Thread: Machine Work $$$ ???

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Just got the bill from the machinest and, well, it was considerably more than I had anticipated. What do you think?

Bore/Hone $245
Deck $130
align hone $185
machine/install 2 lifter bushings $185
install/align cam bearings $53
balance rotating assy $180

And other odds and ends like magnaflux, assembling pistons/rods, etc. Grand total was $1238 for the machine work. I was expecting something on the order of ~$600 without the lifter bushings. Am I that out of touch?

-Chris

Seems reasonable to me. Just got a block bailed out last week, bill was about $1,000.00 with no work on the lifter bores.... Nothing is cheap anymore.....

Thanks, Dave, for the sanity check... I guess when you figure the price of gas was $1.50/gal not so long ago....

It is slightly more than my local guy charges, but he is an oldtime machinist, and maybe has not continued to increase his prices over the years. He charges about $ 20-25 per cylinder to bore, $ 45 for hot tank, $ 125 for line bore, etc.

But I used another shop to do my 394 Olds (had heard good things about this guy) and the tab was about $ 1200 for the operations you mentioned, so you are in line.

Ain't building cars FUN?????????????

Don

I paid $250 to have 6 cylinders bored, $54 to have 6 pistions and rods switched to new pistions. also decked the block .025. done with Napa.

send the work to me

Sounds about right to me... My guy gets $40 a hole....... Luckily I send him enough business that when I pick up my personal stuff he usually hands me his decals instead of an invoice.

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

send the work to me

Wish I had when you offered before... live and learn

-Chris

I'm curious why the "align/hone" was done?

Imo, not necessary in the great majority of cases.

Chris wanna share who it is......I'm not gonna bad mouth.....I know Denver metro and surrounding ares very well and was just curious.

Originally Posted by C9x

I'm curious why the "align/hone" was done?

Imo, not necessary in the great majority of cases.

well i bet that if the LINE HONE machine is in there shop they line hone. if you need it or not. you have to pay for them machines some how have to keep the sunnen man happy

Ya mean dem 'chines ain't free......not to mention payroll, quarterlies, workman's comp, over head and on and on. I feel for these guys stuck paying the man. I do believe from what I've seen, some prices for certain jobs are inflated and could have been bundled to give a come back customer a break....oh well......everybody's jumping into the pricing pool.

get on E-bay and look at the price of used machines and you will soon see this is a very tuff game not for the weak at hart .and keeping every things less than .0002 there is not much money to bore a block lets say $160 rate around here for .030 over and a hone . i was a body man for many years a got in to this work .less hard on the body but not the mind. i made alot more money doing body work

Man, I guess I'm lucky to live wayyyyyyyyyyy in the southern part of oklahoma because about 6 months ago I had a block done.

bore .030" x 8, Deck block to squareness, vat the block, install cam bearings, brass freeze plugs, and paint the block in nice shiny black high temp paint. I bought the block for $200 and the machine bill was $253...

just remember there are many ways to do a job. with my rottler f2b i could bore up to .002 less piston to wall and hone a block alot less time honing . and deck a block in my storm -vulcan at full feed speed not as good a finsh but still better than GM . and hold my bores at.0005 and not plateau hone the block or break the edges of the bottom of the bores so then things could happen much faster . not to say any one that get there work done cheap at there machine shops they are doing this .but it is a time thing and that = money