Block maching costs?

[capriceowns]

About 20 miles from where I live is a pick and pull junkyard, and if I pull a engine my self theyll only charge me anywhere from 150-250$ for it, the guy said depending on condition, and wether i take the heads and intake with it etc...

they have a lot of trucks which could possibly have a 350 for my caprice.

im assuming the block would have to be cleaned and bored etc

how much would I be looking at maching costs?

[Blue Bowtie]

Costs vary widely from region to region. These are costs I've experienced recently - Your results may vary:

Plain cylinder boring is usually $8-10 per hole;
Remove cam bearings, Hot tank case and heads, mag check all three pieces, install new freeze plugs and bearings is about $140;
If you need align boring, expect another $80. If you elected to align hone instead, it would be much less, but you would need to use a short timing chain and could experience clearance issues on a stroker with a standard base circle cam. If you change to new main caps (such as splayed 4-bolts) you really should align bore instead of hone;
Balancing the rotating assembly is usually $125. If you aren't going to see a sustained 6,000 RPM you might get by without a balance. If you are changing pistons and rods, you really should balance.
Usually you can get new valves installed in iron heads for about $5/seat. Aluminum heads or those requiring a seat insert would be more;
Any top-side work on the heads, such as spring seat machining, stud boss milling, or guide cutting would cost extra, and I have no clue about the costs since I generally do my own.

EDIT: I errantly wrote "rod caps" where "main caps" should have been...

[maxwedge]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

Costs vary widely from region to region. These are costs I've experienced recently - Your results may vary:

Plain cylinder boring is usually $8-10 per hole;
Remove cam bearings, Hot tank case and heads, mag check all three pieces, install new freeze plugs and bearings is about $140;
If you need align boring, expect another $80. If you elected to align hone instead, it would be much less, but you would need to use a short timing chain and could experience clearance issues on a stroker with a standard base circle cam. If you change to new rod caps (such as splayed 4-bolts) you really should align bore instead of hone;
Balancing the rotating assembly is usually $125. If you aren't going to see a sustained 6,000 RPM you might get by without a balance. If you are changing pistons and rods, you really should balance.
Usually you can get new valves installed in iron heads for about $5/seat. Aluminum heads or those requiring a seat insert would be more;
Any top-side work on the heads, such as spring seat machining, stud boss milling, or guide cutting would cost extra, and I have no clue about the costs since I generally do my own.

You can almost double that in the NY -Metropolitan area!

[Blue Bowtie]

Ouch!

I usually plan ahead, talk to the person who will actually be performing the work (it helps to know a few people) and try to be patient. If you can wait and tell the machinist to just work it in when convenient, they can usually drop the price if it's done with a similar job with a similar setup.

[silicon212]

This is what I paid to S&S Machine in Mesa 13 years ago for my 350:

Align hone $30
Bore block, 8 cylinder, $40
Finish hone w/ torque plates $40
R&R cam bearings, with hot tank and Magnaflux - $89
Balancing crank/rods/pistons/flexplate and harmonic balancer (8") $150
Deck block, to crank centerline, $25
Turn and micropolish crank, .010/.010 undersize, $79

These prices don't cover the cylinder heads but they're not far off from what the same shop charges now.

A word to the wise - when you get the block back, make sure ALL of the oil galley plugs are removed (if the machine shop didn't do this, you will have to) and get a rifle brush set and with solvent, clean out all of the oil galleys using the rifle brush followed by a solvent bath and then blown out with compressed air.

[Blue Bowtie]

Factoring for inflation, those prices seem to be about right.

Amen on the cleaning. I prefer to get the block back with no plugs in it, and BEFORE the cam bearings are installed. The hot tank solution will usually clean most debris, or at the very least, loosen it. The cleaning process can often leave chunks of loose material in oil galleries, coolant passages, and corners and voids in castings. I usually tap the lifter oil galleries at the front and rear ends for pipe plugs anyway, then rifle brush the drilled passages between the cam bearings and mains (you'll want to have the brushes to clean out the crank oil passages anyway). I also like to pick out the corners and break/file off any casting flash from the core parting lines and corners, like around the oil drainbacks in the lifter valley and main web areas. One trip back to the hot tank after my cleaning, then they can pull in cam bearings. That's when the block is ready for installation of freeze plugs and gallery plugs, paint, and assembly.

I used to swear by brass freeze plugs, but since the OAT coolants are becoming more prevalent (like DexCool and all the import car variants of it) the brass might not last as long as steel in some of those applications. Just something more to consider when assembling. Stainless would be ideal, but I haven't seen many of those sets available just yet.

[bobss396]

Also watch for blast media in the cylinder heads. I had just bolted a set onto a fresh 327 back around 1982 for my brother, we turned the engine on the stand and a river of leftover sand blast crap ran out of one of the ports.

Needless to say we had to take the heads off and make sure the bores were clean, which they pretty much were.

After that, as soon as I get a set of heads done, I put a piece of old carpet on a table outside and flip the heads over a few times, drop them from a short distance, blow them out with air until I'm satified that they are clean.

Bob

[capriceowns]

Woah! sounds like I got some planning to do.

We'll see what happens, if and when I get a block to replace my illing 305.