All I can say about the shop doing your swap is how much he is overcharing you. Look at he the flat rate labor book for removing and installing is about 7 to 8 hours and even at $100 p/h does not equal his charges.

I paid about $3K for a crate motor & labor when I made my swap. But again, I started going crazy adding a lot of extras. SLP's intake, headers, stall convertor, exhaust. FI, prom, alum.dr shaft, 9-bolt rear and more misc parts then I can remenber. But the Bottom line was $7K and change 10yrs ago.

 

$4000 to install? I could fly up there, do it in your driveway and still make money. I would check for better price

 

definately. i would finish assembling your motor, have in the car and running in one weekend, and i could do it for $2k, stay in a nice hotel, eat out every meal, and return home with a profit. but, i cant a passport

 

Before I would even accuse the shop of overcharging I would need to ehar the scope of work

It sounds like it's a removal of the engine

removing parts from original engine

adding parts to "new" engine including gasket set

new header gaskets

3 gallons of coolant

oil, perhaps it's synthetic

maybe new belt and hoses

labor to reinstall the engine and connect all of the electrical and get the gauges to work

perhaps he needs a new harness or modification

button it all up, make sure everything works


None of us have any idea just how much/little needs to be done. It sounds like Ebony just wants the keys tossed at him and to pick up a running vehicle.

many of us have amnesia with respect to how much time we spend running a wire, getting things tied down, adjusting etc and how quickly the nickels and dimes add up in hardware, belts, hoses, fluids, wires etc.

 

did it all myself already, so im speaking from experience. maybe in a big shop with a lot of overhead it can cost that much. but for someone like me, i can easily make money on that, do a better job, teach the owner something while working on it, and maybe make a new friend

 

agreed, for do-it-yourselfers. But again, we don't know the scope of work and what the shop is including. They may see things that Ebony isn't considering.

With respect to helping people, you need to be careful. I'm not saying it's Ebony because I do not know him but, there is a reason there's a saying "no good deed goes unpunished"

I've helped people I knew (not close friends) with issues and when an entirely different thing went wrong weeks later, it was of course my fault, despite not charging for my help.

 

The Flat Rate Book is the Bible for all mechanics....It covers the cost for everything. Pull & insrall a motor 7/8 hrs ar the shiop's rate. example: $100 p/h = $700 to $800 + additional costs for other parts and labor....But $4000+ get real.

 

I understand "flat rate"

the point is that this isn't a vanilla remove and install

it's remove model x engine and install model y engine, so it becomes a custom job

also, pieces must be removed from engine a and intalled onto engine b. We don't know what parts/supplies/modifications are needed to the ecu, harness, fuel supply etc etc

so, to simply call it a remove and replace is to really diminish the true scope of work.

We can only speculate if $4k is a fair price or not.

 

hes only switching from a 305 to a 350 and replacing parts that were already removed. sounds rather cut a dry to me

 

maybe it's just me and business but a clear cut scope of work is important. Again, it's all pure conjecture on our part with respect to what needs to be done.

I'm not being disrespectful but it sounds like Ebony simply wants the keys tossed back at him when everything is done and it needs to be complete with no little details left undone.

I would defer to the professional who has actually seen the vehicle and engines vs trying to second guess them from a keyboard.