to weigh if you want to do it.
I say go for it.

 

[redboy504]

Very interesting thread. I'm still buying parts to rebuild mine. I'm very new to this. I took my engine apart myself with no problems. It was my first time, but I watched a few videos on youtube. I really didn't have any problems. I have a few pics you can see. I plan on doing the rebuild myself too. I've watched a bunch of rebuilds on youtube. I even have one saved on my DVR. I'm petty sure I can get it done myself, with the advice of people who do it for a living. I trust myself more than anybody else anyway. And if something goes wrong it's all my fault and I don't have to worry about hurting somebody. Oh did I forget to mention that I'm cheap? It's already an expensive process so I need to save money wherever I can. BUT KNOWING THAT I DID IT MYSELF IS PRICELESS!!!

 

[FE3X CLONE]

$175 to assemble the short block? I wouldn't even bat an eye at that and just have it done unless you really want to learn the ins and outs of engine assembly.

My last engine build cost me $300 from a friend. However that was assembling the complete long block down to the intake and water pump.

It all depends on what your shooting for and what your risking to possibly "destroy". On my engine I took all of the measurements for the piston-to-deck height as well as clearanced the block for the aluminum rods, etc. etc. Gave that to my machinist/builder and had him put it together. I probably had close to $6,000 or so in just the parts for the engine and wasn't willing to sacrifice the engine on a possible mistake by myself.

Now if I would have had a mostly stock rebuild, I'd be all for it. A lot less money to screw up. 😉

 

[richp85elco]

This vid shows the entire process, and I found it very helpful when doing my 350 build. Once you see what actually has to be done, you can decide if its something you want to do. It isn't hard just takes alot of time, especially for your first time, and its good to have something to visually reference to. you also can kind of figure that the amount your paying for assembly is about what you will be spending on tools if you don't have them already


http://gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=33820

 

[85GPLef41]

I started to rebuild a 76 2 bolt 350 after pricing the machine work and rebuild kit ,i found a confirmed 30k mile 4 bolt Targetmaster crate engine for what the machine shop was going to charge me for the machine work on the old block, so i chose the crate engine. Although i have rebuilt a 5.4 2V modular engine and a Chrysler 2000 4.7 engine and i will admit it was a challenge BUT it was rewarding to hear them run especially when the original owners decided to "junk" them away after getting quotes from other shops.Do the research and it's not that bad once you acquire the tools required and even better if you can get good prices on the parts. Double check and sometimes triple check your work and you should be good!!