Last night night I got to thinking, the $3700 'number' for a 318 started to bother me, despite how reliable, strong, and snappy a motor I could get for that money.
So for kicks I labeled that parts/machine work list "No Expense Spared" Engine components, then started an entirely new list named "Economy" Engine components list which would contain parts that weren't necessarily the cheapest, but affordable and quality enough for my comfort level that I could live with...
And Holy S*** was I surprised! The "Economy" engine came to $2250!
So it got me thinking, what parts from the economy list could I swap into the no expense spared list that I felt okay with? So I did, and it turned out to be not a whole lot.
This new list, the "Compromise Engine" list total came to $3200. Not bad. $500 is a good amount of savings, but it wasn't the results I was looking for.
So I realized what I had to do next: since I had each brand, part number and price for each individual item, I started googling each one, one by one, shopping every part against it's competitor.
It didn't matter if the savings was $10 or $50, I documented it all with severe predjudice! (I did leave a $5 margin though; if something was less/more than $5 difference, I was willing to spend the few dollars more with the competitor I was more loyal with).
I also called the local machine shop this morning for a more detailed quote. It turns out they came in $150 cheaper than originally assumed for block and head work. Bonus.
All in all with the Compromise Engine list, a little more foot work and research went a long way. With some $20-$30 savings on the same individual high quality parts I finally got the results I was happier with... The $2900 hauler!
I'm still torn between 3 cams right now, so that total could fluctuate $100 or so, but I like where this is headed.
