shattered dream.....

[StricNyne]

well its come down to a tough decision....i received the final estimate for the machine work to my motor and assembly, and its roughly the price of a rb26...... pretty much the assembly is my whole budget (i have a rb25det btw) i could literally only sell some of my rb25 rebuild parts and still have some parts left over use for the motor, and i already have everyting else i need like trans, and mounts, it will literally be just installing refresher parts on the rb26 ,wiring, buy a DP, and walla well almost wallah i probally forgot something but basically for JUSt the cost of rebuild i could have the rb26, and by selling some parts that i have that are HIGHLY sought after i could finance the rest, this really sucks, and its sickening to my stomac to even think about this right now.....

[Stumblin]

I feel ya, but think of it this way. Your built RB25 will be ready for more power than a stock RB26 with 10-yr old internals that have already been thrashed on.

How much is the machine shop charging you to install everything and machine the block and head? Seems high to me. My block work was just a hone and to mill the deck for flatness. That only cost me around $400. Head mill cost about $100. Assembly and labor might be where they are raping you. Can you break down the estimate for us?

DAMMIT! This is DARIUS and I'm on my roommate's computer BTW.

[StricNyne]

ok original estimate was 1600 which i FINALLY got, and now when we talked it jumped to like 2900, at this point my estimate was 3200 for my entire setup to be complete at the block costing 2k to assemble just for padding, my main issue is that i need my car done before june ish, i cna easily save up 600 a month if i go tight maybe a lil more and the things i need done are, bore, maybe deck, balancing, piston ring file,assembly,head refresh and install new valve springs, and long block assembly i might be missing some things...

[Bluefire]

Why not just have them assemble the bottom end. i don't see why you can't install your own valve springs and install the head yourself...

-Bluefire

[FAST-DATSUN]

$3200 labor or parts and labor?????? $3200 for labor is really high....

[002-M-P]

For my rb26, I am paying $1934 in labor for all this:

clean all engine partsbore block .5mmhone blockdeck blockopen up oil galleriesrecondition rodsinstall arp rod boltspolish crankbalance crankresurface headinstall 24 valve guides3-angle valve jobminor port and polishfull longblock assembly with arp headstuds

and probably a couple of other minor things that I forgot....so for 2900 you better be getting something extravagant.

[Chaos the Xile]

no $hit thats down right robbery!

[USMCgetsome]

dude f that. Have them polish up the block you can do everything else yourself. Come on man. Re-assembly. I'm sure you can ask some general mechanic to come over and help out. For like $500 these guys are down right raping you and it's because they know they can. I know for a fact you can redo the head yourself. Hell i did mine. Bought some ferrera valves and viola new head. Let them do the bottom end as suggested and well i know for a fact there is a head build up on nico somewhere for an sr20det. YOU CAN DO IT!!! YOU CAN DO IT ALL NIGHT LONG! Come on man you've gotten this far and i assure you and a couple of friends can have this done like a mofo. You just gotta get into it and start working on it. You need anymore help man i'm just a text or call away. I can help ya do all the research and i'm sure everyone else on here is willing to help as well.

[jdmser]

Have you tried going to another machine shop with your estimate and telling them what you need so you have something to compare with. Check with guys on your local forums and see who's good and who's gonna screw ya. I've found up to $800 differences between machine shops for the same job.

[StricNyne]

yeah, thnx for the encouragement guys !!! he is going to come over my house 2 morrow and finalize the estimate, and man i would kill for that price on the work espically with that 3 angle valve job, i am hoping he thinks i have a old v8 and has me mistaken...

[BoostFab]

well its come down to a tough decision....i received the final estimate for the machine work to my motor and assembly, and its roughly the price of a rb26...... pretty much the assembly is my whole budget (i have a rb25det btw) i could literally only sell some of my rb25 rebuild parts and still have some parts left over use for the motor, and i already have everyting else i need like trans, and mounts, it will literally be just installing refresher parts on the rb26 ,wiring, buy a DP, and walla well almost wallah i probally forgot something but basically for JUSt the cost of rebuild i could have the rb26, and by selling some parts that i have that are HIGHLY sought after i could finance the rest, this really sucks, and its sickening to my stomac to even think about this right now.....

dude, i say fuxk it; take it to another machine shop; they obviously rip your rear and 1/2 of a kidney. my friend just had his 2jzgte motor built (he provided parts), machine shop bore/hone, deck, measure everything to specs and assembled for less than $1500. sh1t $3200 all the parts better come with that price, other wise just have the block bore/hone($150) and assembled yourself, can you follow manuals/instructions; if you can tear the motor apart, you can assemble it, there's ins't much to assembling the motor, just measuring and bolt up.?

[JerryRigRB240]

I wouldn't hope he has you confused... I'd reason that he's an idiot that shouldn't be working on your motor in that case.

I recently had very close to the same thing done for my motor. All in all I had block and head hot tanked, ballanced rotating assembly, shot peened rods, resurfaced rods, block bored and honed, block decked, head resurfaced, 3 angle valve job, removal of valves and installation of valves.

This put me at a total of $780. Assembly of bottom end was quoted to me, "as much as $300". All of this was done at the most reputable shop in town after I took it all back from a cheaper shop that showed they didn't know what they were doing. I was really lucky to catch how stupid they were before they had a chance to F something up on what I would say is a big investment. If I were you, I would not even mess with this guy and bring your motor to another machine shop.

[StricNyne]

yeah, he was highly refered to my from a local shop in town i know in town we got some fast hondas (9 seconds) i will ask who they goto for their work, i live close to raceway park (englishtown) so there has to be some one...

[Darius]

He's being a douche and trying to take advantage of you. I would put your block together for that much plus pay shipping plus buy you 10 kegs of your favorite beer.

[StricNyne]

HAHAHAHA notit sux even more cuz my new chassis engine blew like 90psi in one cyc when we tested it, but hopefully tommorow i can get a lot sorted. but man that three angle valve job would make my build all more amazing

[tjmhillz]

yo quit ur crying ill come ova and help u ripp out the ka redo the rb and put it in.. ill even talk a day off work and school to help u and we can work on it all day if u want. just let me know in advance.matter fact im going to call u now lol

[BoostFab]

yeah, he was highly refered to my from a local shop in town i know in town we got some fast hondas (9 seconds) i will ask who they goto for their work, i live close to raceway park (englishtown) so there has to be some one...

he may be good w/ honda engines but probably know nothing about nissan, and that's just an excuse to rip you off... another option for you would be getting another rb25 long block. $1000 maybe less.

[StricNyne]

tru tru but i got new rods, rb26 crank, and wiseco pistons hehe machinist is at my house in a few mins i will say the diagnosis soon...

[StricNyne]

ok here it is the breakdown

60 Hottank160 Bore and Hone125 Deck Block! 250 ! If i need line hone375 plus parts on head rebuild150 port match with gaskets65 bleed lifters and polish cams! 120 ! if rods need recon! 125 ! if crank needs machining250 to balance assembly950 for complete assembly

so with out the ! items its 2135, i could skip on the port match, and i could POSSIBLY work on head my self (just install valve springs and i got new valve seals) well whats yer verdict guys

[Bluefire]

there will not be a need to line bore unless your **** is ****ed so cross that off. put in your own valve seals and springs, hell you can even lap the valves yourself to freshen things up a bit. IMO don't worry about port matching. I say if your going to do anything, go with a full port and polish. Lifters will bleed themselves once you start the car, make sure you have them stored in oil. Rods and crank, i dunno that is a possibility. Finally $950 just for assembly is pretty high priced imo. I am assuming that is for assembly of crank, rods, pistons, and bearings?

by the way you should get quotes from other builders too... i really wouldn't recommend trying to deal down on pricing with an engine builder. He will more than likely do a shoddy job. Better to find someone reputable that gives you better pricing from the get go

-Bluefire

[StricNyne]

well i think if i do head my self, the assembly is cheaper like 400 dollers so that would shave around 700 dollers

[StricNyne]

i think shortblock was like 250 dollers, plus machine work so lets say around 700 if i do headwork my self thats gunna save me like 800 dollers, plus taking off port match should save me 1000ish just imma little worried about the head work

[BoostFab]

the cast iron block is less likely to warp then the aluminum head. but just check to be sure.

Quote »65 bleed lifters and polish cams[/quote]if your cams are not messed up(scars on the lobes) then i dont think this is needed.

[StricNyne]

sigh idk i might be able to go with out a balance cuz i already balanced everything

[kouki-gymkhana]

Aw come on Carlos, don't ***** out! Do the head work yourself, it's actually quite fun since you can do it at the bench. That dude is ****ing R-A-P-I-N-G you on the machine work. First, if he ends up line boring the camshaft journals then he'll probably ruin the entire head since there are no camshaft bearings to replace (as is sometimes the case with GM and Ford engines) and the tolerances are machined from the factory. Second, you don't need to polish the cams or bleed the lifters...they are hydraulic and are designed to bleed themselves. Third, there is no ****ing magic to assembling the bottom end since you are not changing any clearances or doing anything that would require shims, etc. Just lube everything up really well and tighten things up to specs. I swear you would be amazed what you can do if you bury yourself in the FSM and resolve to do things yourself.

Either shop around a bit more and get a better price or just butch up and git er dun yerself.

[StricNyne]

i mean i have a total of 2k MAXIMUM to spend on rebuild of motor sigh i wannahave him do the whoel assembly

[wawazat8402]

Im kinda feeling you on this one. I have been setting up plans to pickup another RB25 longblock to start building. However, the more I look into it, I think an RB26 will be much more cost effective for me. Mostly bc of the cylinder head design, but partly bc if I build the 25, I want to stroke it.

[StricNyne]

i got lucky and scored a 26 crank and larger pistons

[themadscientist]

Have the bores done and the deck and heads trued if it's needed and put the thing together yourself. That is rediculous!

[Yellow4g63]

i mean i have a total of 2k MAXIMUM to spend on rebuild of motor sigh i wannahave him do the whoel assembly

Almost enough for a SR swap........