I've personally rebuilt a number of engines myself and dealt with a numbe=
r
of machine shops, but something doesn't jive here.
First of all if your mechanic pulled the engine and dropped it off at the=
shop for a rebuild then your bill should be itemized by service.
For example:
Disassembly - $xxx
Hot tanking/cleaning of block - $xxx
Rebore/hone/fit pistons into block - $xxx
Grind crank - $xxx
Rebuild cylinder head $xxx flat rate plus parts
parts required for cylinder head
springs - $xxx
valves - $xxx
etc
Magniflux (crack check) block $xxx
Alignbore crank -$xxx
Recondition con rods - $xxx Check for round, correct if necessary, etc
Replace Cam bearing - $xxx
Reassemble engine - $xxx
In a number of the items labor is included, such as the head rebuild
portion, labor is ussually broken out whenever it is not
included in a certain service. Such as Reassemble engine, etc.
You should be able to see a bill such as this. Compare the costs to othe=
r
local machine shops. If they are out of line, tell them that Jack's
machine shop is half what they are, etc. Now you have a basis for
logically complaining and convincing them to fall into line. If they did=
more than you authorized, then beat them up on that. If they are inline
price wise and did what you asked them to do, but the price was higher th=
en
you are in trouble. There was a miscommunication that you will probably
have to pay for. I've found that simply complaining about price usually
gets me nowhere, break it down and find out what went wrong. =
Personally, I tell a machine shop exactly what I expect service wise befo=
re
it is done, and tell them to write it up that way and my drop off receipt=
=2E =
If they find other problems along the way I expect to hear about the
problem before they start fixing more than I'w willing to pay for. For
instance, if they reground the crank without your authorization and didn'=
t
tell you about it before hand, shame on them. Then again if you dropped=
if off and said fix it and they did, you have a bill to pay. =
Regarding a $1600 bill for parts and labor, I could drop off a dime a doz=
en
350 Chevy V8 and ring up a bill for $1600, just by saying fix everything
you need to so it is better than new, and put in the best parts. Foreign=
parts are also much more expensive than domestic parts also. A chevy 350=
piston might be $15 while a Alfa Romeo piston might be $100 or more easy.=
Good Luck,
Dave
===
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