Tearing down a BB labor shop rate in your area?

Have someone that wants me to tear down a 440 that's still stock bore. He pulled the heads off before deciding to pull the whole engine and go through it. He wants me to do the build but I'm done doing that for others. This thing is still running the original pistons and even has a rope seal for the rear....but not sure on the bearings. Been awhile since having an original bearing in my hands. Doesn't matter because they are wiped!

You should ask him how much dough he's got.

A lot depends on whose asking you to do the rebuild.
Do you know him?
If its a stranger id pass as it might not be worth your time and trouble
To many guys out there looking to save a dollar

$75 to $125 an hour around here.

$100 - $125 here in N. Texas. Building is one thing, but have you given any thought that once it's build and running, what if something isn't quite right ---will he come back on you for resolution? If it was a friend, OK. If it was someone I did NOT know, I would hedge my bets.

For disassembly, I get:
Long V8 $100
Short V8 $60

are you going to do all the work ?
rebuild, repair, new or reuse good (if any) old parts ?
doesn't sound like you want to do a rebuild
IF SO...
do you have the capability tools machinery, to do machine work ?
or just farm it all out ?

not much $$ in just a teardown, an hr ($50 enough for a lil' time)
especially already out of the car/truck & just a short block
heads are already off
anything beyond that, you need to charge an hourly rate
agreed upon between the 2 of you

(maybe even get it in writing if you have to supply anything
like chemical or parts, dispose of junk or oil etc.)

hopefully, he won't just leave it there forever either
(or maybe he will & you get a free 440)

if it's a decent buddy/friend maybe just help him/them out
edited below;
(based on I'm assuming you're not legally licensed in your city/county
as an automotive repair shop, it's more of I assume, just a hobby shop,
not an actual business, but if you are, then charge the going shop rate)

good luck & have fun

steve from staten island said:

A lot depends on whose asking you to do the rebuild.
Do you know him?
If its a stranger id pass as it might not be worth your time and trouble
To many guys out there looking to save a dollar

Click to expand...

Took me years but this is exactly what I do now, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, HELL NO! Of course I'm still working a full time job, if I was retired I might goof around and take on odd jobs for something to do

$50-75 sounds reasonable to me unless your cleaning it too

$100.00 per hr. around here.

I'm in Baltimore Md 95.00 an hour

Business is business, If you keep it that way, you will be ahead. Many years in retail auto repair business taught me that the guy you do a favor for is the guy who will be your biggest problem down the road.

Wait until this Saturday and tell him you're retired.

Tell him your swamped, FBBO and the internet consumes your day. Unless he is willing to pay big bucks.

It is customary for the engine builder to perform the tear down and inspection.

steve from staten island said:

A lot depends on whose asking you to do the rebuild.
Do you know him?
If its a stranger id pass as it might not be worth your time and trouble
To many guys out there looking to save a dollar

Click to expand...

Like I mentioned, I'm done doing engines for others. That happened many years ago after getting the morons that kept listening to their friends on what they should do and then wanting to make changes in the middle of the build expecting me to do something different and not pay for the extra time it took to make those changes. Oh man, got some stories on one guy that came back a couple years later with another build and started doing the same crap he did with his first engine....and I just told him to come get his stuff cuz I'm done.

69Bee said:

For disassembly, I get:
Long V8 $100
Short V8 $60

Click to expand...

Per hour?

Budnicks said:

are you going to do all the work ?
rebuild, repair, new or reuse good (if any) old parts ?
doesn't sound like you want to do a rebuild
IF SO...
do you have the capability tools machinery, to do machine work ?
or just farm it all out ?

not much $$ in just a teardown, an hr ($50 enough for a lil' time)
especially already out of the car/truck & just a short block
heads are already off
anything beyond that, you need to charge an hourly rate
agreed upon between the 2 of you

(maybe even get it in writing if you have to supply anything
like chemical or parts, dispose of junk or oil etc.)

hopefully, he won't just leave it there forever either
(or maybe he will & you get a free 440)

if it's a decent buddy/friend maybe just help him/them out
edited below;
(based on I'm assuming you're not legally licensed in your city/county
as an automotive repair shop, it's more of I assume, just a hobby shop,
not an actual business, but if you are, then charge the going shop rate)

good luck & have fun

Click to expand...

Done a lot of work out of my 1500 sq ft shop/garage over the years but stopped doing engine work some time back and focused on rear end work. Usually, there's no cars sitting around so I'm able to keep things under wraps but his car has been sitting in the front of my shop. Thank goodness my driveway is over 100' long. I've done a lot of work on his 69 road runner over the last couple of years (most of it was a rpita since it sat out in the west Texas desert for 30 years) and thought I was done with his car until a valve spring broke while at an idle. Turns out that one head had coil bind on all of the springs and the one that broke was in five pieces. All the springs on that one head had fretting and some of them had bad fretting. One spring was bent over about 35 degrees once off the head and on the bench. The pump showed signs of fragments had gone through it but so far, the damage isn't too bad.

DeltaV said:

Wait until this Saturday and tell him you're retired.

Click to expand...

I retired from the refinery in 06 and am about to have another retirement lol

Jeremiah said:

It is customary for the engine builder to perform the tear down and inspection.

Click to expand...

He's still trying to get me to build it however I did agree to tear it down to see how extensive the damage is but still telling him I do not want to build anymore engines for others. Heck, my own car is still being shoved to the back of the stove and I'm not even married anymore!! And there are still a few shops around here that will take in an engine that's a box deal....

Cranky said:

Like I mentioned, I'm done doing engines for others. That happened many years ago after getting the morons that kept listening to their friends on what they should do and then wanting to make changes in the middle of the build expecting me to do something different and not pay for the extra time it took to make those changes. Oh man, got some stories on one guy that came back a couple years later with another build and started doing the same crap he did with his first engine....and I just told him to come get his stuff cuz I'm done.

Per hour?

Done a lot of work out of my 1500 sq ft shop/garage over the years but stopped doing engine work some time back and focused on rear end work. Usually, there's no cars sitting around so I'm able to keep things under wraps but his car has been sitting in the front of my shop. Thank goodness my driveway is over 100' long. I've done a lot of work on his 69 road runner over the last couple of years (most of it was a rpita since it sat out in the west Texas desert for 30 years) and thought I was done with his car until a valve spring broke while at an idle. Turns out that one head had coil bind on all of the springs and the one that broke was in five pieces. All the springs on that one head had fretting and some of them had bad fretting. One spring was bent over about 35 degrees once off the head and on the bench. The pump showed signs of fragments had gone through it but so far, the damage isn't too bad.

I retired from the refinery in 06 and am about to have another retirement lol

He's still trying to get me to build it however I did agree to tear it down to see how extensive the damage is but still telling him I do not want to build anymore engines for others. Heck, my own car is still being shoved to the back of the stove and I'm not even married anymore!! And there are still a few shops around here that will take in an engine that's a box deal....

Click to expand...

No, that is the total price. My shop rate is $60/hr, but most of the operations are basically a fixed price.

Cranky said:

Like I mentioned, I'm done doing engines for others. That happened many years ago after getting the morons that kept listening to their friends on what they should do and then wanting to make changes in the middle of the build expecting me to do something different and not pay for the extra time it took to make those changes. Oh man, got some stories on one guy that came back a couple years later with another build and started doing the same crap he did with his first engine....and I just told him to come get his stuff cuz I'm done.

Per hour?

Done a lot of work out of my 1500 sq ft shop/garage over the years but stopped doing engine work some time back and focused on rear end work. Usually, there's no cars sitting around so I'm able to keep things under wraps but his car has been sitting in the front of my shop. Thank goodness my driveway is over 100' long. I've done a lot of work on his 69 road runner over the last couple of years (most of it was a rpita since it sat out in the west Texas desert for 30 years) and thought I was done with his car until a valve spring broke while at an idle. Turns out that one head had coil bind on all of the springs and the one that broke was in five pieces. All the springs on that one head had fretting and some of them had bad fretting. One spring was bent over about 35 degrees once off the head and on the bench. The pump showed signs of fragments had gone through it but so far, the damage isn't too bad.

I retired from the refinery in 06 and am about to have another retirement lol

He's still trying to get me to build it however I did agree to tear it down to see how extensive the damage is but still telling him I do not want to build anymore engines for others. Heck, my own car is still being shoved to the back of the stove and I'm not even married anymore!! And there are still a few shops around here that will take in an engine that's a box deal....

Click to expand...

There is a saying that goes,, Friends are for coffee and cake
Business is business. You could do motors for a select group but you can never let any customer pull your chain with changing what was agreed upon
I found that when I had my S-Corp my biggest fault was being to accommodating and putting up with people who had zero idea of what they were talking about
Still to this day I go through this with people I work for. All sorts of off the wall ideas and expect me to jump through hoops to make it happen or worse want me to do I job I’m not comfortable with
I just recently had my motor built. I paid him as work progressed and for parts
We discussed what I wanted upfront and if there was any changes I would have had to pay
In the end it’s not about building motors, could be anything

Cranky said:

I retired from the refinery in 06 and am about to have another retirement lol

Click to expand...

Yes!, 70 is the perfect time to start your second retirement!!! Enjoy!!!

https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/happy-birthday-cranky.218581/


https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopa...ay-cranky-northern-hemisphere-edition.218583/