so i dropped a valve and the motor has to come out for a rebuild, figure might as well punch it out to a 383 while its out. so the local mechanic (specializes in lt1 / chevy stuff) says labor to build the motor, remove mine and put the rebuilt one in will cost about 1000 for labor. then the parts will be around 800-1000 or so for keith black (middle of the road hyper something)pistons, rings. bearings, rods, eagle crank and machine work on the block. i plan to use my heads, injectors, cam, timing chain, etc.....does this sound about right for a 383 build. im mostly concerned about the labor charge, i know its a job to swap motors, thats why i dont want to do it, but i just want to make sure im not getting scammed or nothing.

any advice about a 383 build is greatly appreciated too. thanks

 

where you located? i would think it would cost more because if you dropped a valve, you'd have to have your heads worked on too wouldnt you? I have been looking into a rebuild myself, here's what i have so far from a guy

$3600 engine - rebuilding my motor with a 383 stroker kit
400 remove/install
170 stall tc
50 oil/coolant etc.
100 - pcm reprogram
250 - pistons - upgrading from the ones in the 3600-price
400 - heards/valves - better valves and more porting than the 3600price
150- starter
100 - tranny shift kit w/ install
total = $5220- so far

 

Not sure how much LE1 heads flow, but if your heads don't flow well enough to feed a 383 you'll just be choking it out- making almost the same horsepower as a 355, but a bit more torque down low. On the other hand, a 383 rotating assembly is pretty much the exact same price as a 355, the only extra expense is machining so it's really a judgement call.

 

that price wasnt counting the cost of having the head repaired. that was just the total for the rotating assembly machine work on the block and installation/ removal of the new/old motor pretty much.

 

That is really cheap. Around here, a base 350 chev build is $1800-2400

 

that sound awfully cheap,machine work &balance will cost over $1000.

 

I got forged pistons with rings, forged rods, and a scat crank for 1000. Balancing & machine work to the block and assembly of those parts into the block plus misc. small parts was another 1000 total.

 

Damn, what is that guy chrging per hour? You in a rural area or something? Around here, the going rate for decent shop work is at least $75/h. Just the motor R+R would eat up close to $1,000 at that rate. Assembling a motor is a $350-400 job around here and it's another couple of hours labor to tear it down. So, you certainly aren't overpaying at $1,000 to R+R the motor, diassemble and reassemble it. But you still need to acount for cleaning everything and machine work. The parts prices also seem to cheap. Basically, the job is being underestimated unless the laor rate is something like $25/h. I think it will end up costing you ~twice as much as you think.

Tich

 

that guy must like you or something because like many others in this thread I was quoted much higher for a stroker rebuild. mine was 4500 and I already have the complete balanced rotating assembly.

 

It sounds really cheap to me. I'm in the process of doing a 388 and I've aready spent 4k with more to go. But that's with Trick flow heads and having them ported with all forged internals.

Sounds OK. Seems like guys have paid a lot more than that before.

 

Remeber, he mite tell ya a low price and then nickle and dime ya for alot of stuff. I paid $5200 for labor/machine work for my 383, and i provided all the parts! Only thing the shop provided was push rods, melling oil pump, a few nuts and bolts, oil and a filter. My balancing alone was roughly $800 if I remeber, putting the motor together was $500, converting to splayed 4 bolt main was like $600 and i provided the caps :-D Search my username and you'll see a thread of mine "insane bill from engine shop" check it out, i put my break down in there, sometimes when it sounds to good to be true, it usually is or the work is very poor. Atleast i know for a fact this motor is stright and true...very reputable shop, clean, good work ethic, BUT very expensive

 

well its good to know its a good price. that was the rough estimate though, we'll see how close it is when i get the official one. keep in mind that is with me supplying heads ,cam ,rockers, pushrods, injectors, tune, etc. he said he charges a flat rate to swap the engine of 1000, and hell include building the new one for free. so labor will only be 1000. the real variable will be how much the parts cost (crank, rods, pistons, bearings, etc) oh and yes it is a rural area........

 

my engine costed me about $6500 to build.

I got lucky and found someone who was selling a complete short block for $2550 shipped though.

it will be more than you expect

 

i got a fully built solid roller for sell


383 solid roller LT1 motor = This motor should make around 475rwhp. has a custom solid roller Cam Motions camshaft, Cloyes double-roller timing chain, B&M flexplate, ATI Super dampner, Callies 3.75 Dragonslayer fully forged crankshaft, Lunati 5.85 Pro Mod Rods, JE flat top forged nitrous pistons, Clevite H series main and rod bearings, Callies 4-bolt billet splayed main caps, ARP main studs and ARP rod bolts, Brand new freeze plugs and cam bearings. The block was hot tanked, bored and honed with plate, decked block, line bore, line hone, clearance for the stroker, rotating assembly is internally balanced, pistons and rods were honed, and everything is assembled. I have 1220 in machine work, a 800 crank, 630 rods, 500 pistons, 80 main studs, 19 cam bearings, 11 freeze plugs, 65.00 flexplate, 80.00 timing set, 400.00 super dampner, 110 main bearings, 110 rod bearings, 200 main caps, 400.00 custom ground cam.
So that is 4625 dollars in this shortblock. No expense was spared.

I will let it go for 4,000 This is a great street/strip motor that is going to go very fast in the right car. I have all receipts on this motor from parts to machine work.

pics if needed

matt

 

oh yeah this engine has never been fired. got it built and was ready to be put in but im selling the car and everything esle to get a house, and a Tahoe

search for posts on my name to see what im sell if you need anything else

thanks matt