Machine Shop Prices

That looks like a 30yr. old price sheet. If you look at inflation, vs what the standard shop equipment prices and standards have changed, the cost of services has not matched
that rise. Not even close, the same with tire prices, etc., etc. . Yet everybody wants to pay what they paid in the early eighties for the same things. Then they pay $2 for a 16oz.
bottle of friggin' water at the show, $1.50 for a decent candy bar, $20 for that really cool t-shirt they just gotta have. You cannot do modern eng. work w/o modern equipment,
the same guy doing your SB just rebuilt a Furd mod eng. that takes plates and fixtures to do right,after he re-did the hyundai head,etc. The time it takes to just discuss your own
project w/you can eat up valuable time, and that goes into the productivity equation as well. Gearheads are looked at by many shops as fussy, problematic, and many times just
educated enough to cause you more headaches than it's worth. Go ahead, educate yourself, then drop 1/4 mill. on equipment(don't touch CNC), then look at the rest of your
overhead. See if YOU would do a top notch bore & hone for $175.