I am looking to get machine work done on my 390. I am woundering what it will cost around.
I want to get the block cleaned, new freeze plugs and cam bearing installed. Also want to get the cylinder bored and honed. And get the main and rod bearing clearance checked.
I am woundering what it will cost around. After all money is very tight.
Also does anyone know of a trustworthy machine shop in the milwaukee wisconsin area? The ones near people say to stay away from.
Thanks for whatever help you can provide.

 

Post about a good shop in your local state Chapter too, someone has to have had something done at some point

 

My guess is a couple hundred, but prices vary from shop to shop.. state to state etc... Call the machines closest to you and get an accurate quote.

 

I just had machine work done on a 351w. New cam bearings, line bore,block cleaned, freeze plugs,new main and rod bearings from him. 330 bucks iirc. No cylinder work done. Gives you a rough idea anyway.

 

Thanks for the heads up and advice.

 

Oh, yeah, crank turned for that cost too...

 

I had cam bearings, freeze plugs, align bored, bored and honed, decked, and cleaned for 350$

 

I'm sure having the block bored, crank ground, hot tanking, new cam bearings, etc, would cost between $800 and $1000 where I am. Supply and demand I guess.

Anyway, I have no idea where this link came from, but a quick Google Search on Machine Shop Price List resulted in this, which seems more or less along the lines already mentioned:

pricelist

 

[QUOTE=Argess;9869882]I'm sure having the block bored, crank ground, hot tanking, new cam bearings, etc, would cost between $800 and $1000 where I am. Supply and demand I guess.

Same here. Alot depends if you need to have the seats and guides and some valves replaced in the heads, getting the piston pins installed my them, and resizing the rod's ontop of the boring, etc. My last machining was close to $1000. This covered everthing possible, including blue printing and balancing. This was for a slightly built engine, nothing exotic. It sure made that $1400.00 Pep boy's ready to go 30,000 mile 3 year warrantee motor look good for a while.. It makes one wonder how a machine shop can compete with that price. Trust me here, I know the answer..

With that being said, the wife has sold many of these ATK (BETTER) and RECON (JUNK) brand engines with few issues except for the RECON brand. Have you ever seen a motor with 7 cylinders bored .030 over with 1 cylinder bored .060 in the same engine? Or several different size\clearance bearings on the same crankshaft? l'll bet it was a RECON. RECON and ATK both re-use old parts, like the camshaft. OH YEA. I bought an ATK, the cam was motled (black spots in the metal, and a ford P/N) and had ridges on the lobes one could feel with your finger nail. I mean, I got the wifes discount, so I thought I'd give it a shot with their BS warrantee. The ATK\Pep Boy's district managers were involed in this issue. Botom line, the lobe height was in spec. I lost the battle, I replaced the cam with a new one out my pocket. Buyer beware, and rebuild your engine yourself so you know what you have is MHO.
I want to add, I found out the cam issue before the engine was installed, not after running it in the truck. The wife's job\pay raise was threatened by her D.M. (her bosses boss). She made a little more $$ a week than a $200.00 cam set, so I ate it.

 

Yeah I was quoted $800 for a 3angle valve job... makes me so jealous when I hear these good shops everywhere! Doing good work for a good price. Makes me want to open a shop like that just so everyone else doesnt get robbed from the crooks around here.

As for the heads, I bought a freshly rebuilt set with CJ valves, mild porting, and high lift springs for $500. Glad I didn't get hosed.

 

If that included exhaust valve seats, valve guides, seals, and of course, new springs, and hopefully at the very least retainers, that's not all that outrageous.

That's $400 per head. At $70/hr shop time (which is from about 15 years ago at least), that works out to 5.7 hours per head. At $90/hr, that's just under 4.5 hours. Now, figure in parts costs, maybe another $100 per head. You're down to $300 per head, at $70/hr that's only 4.2 hours.

With machine setup for guide and exhaust seat installation, inspection of the valves, cutting the tips just to clean them up, setting stem height of the intakes after cutting the seats on three angles, AND the valves, and then making sure everything is done properly, 4 hours doesn't sound too bad.

That's why, when you "get a set of heads redone", sometimes Edelbrock aluminum heads start to look like a bargain.

Now, if it was $800 for handing the guy a set of heads that just needed the valves and seats cut, no guides, no seat installs, no parts, no nothing, well, that IS a rip-off

 

I guess I just got a great deal on some C8's with all of the above, with CJ valves, mild porting, high lift springs for 500 + shipping. So it seemed like they were waaay high.
How can they do it for 250 a head then? Was that just a great deal?

 

Cost should be your secondary concern, if it's not done right, it doesn't matter what it cost. Check around, contact a local car club and find where they have their work done. I take my parts 80 miles from where I live and pass alot of machine shops on the way. The shop I use does outstanding work for a fair price, probably not the cheapest, but everything is right when I get it back.