Engine builders...this machining cost sound excessive?

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JoePole1

JoePole1

A dude in a B body
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I got a call from my machinist today. I dropped my block and new pistons off requesting a .030 bore and R&R pistons onto rods. Nothing more. I am picking it up Friday. He has had it about 10 months. I haven't been hounding due to other obligations but we spoke a few times and he gave me some updates after the fact while he had it. Here is what I got....

Block cleaning - subbed out of house. I degreased and cleaned block prior to dropping off.
Brass freeze and oil plugs.
Cam bearings. I am hoping he align honed but he asked me to bring my cam.
Prime and paint. Said he had to paint it prior to boring. He did ask what color I was going with.
Overbore with torque plate.

My bill is $850. We did not discuss cost (my fault, no lecture please) but I was expecting around $350 for my requested work. My number was from asking others about their projects. Needless to say this was supposed to be a budget build on a low mileage Magnum 360.
Between the cost of the block, machine work, pistons, rings and bearings I am close to the price of an assembled short block but I really want to build this mill myself.
Does this sound about right? What would you charge for the work that was done?
I would appreciate if you broke it down if possible.
Thank you.
 
Last time i priced boring, was a long time ago. $80 per hole.
So no, that’s not out of line at all. the difference in cost for a built shortblock would end up about the same ,less your labour to assemble it.
 
A friend bought a chevy crate engine, $1900 cdn. Can’t home build it for that.
 
Ok. So I guess I can chalk it up to lesson learned on my part. This is my first build from scratch. The machinist is a one man shop and he has a good reputation and he knows Mopars. That accounts for alot. Thanks for the input guys.
 
That’s about right. I wanted to have my slant 6 machined, .030 over, quote was 600-800. 1600 if he assembled it. I Thanked him for his time and walked out surprised. Bought a running 360/727 out a low mileage RV for $325 still in the car 5 yrs later.
 
Ya...I think it's about average cost. I was thinking it's around $80 a cylinder to bore..
 
JoePole1 said:
I got a call from my machinist today. I dropped my block and new pistons off requesting a .030 bore and R&R pistons onto rods. Nothing more. I am picking it up Friday. He has had it about 10 months. I haven't been hounding due to other obligations but we spoke a few times and he gave me some updates after the fact while he had it. Here is what I got....

Block cleaning - subbed out of house. I degreased and cleaned block prior to dropping off.
Brass freeze and oil plugs.
Cam bearings. I am hoping he align honed but he asked me to bring my cam.
Prime and paint. Said he had to paint it prior to boring. He did ask what color I was going with.
Overbore with torque plate.

My bill is $850. We did not discuss cost (my fault, no lecture please) but I was expecting around $350 for my requested work. My number was from asking others about their projects. Needless to say this was supposed to be a budget build on a low mileage Magnum 360.
Between the cost of the block, machine work, pistons, rings and bearings I am close to the price of an assembled short block but I really want to build this mill myself.
Does this sound about right? What would you charge for the work that was done?
I would appreciate if you broke it down if possible.
Thank you.
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You were wanting to do the work urself , and u said for him to r-r pistons -----------------?
 
67/6barracuda said:
That’s about right. I wanted to have my slant 6 machined, .030 over, quote was 600-800. 1600 if he assembled it. I Thanked him for his time and walked out surprised. Bought a running 360/727 out a low mileage RV for $325 still in the car 5 yrs later.
Click to expand...
My original thought was a re-ring or maybe replacement pistons. My bores were nice and still had cross hatching but I figured start fresh. My new slugs are factory replacement H655-CP's. I didn't want to get into engine balancing.
 
The cost of the work performed is reasonable. If you install new pistons the rotating assembly should be balanced IMO. 65'
 
Plymouth 65 said:
The cost of the work performed is reasonable. If you install new pistons the rotating assembly should be balanced IMO. 65'
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i paid $1250 for hot tank clean up, a bore and hone ''supposedly w/ a torque plate,( supplied the new pistons for measurement) , new cam bearings honed to fit , (had to supply the cam for fitment), zero decked , and freeze plugs installed '' by the same machine shop that does a some of street outlaws stuff.
Got a good friend that works there now , wish he would have been there back then tho.
rotating assem. was race balanced by hughs engines , smooth as a cats ***!
 
Must be a difference in location, just took my 1967 318 block to a guy that builds dirt track cars, bored 030, put all new freeze plugs and polished the crank, had it 2 weeks , $400 , some of the prices quoted seem to think its fair, my question would be ,is why you can buy a short block for $800 to $1200 ?
 
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Building a motor is not cheap. There's no way you cleaned that block as good as he can.
Do you even own a set of bottle brushes? Do you think the cam bearings are ok? Why not spend that little bit of money to make them correct? Painting it is a good idea. And paint it again after assembly. If before final assembly you clean it correctly ( i.e. Dawn blue dish soap ) it will start rusting before your eyes as you blow it off. Have some WD40 ready. when it is finished and going down the street you will feel great knowing you did it.
 
The prices sound reasonable, but maybe you should ask what your cost is on the machine work prior to just dropping it off. I've always asked my machinist about prices before the work began, that way I can budget for it.
 
That's not bad. That is to say, as long as it is quality work.
 
famous bob said:
i paid $1250 for hot tank clean up, a bore and hone ''supposedly w/ a torque plate,( supplied the new pistons for measurement) , new cam bearings honed to fit , (had to supply the cam for fitment), zero decked , and freeze plugs installed '' by the same machine shop that does a some of street outlaws stuff.
Got a good friend that works there now , wish he would have been there back then tho.
rotating assem. was race balanced by hughs engines , smooth as a cats ***!
Click to expand...

And I get flamed here quite often for my pricing. I charge $60/hole w/torque plates up to .030" over. Block cleaning 'cuz they are never clean is $95 before and after honing. Re/re cam bearings is $15/journal non blind. Cut caps and align hone is $100/journal. Line bore is the same. Resurface block is totally time dependant. Just a clean up is $250-Machining to a target/calculated dimension is $95/hr. Oh and YR will like this--sleeving a block is $95/hr and NO I can't sleeve a block with a finished cylinder ready for assembly in an hour and a half. Takes me like 5-6 hours (but you can't tell it was sleeved after) Re/Re pistons on rods (perfectly centered and rods not overheated-blued) is $25/rod .Keep in mind the exchange rate.

All that being said at first blush I would say to the OP that it was expensive --however I KNOW his machinist did all kinds of other little necessary extras that don't really get mentioned. Furthermore if his machinist did a top notch job and the cylinders are round and straight within a few tenths--then he certainly got what he paid for. J.Rob
 
RAMM said:
And I get flamed here quite often for my pricing. I charge $60/hole w/torque plates up to .030" over. Block cleaning 'cuz they are never clean is $95 before and after honing. Re/re cam bearings is $15/journal non blind. Cut caps and align hone is $100/journal. Line bore is the same. Resurface block is totally time dependant. Just a clean up is $250-Machining to a target/calculated dimension is $95/hr. Oh and YR will like this--sleeving a block is $95/hr and NO I can't sleeve a block with a finished cylinder ready for assembly in an hour and a half. Takes me like 5-6 hours (but you can't tell it was sleeved after) Re/Re pistons on rods (perfectly centered and rods not overheated-blued) is $25/rod .Keep in mind the exchange rate.

All that being said at first blush I would say to the OP that it was expensive --however I KNOW his machinist did all kinds of other little necessary extras that don't really get mentioned. Furthermore if his machinist did a top notch job and the cylinders are round and straight within a few tenths--then he certainly got what he paid for. J.Rob
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You work too damn cheap!!! I’ve said that before. Way too cheap. You are better off raising your prices and doing less work for the same money than lower prices and doing more work. You aren’t in a production shop.

LOL...I still don’t know what takes you so long to sleeve a cylinder!!!!
 
Thanks for your input guys. Feeling much better about it now. I should have asked him for a price first so shame on me. I'm sure the money spent now will be bringing big smiles when I hit the go pedal.
 
Sounds normal, a fully prepped block ran me $2000 but that's bored, line honed can and crank, decked, install roller cam bearings etc. But my other engine I built over bored, hot tanked, new cam bearings was about the same price. X2 on getting the balanced done, doesn't hurt and make things smoother.

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I feel bad for all y'all. I just got my slant 6 done. Hot tank, bored .030 over.cam bearing install,crank ground, head decked, stripped hole in head fixed and a full rebuild kit minus cam for $850 out the door.
 
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