About $1300 all told in machine work for me. And I did all the disassembly / reassembly including cam bearings. The first (supposedly reputable) shop f*cked me - charged me extra for hitting the "tighter" tolerances I wanted and they still didn't hit them. Ultimately chose to take it to a second shop that knew what they were doing instead of get into a pissing match with them over it.

-Cleaned block
-Balanced rotating assy
-Decked block
-Torque plate cylinder hone (done twice)
-Inspect / line hone (done twice)

For this one I valued the experience of building it myself / making sure everything was right. If I didn't care as much I might have just bought a shortblock and have been done with it. It's an expensive exercise to get old metal back into shape.

If I learned anything - I'd say stay away from line hones if you can. There's no way to get as-new factory specs out of the flimsy self-centering honing machines most shops have - in most cases the bores usually get worse.

With machine work you open up a pandoras box - there's just as many guys out there that know what they're doing as there are those that don't. Just know that the more you have them do, the more trust is involved. I'd have a good talk with whoever you're going to hire for the work and make sure they know what they're doing - regardless of what their reputation is.

 

Not to mention line hones will cut into the aluminum block faster than the iron mains. A good machine and a boring bar which actually cuts won't have the same issues as a honing operation.

 

Anyone reputable will be about $1000 to do the machine work on the short block plus parts. Let us know if you need any help with the build and we can get your motor better than ever.

 

+1 for Thompson's really nice guy spoke with him a few times I went a 383 route or I would have definitely just got my short block from him and he has the best price

 

Thanks, Kyle. I've been debating the local yahoo with a 2 month lead-time vs your shop with an engine that'd be ready to go in a week or two.

 

If you are gonna go this far, I'd just put some forged pistons and rods in there at the same time. They are pretty value added in the big picture. Should run you around $2000-2500 not including a core block/crank. Since you are reusing your block and crank thats pretty reasonable IMO for a solid setup. This assumes you have the works done by the machine shop as well...