340 Rebuild road block!

[Gmoff22]

Hey everyone, been a while since I have posted anything on here......having 3 kids since the purchase of my "project" will do that I guess!  I have been working on and off with my car since I got it, never ran real well but not from lack of effort.  I finally had enough and yanked the drive train out and shipped it off for a rebuild.  Come to find out that the "rebuild" the motor got before I brought the car was garbage....weird.  I was looking to rebuild and hoping to get 400-450 HP out of her once complete; not stuck on thiose numbers in any way.  Well the tear down and stripping/cleaning cost me $2000 and then he told me the machining was going to be another $2500, after that it would be another ~$6000 to get the engine back together and dynoed out.  I'm no rocket surgeon but that's $10500 for a pretty modest rebuild I think.  I told him forget it, all stop, give it back.  I'm a working stiff with 3 young kids......divorces are really expensive and after spending $10,500 on a motor that is exactly what my wife will give me! 
Basically I'm looking for opinions from the gallery on what I should do now.  If these numbers sound about right I think the Challenger might be be moving down the road as is.  I'm considering getting it machined locally (Pensacola, FL) and attempting to build it myself.....only 1 way to learn right?  Also considered going crate and ditching the 340....it is a numbers matching car though and seems like a sin to do that.  Honestly I'm looking for any insight, this is my first project like this but I brought this car 3 weeks before my son was born and hoped that one day he would drive it. 

Thanks for your time,
G-

[blown motor]

If it's numbers matching then rebuild it. It will help the value of the car. Had mine torn down, machined and rebuilt with new crank, rods, pistons, etc for 6700 including machining and balancing. Paid the mechanic cash for tear down and re-assembly so that helped. That was in Ontario two years ago. If money is tight proceed as you can afford it. Your son won't be driving for a while. You've got time.

[roadman5312]

Tear down, stripping, cleaning $2000.00   

[onebadfish]

It ain't cheap - but you could save money by stripping to the bare block yourself and then take it in for machining. Then they can tell you whether it needs to be oversized or not. I would have a reputable machine shop put together the bottom end - fit pistons and rings then go the rest by yourself.

[cudabob496]

I don't think numbers matching is that big of a deal, to spend
a lot more money. More important to drive the car and have fun.

But, seems you could find a good mechanic to do the whole thing for
a lot less. Just need to search around more. Pulling and re-installing the engine yourself is pretty easy.
If I can do it, then most anyone can.  Drop it off at the mechanic, and pick it up later.

If no mechanic around, then crate would be the way to go.
Rebuilding a short block yourself could be risky. Don't want to
see thousands of dollars go up in smoke.

[Gmoff22]

The motor has been stripped and cleaned, it was at the machine shop when I was hit with the ~$9000 to finsh.  At that point I told him to stop.  I was hoping I could get the machining and bottom end done more resonably down here and then move on piece by piece as I can.  The biggest reason I waved him off is because I won't have $9000 in the next 3-4 months for a toy.  My hope is that after the "hard stuff" (machine work and lower end) I could buy the pieces when my boss allows and turn the wrenches myself.  As Blown Motor stated its gonna be a while before my boy is driving, he's 5. 

If I'm dreaming let me know. 

G-

[cudabob496]

The motor has been stripped and cleaned, it was at the machine shop when I was hit with the ~$9000 to finsh.  At that point I told him to stop.  I was hoping I could get the machining and bottom end done more resonably down here and then move on piece by piece as I can.  The biggest reason I waved him off is because I won't have $9000 in the next 3-4 months for a toy.  My hope is that after the "hard stuff" (machine work and lower end) I could buy the pieces when my boss allows and turn the wrenches myself.  As Blown Motor stated its gonna be a while before my boy is driving, he's 5. 

If I'm dreaming let me know. 

G-

$9000 seems like a ripoff

[anlauto]

I just had my AAR's 340 rebuilt. Now mind you it is considered to be a "stock" rebuild. They bored it over .030, new pistons, cam, lifters, push rods, oil pump, timing chain, gears, went though the heads, new guides/seats, exhaust valves, etc...etc...

Total cost: from rusty/cruddy long block to fresh assembled long block $2802.40 CDN That's ALL tear down/cleaning, ALL machine work, ALL internal parts and ALL labour.

Here's what it looked like when they were finished.

[HP_Cuda]

Depending on the parts you want to use and how crazy you want to get with machining, you should be able to get away with about a 5k budget.

If someone said they wanted 2k for a breakdown and cleaning I'd tell them to pound sand.

You need to find a better machinist and also learn to build the motor up from a short block. That will save you some $$$

[7212Mopar]

$9k for machine work is just outrageous. I think you can buy an expertly built roller stroked 340 rated close to 500 HP completely done and dyno a little above that price.

[onebadfish]

How much to restore the carbs Allen?

[anlauto]

How much to restore the carbs Allen?

Scott Smith Harms did them, I believe he charges $799 ?

[jimynick]

About a nearly a year ago, I had a 68 340 block tanked, honed .040, one sleeve installed, align honed, frost plugs and cam bearings installed with new stock style pistons/pins/moly 5/64ths rings, rod and main brgs and a turned .010 steel crank done for $1600 including the 13% taxes. The guy you're describing is, shall we say, trying to "know" you, in a biblical fashion! There are several rebuilders selling long block, 350+hp 340's for less than $5-6000, so take your time, look around and keep your hand over your ring! Good luck 

[Gmoff22]

anlauto....all that for ~$2500 US, holy shnikes that's awesome. 

I was thinking when I went into this project...worst case ~$6000 from my hunk a metal to a dynoed finished product.  He hit me with the $2000 breakdown, stripping, and extra cleaning plus "some parts" after it was done so I was stuck there.  Then he said it would be $8000-9000 for the motor.  I figured minus $2K already spent looking at $6-7K on the motor, a little high but not crazy.....NOPE that was not including the $2K I gave him already and the machine work was going to be $2500 of the $8-9K remaining bill.  So as I was about to be $4500 in the hole before the motor even started to be built with another ~$6500 to go.....I was out like a fat kid in dodge ball and was writing my craigslist post to sell it!

HP_Cuda, that is exactly where I am at, about $5K and doing as much of it myself that I can.

jimynick...yeah I think you're right, the reason why I sent the motor there was because of the big F word....Family, he's married to my dad's cousin.  Oh well, live and learn. 

Hopefully I will get it back and find a good shop local to get me headed in the right direction.  I appreciate everyone's feedback, reassurance that I'm not crazy and that all is not lost on this project.  I've been sick over this mess for about a month now.  Now to break my wife's heart and tell her I'm not selling the car.

[anlauto]

anlauto....all that for ~$2500 US, holy shnikes that's awesome. 

The shop I use is not one of these high faluting "speed shops", we've got plenty of those in my area. I actually drive about an hour way because I found one of those shops that recondition new heads and blocks all day long for NEW cars....The place where your local mechanic would send your Nissan head if you blew a gasket.

HOWEVER this place is all old timers, all old school Hot Rod type guys and a couple of die hard Mopar guys....When I show up with a 340 or 440 their eyes light up like a fat kid on a doughnut...I know they're taking extra care and paying extra attention to my stuff, and they never try the "up-sell" like so many other shops....
Can't say enough good things about them.

They don't have the ability to dyno them on location though....which I don't really care anyways...