H/C and drop-in pistons/rods
 

I am wondering what should I be expecting to pay for labor in NY or the tristate area for h/c and also drop-in pistons and rods. Thanks in advance

Bump

at any reputable shop i'd imagine 1500-2500 bucks depending on a few variables.

At my small shop in Michigan, I normally charge 600 to R & R a motor. Then about 500 plus machine shop costs for the engine build.

Obviously the shops have lot's of fee's that they need you to help pay. At smaller shops; there's a little more passion and less junk taxed.

Why don't you call a couple shops and get a quote? I would look up the dealership shop hours and do the match assuming their rate is 110 per hr.

What would you normally charge just to do the drop-in pistons and rods? I had the question in my head as I am looking to get that done soon too. Is there a difference in cost to install JUST drop in pistons since that is the thing I know I need and the rods not so sure?

That's nuts. I couldn't imagine heads, cam and drop-in pistons costing only $2k to install. The lowest quote I have come across, even from large, reputable shops, was north of $4k for just the cam+parts+labor.

That stuff is all pretty easy once the motor is out, and thats pretty easy if you’re a mechanic with a lift and do that sort of thing every day.

At $100/hour flat rate, there is no way that’s taking an experienced mechanic 20 hours. They’ll have the motor out before lunch.

20 real hours of labor they could probably take the motor out, unbolt every single physical piece of the long block, reassemble it correctly, and reinstall it in the car

It doesn’t take that long when you know what you’re doing and have the tools ready.

I agree with you 1000% but goodluck coming by a shop that isn’t going to charge you $6500+ for h/c and also drop in of pistons and rods. I understand these shops gotta eat also but it’s not like back in the day where shops watch out for their customers.

Don't let the "drop in pistons" fool you. It is nice to just replace pistons but keep in mind you'll need new bolts might go ARP on taking stuff apart. A lot of stuff can not be reused and new to guy again. At that point you might as well do a rod and piston replacement.

https://gwatneyperformance.com/produ...#configuration

Like this? I will definitely buy the new ARP bolts, worth the extra expense! What about the bearings? Should those be changed if you are doing drop-in piston and rods?

I am still searching for a "ballpark" number for installation.

I was in your boat a little bit ago.
For H/C install + hand ported heads + FlexFuel tune came out to ~5k.

I tried to get a quote for drop-in pistons, shop said that'd it'd be about the same price as a full rebuild...so like 7k+ and that's without parts

cam swap on these cars is much more labor intensive/technical than on the LS motors. Most shops don't want to touch 'em.

If you're going to touch the bottom-end you're almost better off just getting a LT4 long block that comes with a warranty.

Whether to replace the bearings might be a function of how many miles you have on the motor.

Yah I was looking at the GPI dropin pistons/rods/bearings kit to go along with the pray h/c kit and eventually go for FI. But for now with the h/c and pistons/rods/bearings what would your shop charge? Just to compare to what it’s like in NY

SO a few shops were charging me $2500+ for cam install, i ended up doing it myself, that is no where near the amount of work for drop in pistons and what not. I plan on doing that and a forged crank so yeah not looking forward to a price on that, looks like i might need to bring out the wrench and start taking the car apart again, just make sure you do it all at once, don't be like me, not smart to pay for gaskets over and over again, cometic head gaskets AREN'T CHEAP!

OP, drop a dime on this guy. Maybe get some work done and buy parts from him. GL
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