build strokers or buy them
I'm curious if you know what the differences in the machining operations are - what they do, how they are done, and what equipment does them? These are what goes into the rates shops charge.
That's a difference of opinion. I don't believe in girdles but you can bet your *** if I do the build it will be a perfect deck height, flat, parallel to the crank centerline, and the right finish and if it's getting a longer-than-factory-offered stroke it's getting main studs and align honed. The return on investment is longevity, performance, and economy. I'd rather get the work perfect and get another 2mpg over a life of 60K miles than say "it's only for a daily driver."
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we agree on bottom end being about $2,500 to build and what processes go into that:
torque plate bores
align hones
internally balanced assembly
i think we go apart at your $3,000 top end
$2,000 heads and $1,000 valvetrain is just not in my program
take your $2,500 shortblock and put a $500 top end on it and we have a $3,000 motor
yes, an engine is an air pump and those $500 heads will squeeze that motor like some visegrips on a pair of nuts
but again, not everyone's program is balls to the wall trying to eek out every morsel of HP of an engine
an some point the return of $$$ on HP gains is slight and very costly.
also, hourly rate of the machine shop plays a big part in this
if your rate is $95 an hour but across town it is $75 per hour
big things can be done with an extra $25 an hour
i wonder what the difference is in a $50 hot tank of a block and a $150 hot tank?