5.9 Magnum Machine Shop Quotes....thoughts?

[Dynamo]

I just went through this same build this year and cannot find the receipt from the machine shop but it was between 500 to 600 but cost may vary in different parts of this country. All that was done was clean & inspect block, freeze plugs, cam bearings & boring the cylinders. I assembled everything myself. First thing to make sure of is are the heads good. Both heads on my 95 360 were cracked & they are prone to crack from all the research I did. I ended up biting my fist & getting Edelbrock aluminum. Different heads may call for different pistons. The .030 over pistons I ordered were not available at the time & ended up going with .040 over to get compression ratio to what I needed & the machinist would not bore without pistons in hand. That may have made a big difference since I only had to adjust the gap in I think 1 ring & it was very minor. As for stoker clearance I touched 1 place that was probably ok I just wanted to make sure.
GOOD LUCK

[kawahonda]

Thanks! Something tells me that my upcoming quote will be more in line to what you paid...

I will be using ported Engine Quest CH318B heads w/ LA bolt profile, so no worry about reusing the crack-prone ones!

Yea, it's probably likely to get the .030" overbore to save on costs....I doubt the block will "need" it but I think my engine builder may have some ideas on that if it's not needed.

I feel bad for putting my exhaust manifolds on this build, but then again, it should look really good!

[tparker]

For basically the same work I was quoted about $1200. Of course that was a rough estimate over the phone and it all depends.

cleaing, flux, cam bearings, plugs, prep for assembly 250-350
bore and honing  250-300
mill deck             150-250
line hone            150-250
something else    $150

I'm looking at the $416 stroker kit, but I didn't ask about that. But that comes a few dollars cheaper, but in the same ball park as your quote

[kawahonda]

The shop that has my block quoted me $1,010 for the same work as the first shop. That's nearly $700 cheaper. That includes short block assembly, and assuming no clearance is needed.

[kawahonda]

Well, to end this thread, I went with the cheaper option ($1056 vs $1865).

I was left with two hardships.

1) They bored out one cylinder too far to .040". Luckily I have friends and a new block was donated (and the old block was machined to .040" all around and my friend gladly accepted that).

2) They installed pistons backwards, which is a complete boner move.

After it's all said and done, I did save money, but I would recommend using your intuition. If they sound busy and don't want to sit down and really talk with you about your needs, leave. If they don't seem well organized, leave. If they don't seem to know their shit, leave.

The cheaper shop I went with has made things right every step of the way and I do like them a lot, but sometimes, the savings isn't worth it. The cheaper shop has been in business for nearly 100 years which is impressive. They are cool dudes. But screwing up twice on one job does raise read flags. Finally ready to get going again.

[JS29]

They did screw up, but they fixed it, and in a timely manner. That speaks volumes for there ca-rector. 

[usraptor]

How do you bore 7 cylinders .030 over and one .040 over?  And then they installed  the pistons backwards??        Glad they made it right but I hope that is the only mistakes they made and you don't find more when you fire it up.   Like you said, a cheaper price doesn't mean equal work.  Run and go with the reputable shop even if they are a few dollars more.  Who was it that said you get what you pay for???