engine rebuild cost

[B5charger]

Thinking of having my 71 318 rebuilt.  It's still running ok but is really tired (190K).  There's nothing majorly wrong with it.  Not burning oil, compression about 115-125 across the board.  I want to keep it original.  Just trying to get a feeling for how much roughly it would cost to have it "warmed up".  I live just north east of Toronto, so Canadian prices are in effect.  THX

[71383bee]

Well...you really need to define "warmed up". 

Is there a specific  hp/tq # your after?  A 1/4 mile time, etc.  It all heavily affects how much your going to spend. 

I redid a light mild build on a 318 a couple of years ago for a satellite.  I used a slightly bigger cam, reman heads from one of the local chains, and swapped on a 72 340 intake and rebuilt TQ.  It was a very nice little engine and had a bit more grunt.  All in all I think the total build was done for around $1,800 and a good part of that was parts (340 intake, air cleaner, and rebuilt TQ mainly).  It needed some machine work, but nothing to radical or out of the ordinary.  A small overbore and new pistons really.  I designed the car to run on 87 and it was fine.  No problems. 

We eventually swapped it back to the 2 bbl becasue the TQ did what TQ's do too often, but it still was a very reliable motor. 

I guess the biggest question for you would be whether or not you want to go to a 4 BBl.  To do it nice its pretty easy you just need some 340 or 360 parts and everything else bolts right in (intake, carb, and air cleaner).  I used a correct 4 Bbl throttle cable IIRC other than that nothing major was changed. 

I went from this...


To this...

[B5charger]

Since I have a 904 with a 8 1/4 rear end, I'm not looking for anything radical.  About the most I'd have done is put on an Eddy intake and maybe 500-600cfm carb, since my original is a 2 barrel Carter.  A slightly hotter cam and then headers with dual exhaust in the future.  All I'm thinking about now though is the rough cost of having the engine 'mildly built'.

[Challenger340]

IMO
Depends where you go, typically you get what you are paying for ?

No such thing IMO, in the Engine Business, as a "something for nothing".

TIME, is MONEY, and good things happen for Those, both in terms of Quality & Final Product.

Find a GOOD Local Shop with an equally good reputation, thats been around awhile, and has references.