Quote:

the worth of the work performed is often times limited by what the market will bare.
some shops get close to 300 dollars to bore/hone with a plate, in another part of the country the same job can be had for about 180.00.



Yea that's true with jobs like that, .. but on a national level, ..and in the porting world, ..you should be paying for a guy with some engineering background in fluid dynamics, .. dyno experience, .. a good porter isn't a guy who grinds out a hole to make it flow a number on the bench, ..

a good cylinder head guy knows how to build a port with the proper cross section, volume, .. flow curve for the application. That same guy should know the little valve job tricks that make HP on the combo, .. should know proper flow coefficients and how to use them, etc.

If a head guy doesn't know things like the discharge coefficient, velocity profiles, mean gas velocities, runner to cylinder volume, etc. he just can't design good ports.

Good cylinder head guys are engineers, ..

Generally shop rates in the pro cylinder head world, and pro level engine builders are determined on a national market
while smaller shops and smaller porting shops who do regional work are effected more by their local market & economy.

The other thing to consider is cost of doing business.

Let's say porting shop "A" is in Northern Virginia, .. and pays VERY high rent for commercial space, .. has the latest equipment, .. flow bench, wet bench, and spends money on development.
His cost of doing business, rent, machines, electric, salary, etc. may be, say $60 per shop hour.

Local "home" porter "B" has a little shop in his back yard, .. doesn't have the latest equipment, .. and doesn't spend money on development. his cost of doing business may be say $40 per hour.

But, .. whoever you are, .. if you are in business you need to know your cost of doing business.
This plays just as much role in your rates as does any market value.

The bottom line, .. if it's a $800 bracket race port or a $3000 comp port job, .. $75 to $100 an hour for shop labor is very much in the norm, .. and for some cylinder head shops a good deal. You get what you pay for.
This is a normal rate for CnC work, ..

Now, .. I'm not trying to say I'm expensive, .. many pro shops charge more then I do, .. .. but I match the cost to the time involved in the project. I do a TON of $300 touch up work to those disappointing CnC heads on the market, and a fair amount of $800 bracket race full ports, .. .. it's not all gravy. ;-)

Curtis