Reasonable engine rebuild estimate

[laserjock]

Doing a little budget planning for Big Red this morning but the one part I don't have a good feel for is the engine rebuild. Supposing everything is in good condition, this is what I'm thinking.
New bearings
Rings?
Valve springs
Guides
Check everything
Head studs
Gaskets etc
Balance the rotating assembly maybe?

What am I forgetting?

I can price the parts easy enough but anybody have a guesstimate on the labor/machine work?


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[icanfixall]

I think you better plan on pistons and bore job. One never knows what condition the pistons and cylinders will be found in. If the pistons and bore are within limits then a set of rings but cleaning out the ring grooves is a tuff job for some. Also knowing what pistons and rings you have will help. The early piston rings were thinner than the newer better rings. We can get all diffrant kinds of new rings these days. Mush better than what came out many years ago when these engines were new. BTW Mahle was the oem piston and rings used from the factory.

 

[Brad S.]

I think Towcat has some customers that use a gapless 2nd ring, they say it keeps the oil cleaner.
But little extra money as well.
BTW, just had my heads done, new everything, little over $900.
That's not including the extra head gasket I messed up putting them on.

 

[idiabuse]

Crank grind, they are never 100% perfect
rods resized on the big end, small end rebushed
balanced rotating assembly
new pistons
block machined, decked, bored/honed, cam bearings, line hone?
new heads or rebuild, cost is the same either way, $1000 done correct
parts kit including gaskets

Many people skip most all the steps, when you do your engine is not 100%
it will use more oil, use more fuel, have less power, will cost more to operate.

The best way to make me forget you as a customer is say these majic words
" Im just going to sell it"

Buh BYE!


Javier

 

[icanfixall]

A **** poor "rebuildI is a ture watse of money. Thats a fact. For a customer that tells the guy working on their engine says thos magic words.. I'm just going to sell it so do the least costly things to get me by".. Yeah... Thats who I want to buy from. We will see them till time stops. Its just a matter of doing business in this world. When something is worn out.. Its worn out. No way can you pour something into the oil that builds up metal anywhere. So lets say you have a shop grind the crank 10 under and it looks great.. But is it. To know for sure you need to measure the bearing journels in three differnt locations. Then you need to know they didn't burn the bearing. That requires a acid wash on the bearing. Then you need to measure the radius at the edges of the bearing journel. Do that radius wrong and the crank builds stress cracks. Then you have a special two piece crank and a horrible messed up block. Its knowing what to look for and what to ask that gets you the job you pay for. Balancing the rotating parts and especially line boreing the crank bearing webs true it very important. Look at the mains when you remove them. If any of them are worn thru to the copper on either edge that bore is cut wrong and needs tureing up. Thats nothing but internal drag that cuts down on shaft hp and mileage. A true crank with correct cleaeances and a line bored main web will be impressive. Install the crank without pistons hanging on it and give it a turn. It should spin freely several rotations. Anyone can replace parts. Not everyone can replace parts correctly. I too have made some assembly mistakes too. But I never installed a piston bacwards on an idi. BTW there is a correct way the rods fit the crank. Look at the rods. One side will have a lage radius cut on it and the other wont. The large radius goes towards the crank. Remember the crank bearing radius. Thats where you need the radius clearance.. Hope this inspires others to ask questions and get answers.

 

[texcl]

Just curious, what is the average price to reline a 7.3 block? Is this something that will make your rebuild last longer? Also as long as your pistons are not damaged, is there any advantage, longevidy wise, to buying new ones?

 

[idiabuse]

Tough call on the block! usually it cost 100bucks a hole to reline them, I rather use a good block.
I had mine sonic checked and it was thinnest at .175 and thickest .250 so my block checked ok.

Pistons usually will have worn out ring lands and you will just end up with a puffer.

try to score new pistons ore some with very low miles.

Javier

 

[dgr]

Brad,
Did that everything include Bronze valve guides?

icanfixall, you have a more specific location? PM me if you prefer.

 

[Knuckledragger]

What isn't said is the mileage on the rebuild engine or the budget you want to keep. I built an engine in 2010 for about $3300. New pistons and rings, new bearings, valve job, align hone crank journals, rebuilt rods including replaced and honed bushings, balanced rotating mass, ARP studs, lots more. You will not regret spending a few more bucks to replace or true stuff you don't want to think about for another 300,000 miles. About $950 in machine costs, including the balancing.

And engines are portable. If the truck rusts to the ground around it, you can put the engine in another one.

 

[GOOSE]

$3100 shipped to your door from Promar. Click on the link in my signature. They are hard to beat. Good luck.

 

[Brad S.]

Brad,
Did that everything include Bronze valve guides?

icanfixall, you have a more specific location? PM me if you prefer.

Yep, IRRC the only things they didn't replace were the retainers. Keepers were replaced.
Ill have to look at my bill again, but according to the box of "used" parts, paper weights, etc I got back.

 

[chris142]

Figure 3x what you want to spend! The hard part is finding a good machine shop. Ain't none I trust within 50 miles of me. The last set of heads I had done locally ( on a gasser btw) would puff when started and puff when shifting. Pulled the valve covers off and no stem seals! Not even the orings!

 

[laserjock]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I was figuring 1500 or so as a bottom number. The motor has 186k on it but sounds great so I was hoping to freshen it up and not go crazy. It has sca in it but its low so I figure it was probably has been in there for the duration. Looking at the truck, condition and title history, I'd say the first 10 or so years of its life it was very well cared for. The last 10 is anybodies guess. The moral of this story seems to be find a good shop and save some more pennies. I don't mind doing what's required for a quality rebuild, I just don't want to get screwed either. This is one of the couple jobs ill farm out on the project just because I don't feel like I have the time, tools, or experience to do it right the first time.

Thanks guys.


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[OLDBULL8]

$3100 shipped to your door from Promar. Click on the link in my signature. They are hard to beat. Good luck.

Put one of those in my 90. I don't think they can be beat. All cylinders are sleeved.

And my Grandson pounds the **** out of it.

 

[towcat]

i haven't built a motor to order in some time. the last one I did, got 8 sleeves with a locking step on top, a set of zero gap rings and head studs. everything else was pretty run of the mill for a idi build-up. cost? about $5-6k