Re: Cost to rebuild IH engines

["Allan Weidenheimer" <allanw@domain.elided>]

>So what's the advantage to doing it yourself?  Masochism?  A learning =
>experience?
Doug:
   Well, I don't know about these other folks, but I considered just
getting
an exchange longblock, and having a shop do my engine out of the
Wife's Jeep.  I could not do it.  Consider the following:

-What good is a warrantee?  My Dad had one on a longblock put in his
RV when it died down in Oregon.  Did him no good when it self destructed
at 20,000 miles.  And it was one of those "Good nationally..." warrantees.
The best warrantee I can think of is one you never use.  Built right with
anal retentive triple checking clearances, high quality parts, etc., the
engine I build will stay together, and it won't leave me stranded.  Those
guys count on you never coming back for warrantee service, and if you do,
it may be very difficult to get anything from them.

-Every little deviation from most shop's standard rebuild job is gonna
cost you.  So make sure you compare apples to apples.  Special
cam request=$$  Balancing=$$

-Many of the volume shops hire inexperienced labor, that's how they give
you such good prices.  And those guys don't have the vested interest
in that engine you do.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided to do it myself.  It has
plenty of drawbacks--higher cost, takes longer, more work on my part,
but I won't have it any other way.  Piece of mind goes a long way for me.
Sure there are shops that do it right, but they are not usually those cheap
ones you refer to.  I do know they guy in Kingston that John Fleck
mentioned.  He went to school with, and built the 235 Chevy in my
former boss' 49 Chevy Pickup (totally stock and cherry frame up resto).
And he came highly recommended by my boss.  However, last time
I talked to him about doing my 289 in my Mustang, he only wanted to
do it if I let him do the whole thing, and his price was higher than if
I did it myself.  Quality work costs.  

But I think everyone should consider their own skills, check several shops,
and make the decision right for themselves.
Sorry about the length, but I recently did lots of thinking on this
subject.

Allan Weidenheimer
72 1210 Pickup