Several questions on a build

[434nova]

Ok I guys I am very familiar with sbc engines but new to turbo buicks. I picked up a car that has a motor built by Jack Merkel its your standard rebuild with trw forged pistons , stock crank , stock rods with arp bolts, billet mains etc. I am looking to build a motor to handle 750 - 800 hp with the 109 block. My first question is do I need a girdle if I run a 4340 crank with the 2 center billet caps? I called a known buick engine builder and got a price on just to machine the block for a stroker for 5500 ! Isnt that steep for just clearance the block. I asked if that was with assembling the short block and was told no, that not even boring out the motor. I want to take my 30 over block with billet caps and get it machined for a 3.625 crank. Is there that much work involved on these buick motors to justify that price, what special stuff are these engine builders doing? I was qouted 5500 for machine work, 350 for over bore if needed , 300 for balancing , 800 for assembling the shortblock and 1200 for complete motor assembly. Over 8000 to build a motor without parts ? Is this in order or out of line. Also if I wanted a girdle 500 to machine for that. I have some great local engine builders by me but I figure I call some experts in the buick field. I am shock at the prices quoted but tell me what you think. Thanks for your responses

 

[earlbrown]

Sounds like whoever quoted the job didn't feel like doing the work.

 

[we4Mateo]

These Buicks are a bit pricey and the guys who can do them think they are the only ones, which is somewhat true. Experience with putting these little mills together pays off big time, but I think you can get it done a lot more reasonable than that somewhere else. I doubt you are getting a warranty even at that price.

 

[434nova]

No warranty. What is a realistic price on something like this if i supply the rotating assembly with all parts? What should the cost on labor be ?

 

[we4Mateo]

No warranty. What is a realistic price on something like this if i supply the rotating assembly with all parts? What should the cost on labor be ?

Varies by region but I'm looking at $4,000 with pistons assembled short block. About $3200 no pistons from other builds I've seen done there with machining for billet center mains.

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[earlbrown]

No warranty. What is a realistic price on something like this if i supply the rotating assembly with all parts? What should the cost on labor be ?

Supplying your own parts is probably some of the inflated price. I can't tell you how many times I've had to drop everything and bag up an engine because of a part that someone else brought to the table. I don't have an exact number but the percentage is somewhere close to 100.

 

[DavidM]

Talk to Nick Micale

Www.ArizonaGN.Com

He rebuild my stockish motor and was very reasonable to fit my budget.

I don't have any business experiences with any other Buick engine builder so I can't say a whole lot.

Maybe you should talk to a few and see where you stand and what kind of warranties they offer on their work.

 

[434nova]

Well my block has the billet mains so that should reduce cost some. I wouldnt mind having the machine shop get the rotating assembly , but I could only imagine what they would add to the cost of the rotating assembly. Thanks for the reply guys I know there arr other great shopsbout there that build great buick motors so my search continues.

 

[earlbrown]

Has the billet mains been run before and proven themselves? The reason I mention that is because they have a pretty good track record of causing problems if they weren't installed right.

 

[434nova]

Yes,they have been running fine for about 5 or 6 years and around 15,000 miles.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using TurboBuick Mobile mobile app

 

[Nick Micale]

......... I am looking to build a motor to handle 750 - 800 hp with the 109 block. ........ I am shock at the prices quoted but tell me what you think. Thanks for your responses

I have 2 comments, no matter what you do the a 109 block, at the 800 HP level, do not expect a long life out of it.

Second, if you want to discuss prices for what you want done, give me a call.