a total overhaul on my Cleveland with dyno cost me over 5000$ i think the final price was about 5100$, i was quoted 3800$ to start the rebuild.
i can find my receipt and lay out what the guy charged me however it may not be accurate because i fought with the guy after the fact for the receipt for the work he did.
regardless of how crazy people think it was to pay that. My situation just lent itself to it.
The only reason i pushed forward with it was it turned out my block was matching numbers.
Had i pulled the engine and discovered it was a replacement block, i would of dropped 2500$ on a 351w Crate engine and called it a day. I went back and forth on the decision so many times. In the end the Vin matched and i wanted a Cleveland under the hood.
what really started to jack the price up from the quote was the cylinder wall damage and finding a lot of things done incorrectly.
originally when i pulled the engine i was hoping the problem was just on the top end i figured just have the heads redone for under 2000$ and i will be good to go.
then i get the news that the bearings are shot, the crank needed to be turned, the engine was .30 over done wrong, might have to go .60 over, the engine needed to be planed things were warped. This engine was lucky to make 10HG vacuum when i had it running at the best of times. so my under 2000$ dreams became a 3800$ to start rebuild, as more problems came up it jumped to a 4800$ estimate. the time line went from 4 weeks to 6 months also. then i got the final bill for around 5100$ and man was i pissed.
In retrospect i should NOT of used my builder, he was the friend of a friend, had no written all over it. i had issues with the engine after i got it back it took me another 6 months to fix it myself since my verbal warranty on the work done turned into sit and spin.
make sure the guy is willing to put it all in writing. make sure you get a completion date in writing. get quotes from different people.
I didn't do it that way because i felt i was in a friend's hands, fool me once shame on me.
For my area of the country $3800 is low. after my little adventure i asked around some other places and got quotes more in the 4500 range that made more sense.
This is why a lot of guys try to rebuild the engine themselves and save about 2000$.
my advice take the quote he gave you, and go get at least 3 other quotes from different shops, ask them about dynoing the motor, ask them about warranty , ask them if they put it all in writing. then ask around the car community about their reputation.
my guy was suppose to be one of the best his name always came back as good, but the red flags were there, he was hard up for money and had a whole month with no work lined up and could take me right away, translation "he was a drunk, got heavy in the bottle again and let his work slide until he couldn't afford to make a house payment"
the best was 1 year later while i was still fixing his lack luster engine work he calls me and tells me he has 3 Clevelands on his shelf that customers refused to pay for and he asked me if i wanted to buy one from him and he would rebuild it, i hung up.