308 GTSi Rebuild motor %2424K

Jedlick,
I would go to the dealer and take the car from them and say SEE YA!
They sound like a bunch of clowns. How is your engine bad? Did they run it without oil? Did they snap a drive belt during the smog test? How did they say it ran? Is it knocking?

Why anyone uses dealers for service anymore I am not sure. It is important to remember that the guy who is writing the ticket gets a percentage the mechanic gets a percentage and obviously so does the fancy dealership.. I currently am driving at 1980 308GTSi at least 3 days a week putting over 15,000 miles on it in last 2.5 yrs with minimal problems. When I purchased it for 24500 everything was original and it needed what a call a rerubbering.. What I mean by this is that the belts gaskets etc had to be changes out since car was 20 yrs old with 35,000 mile and is an AZ car thus sufferred from the dry heat. The mechanic I have in AZ did all the service for approx 2500 and since that time I have only spent another 1500. It maybe worth seeking out a private non dealer mechanic.

T Rutlands will sell you a fully rebuilt longblock on exchange for $7,500.00. Supposedly the guy here in Atlanta who rebuilds them has done a ton, really has it down and does a quality job. I imagine if you need to have someone else pull the old motor, install the new and get it all running well your looking at the $10K-$12K that has been mentioned... but if your at all handy with a wrench this, DIY could be a viable option.

$24K is a total joke! You get build a dry sump race motor for less than that.

I struggle with this cost at even $7500. If you were to do this yourself and just do a stock rebuild where are all of the costs? Do we assume that you need new pistons and sleeves and so on? Doese someone have a price list breakdown that lists the overall parts. I usually do Chev. SM/BB motors for around $2000 complete. Now I know you have the Fcar $ difference but still $5k's worth.

Steve,

With all due respect, we're in a whole different league here...You're talking a mass produced vehicle versus a limited production import.

From a labor point of view, a typical Ferrari engine overhaul will take approximately 33% more time than your run of the mill Chevy. Most of that additional labor will be in setting up the heads and dialing in the cam timing. Machine shop costs may be higher as well. More valves, alu heads...and valve guide are likely a replacement item.

Depending on numerous factors, the pistons/liners may or may not need to be replaced. If they need replacement, figure on $150 minimum per hole, on average.

Gaskets, bearings, etc. are significantly more expensive than just about any car out there...

Is all this "worth the difference"....
Hmmm?? Chevy engine at speed versus a Ferrari V-8. Only you can be the ultimate judge on this point.

Regards,
David

David not a problem . I've rebuilt Chevy and Jaguar V-12 with Aluim heads. Valves and seats and guides are no different in a V-12 Jag as they are in the 308. So even at $1200 for pistons and liners I'm still puzzled on the big $'s . I don't mind the labor and maybe in another 10 years I'll be doing my 308 but I still find it hard to believe that I'll pay more then $4000 for parts. Just asking , after all a motor is a motor is a motor and all it is made up of is parts and tolerances.

Having done quite a few , start to finish, pull car in, pull engine, completely rebuild, close hood for customer to drive off with a nice 1-2 yr warranty is easily 100 man hours of labor....X your favorite labor rate number.

I'll tell you in advance that in Houston alone no less than 20 hotshots thought they could low ball me out of business in the last 20 yrs. Nationwide no telling, probably in the thousands. And if you factor in that I'm at least 25% cheaper than the dealer...but refuse to give quality away at fly by night shop prices ...well.

The best lesson one might learn when trying to beat the system with Ferrari or Lamborghini is that there is definately a point of dimishing return when trying to price at the lowest common denominator.

Regards, JRV

LJedlick,

Blackhorse did a PPI on a car I was looking at for $300. Did a very through job IMO and provided me with good info. on the car, etc.

Several on f-chat think highly of them.

Carl and Steve are the head guys there and I talked with both and they seemed to know their stuff.

Just FYI, FoBH waned $900 to do the same PPI that Blackhorse did.

Hell, you could ship it to JRV and have him build a high compression/camm'd motor and really have some HP for less than $24k !!