cost?

[cheech]

i just moved here from the mid-west. i need to find out some cost's; what do people charge to disassemble,clean,inspect and rebuild engine(just labor amount) and will they help install the motor adjust carb and timing. i am thinking of doing this on the side. but i don't know of anyone else doing it to ask. i don't want to gouge people but i do want to make money at it. and any machine shops that would do only the mach.work in the fontana area.

[BrendellaJet]

Okay, Ill bite-
Fact is, it all depends. Labor for a quality assembly by one of the local pros was 2 grand. That includes an entire blueprinting and analysis of the parts and their fit. Tuning is extra. This was from a pretty reputable shop. Without the reputation, you will likely need to start lower than that, and make adjustments to your prices (lower) if you cannot deliver the same quality that the pros do.
I think the best way to go about it is decide what services you can provide and decide what your opportunity cost is if you were to use that time to do something else, and base your prices on that.
I think in this industry, word of mouth advertising is very valuable. If your work is up to snuff, it should show in your own personal ride-that would be the best way to start...people will see your work on your ride and that can potentially develope opportunities. Hope that helps!

[cheech]

thankx that is exactly what i was asking, the quality and ability i have but like you said the rep is what i have to start. i am not going for the racing crowd until i have the rep. right now i am going to start on the weekend joy riders and very reliable up grades. i am working on a motor for a friend that shoud get alot of attention. and these motors are quite a bit cheeper then these big shots are building,(overhead has alot to do with it). i am going to start going to the events ,an see what kind of power per dollar these guys are building.
thankx brendellajet

[058]

Its kinda tough to just blow into town, hang a sign out and expect people to beat your door down. It don't just happen like that. As Brendellajet says you need to build a reputation first and then someone may part with their hard earned money to pay you to do what many other people can do and have already earned a name. Its also hard to compete with the machine shops that you would need to pay for machine work if all you are going to do is assemble engines and install. What about dyno time? How are you going to charge a guy for something he can have done on his own and eliminate you, the middleman? What about rigging and set-up, do you have the equipment to fabricate the many parts that usually have to be custom made for almost all custom boats? Do you have the space to do such work? Can you afford to buy or rent a shop to work in so your customer's boat doesn't sit outside and would be subject to the weather and theft. Alot to think about and I don't mean to be so negitive but if it were so easy then everyone would be doing it. You'll need to decide what seperates you from all the others as your sales pitch. Good luck.

[Fiat48]

Without discouraging you in your venture, there are some things you'll need to consider. I have a complete in house machine shop currently used to build my own motors and for a few close racer friends. What prompted this was the lousy machine shops in my area and the heavy race schedules we were doing. Even with the equipment and the reputation, you might want to consider some things.
Liability. You'll need a large insurance policy that covers your assets. Sadly, it's a lawsuit happy society we live in. So you will have overhead. YOU MUST BE COVERED IN EVERY WAY. You will also need an attorney to draw up a disclaimer for every customer to sign.
Having someone else do the machine work is a very tough way to go. Finding someone who is accurate and cares is tough. Several trips to the machine shop just for one engine. Lot of dead time. Your accuracy depends on his accuracy. Not good. On the flip side of that, you would have to spend 100K for used equipment. If you buy the equipment, then you gotta work on whatever comes through the door to make the payments.
Blueprint. My favorite word. Most customers just know the term. They have no idea what is involved nor the time it takes. Most are unwilling to pay for all that time. So you're high standards will constantly be challenged. If you lower your standards then you're just another engine assembler. Catch 22.
Your name is on everything you do. You will have the best parts fail sometimes and you will have to eat it. You may have done everything right, but no matter. And then there will be the guy who ran with low or no oil, temped the motor, etc. You have to take care of him too. Refer to Liability.
I don't want to sound negative or give the impression that it's all bad. Just want all 8 of your cylinders aware before you start.

[cheech]

thanx guys i knew if i asked this question on this site i would get answers from people with first hand know how. i am going to start with the stock rebuild first then move up when the rep starts to take off. then i can jump into the deep end. right now i have been charging $500 for the labor only, they pay all parts and machine cost. i don't mark-up any of these cost's. so there total is going to be lower. my hi-perf motors are for a small crowd right now. once they get on the water then that type of work will get better. but like you guys said the bigger names can get the bigger bucks(REP). i am just entering the pond

[Infomaniac]

I know a really cool guy that did this.
Went to a discussion forum. Announced that he was building an engine. It would be this big and make this much power and the boat would go this fast.
Posted it step by step all the way through dyno testing and in boat testing.
Just by chance it was a success.
Talk about sticking his neck out. Could have been proven a dumbass in front of everyone.

[cheech]

your saying that this guy did it step by step on this site,tested and tuned it to good numbers and you say he was lucky. does this person know you. i am pretty sure he would not like the dumbass crack. if you do your home work and assembled it correctly there should be no reason wy it will not work. all these companies that build these parts spend a lot of money in R&D to be accurate in there specs when used correctly.

[Fiat48]

I am sure info can locate that guy he was talking about. Soon as he finds a mirror.

[Infomaniac]

It was on the HavasuBarney site and this site. Unfortunately all the hard work was lost by the web host. It would have to be rebuilt.
Lucky? To quote my good friend Fiat 48 a few posts above. You will have the best parts fail sometimes and you will have to eat it. You may have done everything right, but no matter.
Could have been proven a dumbass by any number of reasons either beyond his control or not. Nothing disrespectful intended with the comment.
Just think about someone bold (or other terms) enough to make that type of announcement and have to live up to it in front of all of these folks.