Quote:
Originally Posted by i82much
Sheesh. I seem to remember my 505 coming in at around 10k in 2008 or so, but that was with a flat-tappet cam and cast eagle crank. Later upgraded to forged crank and hydraulic roller. But it's been so long I can't remember if that included things like the intake and oil pan etc.
I had zero Pontiac parts. It all adds up. Plus things like engine brackets, oil pump adapter, timing cover, pulleys, etc. Every situation is different i guess. If you have absolutely nothing and go to a junkyard and get everything you need for an LS swap, that's completely different than running around on forums trying to find matching parts for an old Pontiac!
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Yeah it's just not cheap to build an engine anymore. To give another example just a few years back I completely rebuilt our DZ302. SBC is the cheapest thing on the planet right? Keeping in mind I reused the block and crank, heads and intake and carb, and stayed with the solid flat tappet camshaft too.
Machine work costs alone were close to $4k. That's block work, crank work, touching up a brand new set of rods, and rebuilding the cylinder heads was $1,000 alone. New seats, guides, valves, springs, retainers, you get the idea. I did spend a couple hundred extra for nitride treatment on the camshaft and a set of EDM solid lifters with a pressurized hole on the face for extra lube. But it's still a basically stock rebuild with good JE pistons etc. (JE was the only manufacture at that time that made a NHRA legal correct DZ piston) Lots of attention to detail and top quality machine work. The bill was just over $6,000 and that's just a stock 302ci sbc that makes just shy of 400hp with headers on it. It was never meant to be a budget build at all, I just don't do that sort of thing here, but it is still as stock of an engine as it was originally, with some improvements. It has good top quality parts inside it, and has proven now after 3 years of daily driving to be a solid running engine, doesn't use a drop of oil and is now knocking down 21.5 mpg with the addition of an overdrive 5 speed behind it.