Hot Rods How long is it reasonable to wait for an engine build?

I hope you have all the major hard parts like pistons for you build. If custom pistons are going to be used, the wait times have gone upward of 6 months.

 

My last two engine builds (by two different shops) took one month. That included boring blocks, align boring the mains, turning cranks, balancing and blueprinting, plus heads for one, but not the second one.
I've always asked when dropping engines or heads off what the time frame would be, and always been told 2-4 weeks, and they were good for that time frame. But if you don't ask when you drop it off then they have an open time frame and no schedule to meet.

 

This has been a real fun thread to read, makes me happy to do business with the local farmers. Most of my accounts are AG related, they drop the work off, I do it, they pay when they receive their statement. No worries. I still build engines for guys with Hot Rods and cl***ics but you need to be patient, and I will tell you up front. Your Hot Rod/Custom (or other) is a toy, farmers and industrial customers are making a living and feeding America. I am constantly putting people off "give me a call in a couple months and then you can bring it in" I tell them. Some call back, some don't. Once you get your foot in the door and give me a deposit I do my best to get your engine out at least within 6 months. If you are in a hurry for an event, let me know, I'll work with you. When it comes to 350 SBCs or 302 Fords I will most likely show you a Summit catalog, there are some good "crate motors" out there and you can get them quickly. The absolute worst thing to tell me is "take your time, I'm in no hurry" If you're not, I wont be. I've read on here many times about shops that take deposits, stack up jobs then take many years to finish. If at all. I don't want to have any more than six engine projects going at one time. It's not good for me and it's not fair to the customer. After saying all this I can tell you the longest I've had an engine project here at the shop was 11 months, and that was because of a parts availability problem. I do have a couple that have been sitting here for years but that is because of lack of interest from the customer or no deposit. Those people I have told "let me know when you are serious, and I will get on it" It's a tough business to be in, parts quality is down and the price of everything is up (you should see my electric bill) I remember when I first got into the trade you could buy a 350 SBC, 302 SBF or a 318 Mopar long block for $399. Those days are gone! If you want a 350 from me you are looking at $3500, If you want a complete Y-Block you are going to pay a minimum of $5000. I understand why people don't want to pay that, what I don't understand is why more guys don't just learn to do ***embly themselves. I can get the basic machine work done much quicker than ***embling a complete engine. You get it sooner, you can have more pride in your project and you save a lot of money.

I've rambled on enough, these are just my opinions. I guess the simple answer to the original question "What is a reasonable time?" whatever you and the shop agreed on in the beginning. Always ask how long it will take. When the time is up and nothing has been done, go get it and take it somewhere else.

 

That’s it in nut shell. ***embly is time consuming. Maybe guys should just get machine work done, and ask guys at local car club etc to help with ***embly. I do my own ***embly work however if and when I get I flat head I’ll need some expert help.
Dan

 

The next project going to my machine shop is also a 292, and I was told a year wait before bringing it in. I do my own ***embly work, but do carry the block, crank, and head(s) in for inspection/sizing. That way I can order the parts I need ahead of time. My shop is fine with that, but some aren't. I hope for your buddy they make good on the "trashed" crank if their fault. 292 cranks (especially early) take a little searching to find one, but they are out there.

 

This is exactly what I was getting at, surviving on the odd “hot rod” engine is not going to be a profitable business venture, nor is bumping an industrial customer to work on a small job.