machining prices?

[sktnvr5.0_v8]

hey guys im new too posting but have been quite the reader on this forum for some time!
anyhow i know there may be some guy's out there that may be irritated by such a question but i as alot of other guy's out there would be curious on some price's of some basic block (and maybe head) machining service's, silly as it sound's i have an engine builder but he is one of those blokes that seem to not give you a very straight answer haha, im from melbourne but im sure australia wide price's should not vary that greatly?

anyway any help would of course be greatly appreciated, negative feedback can be left to yourself though as im only a young bloke trying to learn a thing or two!

cheer's Ben

[ari666]

hi mate.

engine builders are a pain to deal with. they are all the bloody same. dont tell you prices up front and never give you an accurate date of completion.

anywayso far i have paid:
800 to have my old heads hot tanked, decked down 60 though, new larger valves, throatwork, new k-lines, new unleaded seats, cut and 3 angle faces
got quote 400 recently to get my valves faced, seats re cut and a general health check
paid 1600 to have all the machine work done on my old 308. i have individual prices at home i will try and remember to post

[sktnvr5.0_v8]

cheer's mate, if you could scrape up the individual price's it would be much appreciated as it help's when planning a build, i often get worried certain people will take you for a ride when they know they can get away with it!
And yes your correct about the completion date's ive had a set of head's sitting at my engine builder's for a GOOD 3 month's that have only made it through the tank and been sand blasted! im not concerned cause im trying to save a dollar!
They are vn head's getting klined, new exhaust seat's, new pep racing stainless valve's(standard size), machined for the neoprene valve stem seals? machined for double spring's, drilled and fitted 7/16 ARP rocker stud's and guides, and port work on an intake and exhaust port so i can match his work on the rest, i think came to a total of $1500.
i know his a decent builder with a clean shop as i worked there for a bit when i was younger but what do you think so far?

cheer's Ben

[SP00KSTER]

can't remember prices on our 350 but as ari has said all engine builders are the same. when we first took the 350 in he said should only take 3 months. as time went on and he slowly worked on the engine, mind you it was in the middle of drag season and he builds lot's of engine's for drag cars. once he got the heads done they sat around for a while, he sent out the crank to be ballanced and tested and all the rest. over 6 months later we recieved the call that it was done and he could bring it around. for us the fact that he took twice as long as he first said didn't bother us cause the car wasn't ready for the engine yet. If you set a time limit for the engine builder to do it within they can usually work with that as long as it's within reasonable time frame but they will charge more than have it sit around for ages.

[ari666]

what do you think so far?

if the stainless valves and rocker studs are included in the 1500 then id be happy with that its not cheap, but the portwork will start to add up the hours.

[sktnvr5.0_v8]

yeah was about $1300 without stud's, now i need the spring's and rocker's. im thinking howard rocker's as that's what my old man has bought but is yet to run them, anyone heard anything good about them? now another thing is i know i realise there is a lot of machining that can go into a block but if i were to rebuid a stock stroke 304 with maybe a set of forgie's what could i get away with and what could i leave out as far as machining goes to save me a dollar? im thinking bore and hone to .030, hone lifter bores and surface the block?

cheer's