What is reasonable charge for engine work? 59A

Old Henry

Old Henry

Well-known member
I just had the bottom end of my engine redone. The bearings were worn out and needed replaced and the engine dismantled to clean it of all bearing fragments and balanced (rods, crank, flywheel, and clutch). So, question is, what is a reasonable charge for such, including removing and replacing the engine?
 
in the $2,000.00 neighborhood, probably north of that figure. most of it is labor so a lot depends on his shop rate.
tom
 
Henry:

I have a question for you that is a little OT and a little personal because I happen to remember that you are a lawyer. When you say the bearings were worn out and "needed replaced" is that the same way you would say that in a conversation?

I ask because I see "needs restored", "needs replaced" and similar omissions of the verb to be on the internet. I don't know if this is a colloquialism that I've never seen before or if the verb to be is just disappearing from the English language.
 
When I rebuilt my 8ba several years ago, the parts
were $ 900.00 not including any labor.
 
They say to ensure better head gasket sealing you should remove all the cylinder head studs and have the block face milled.
Adds a bit to the overall cost.
 
Mike51Merc said:
Henry:

I have a question for you that is a little OT and a little personal because I happen to remember that you are a lawyer. When you say the bearings were worn out and "needed replaced" is that the same way you would say that in a conversation?

I ask because I see "needs restored", "needs replaced" and similar omissions of the verb to be on the internet. I don't know if this is a colloquialism that I've never seen before or if the verb to be is just disappearing from the English language.
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You are certainly correct. The phrase should have been "needed to be replaced". Even I, the legal sage, take some short cuts in writing on a forum once in a while. But I don't write "your" for "you're" like way too many do, heaven forbid. :) (I even received a mass email recently from our new mayor with that one in it. He was pretty embarrassed when I called him on it.)
 
It would depend on what was actually done. If it was just R&R, clean, balance, and replace the rod and main bearings It should be less than $2,000.
 
Just to give you some sort of ballpark number. My 53 six ran $1950.00. That included cleaning and checking the block and head, block machine work and rebuilding the head. The head needed all new valves, guides, springs and hardened valve seats. The block work included a sleeve in #3 and align bore. The other 5 Cylinders were honed. Piston to cylinder clearance checked good. The bushings on the small end of the rods were pressed in and the pistons installed. The shop provided the bearing sets, rings and gasket set. I did the final assembly of the of the engine.
 
J Franklin said:
It would depend on what was actually done. If it was just R&R, clean, balance, and replace the rod and main bearings It should be less than $2,000.
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hotcoupe said:
in the $2,000.00 neighborhood, probably north of that figure. most of it is labor so a lot depends on his shop rate.
tom
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All bearing surfaces on the crankshaft and rods had to be machined to fit the new bearings too. And the valves were all taken out to clean the block and put back in with new valve seats.
 
I think a long block around here is around 3K give or take. Still a ton of labor even if re-using most parts Add the balance and the remove/install and I will guess around 2,500.00. That is if nothing else needed replaced (ignition, belts, hoses...)
 
Old henry you said the shop was going to stand behind their work. What is happening? None of my business but you want to know what a rebuild would run.
A few years back I paid a machine shop $1,800.00 just for machine work on my 312 engine.

Originally Posted by Old Henry
Good news! My mechanic garage seems to have turned into "Golden Rulers" meaning that they have decided to take full responsibility to get the engine running right no matter what it takes on their dime instead of mine. I imagine it's a hard pill to swallow but, if they thought about the tables being turned, I'm sure they would want the same as I expected.
 
I was asking because I was expecting the garage to hit me up for more money when I went to pick up my car. I actually paid 2-3 times as much as anyone has suggested it should have cost but it didn't bother me as long as they weren't going to want more when I went to pick it up.

I couldn't quite believe that they just handed me the keys and said, "Take it away," when I just went and picked it up.

So, my question is moot.

"All is well in Zion. Yeah, Zion prospereth. All is well."
 
to pull the engine and rebuild it, properly detail it ,put it back in, break it in,takes a LOT of time.i mean to do it right.
 
If they removed the engine from the car and did all that work (and bought the parts) for $2000, then in my opinion they did a lot of work or a very reasonable price. It would be very hard for that work to be less than that - and I can see a lot of places charging a LOT more.

In the end, it really depends on the quality of the work and are you happy with it? :rolleyes: I've found that I don't have a problem with the money when the work, customer service and results are good . . . so it kind of comes down to that.

When you're back on the road and enjoying your travels (and us as well!), it will be a small price to pay!

Most importantly . . . you'll be back on the road and we'll all be living vicariously via you and your posts! Awesome!

B&S
 
Recently, I had a frien have a block bored, pistons fitted and a valve job done for 800 dollars. At first I thought this was too hi, untill I realized what the cost of a loaf of beard cost. That was more than I charged for building an intire engine. including dissembling the dam thing.
 
At our shop, popular with vintage vehicles, the complete overhaul, boring, honing, valves, springs and seats, plus refitting rod and main inserts, runs in the range of $3,000 at regular rates. If the crank requires work, there is additional cost, of course, as does the labor involved in pulling and replacing the complete engine. If you can get it for less, something was likely overlooked. Our waiting list indicates we are priced correctly
 
I do know of someone here in Perth Western Australia that rebuilds flatheads, Not a mechanical shop by the way just something they do.. About $10,000 was the price, if they put twin carbs on it.. Cant remember if they supply the block..?
 
swoopNZ said:
They say to ensure better head gasket sealing you should remove all the cylinder head studs and have the block face milled.
Adds a bit to the overall cost.
Click to expand...

Not a great idea on a Flathead, the deck surface is on the thin side to start with. I wouldn't do it unless it really needed it, and that's quite rare.
Martin.
 
Scooder,

Would you suggest running a die over the tops of the studs to clean the nut threads, and a simple wire wheeling of the deck to ensure cleanliness?

Or, what else / would you suggest?
 
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