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Engine assembly labor and machine shop labor are two different animals.One relys on precision machine work that sometimes take a lot of setup and check/recheck time,assembly and engine build time should be pretty much basic,checking the clearences and fit and putting everything together correctly.Based on the amont of machine work needed a estimate of cost can be established and quoted within reasonable+- dollars and the same with the assembly or build.The customer shouldn't have to pay for dead time or problem solving issues that arise.I personally would never have work done based on an hourly shop time,if someone is charging by time and materials in any industry someone is getting screwed.I can understand that if someone brings a job in that will only take a few hours then it would be appropiate to charge a flat hourly rate since it is taking you away from shop productive time.Both partys should have a clear understanding of the the cost before entering into an agreement and if something unexpected comes up discuss it and come to terms as how to proceed.Too many times when the job is done and the cost is over the agreed amont it's too late salvage a relationship and both partys feel cheated.With this economy any good customer and business relationship is important to maintain.

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Engine assembly labor and machine shop labor are two different animals.One relys on precision machine work that sometimes take a lot of setup and check/recheck time,assembly and engine build time should be pretty much basic,checking the clearences and fit and putting everything together correctly.Based on the amont of machine work needed a estimate of cost can be established and quoted within reasonable+- dollars and the same with the assembly or build.The customer shouldn't have to pay for dead time or problem solving issues that arise.I personally would never have work done based on an hourly shop time,if someone is charging by time and materials in any industry someone is getting screwed.I can understand that if someone brings a job in that will only take a few hours then it would be appropiate to charge a flat hourly rate since it is taking you away from shop productive time.Both partys should have a clear understanding of the the cost before entering into an agreement and if something unexpected comes up discuss it and come to terms as how to proceed.Too many times when the job is done and the cost is over the agreed amont it's too late salvage a relationship and both partys feel cheated.With this economy any good customer and business relationship is important to maintain.

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i agree with some of what your saying here. one of the problems that can come up is when a customer brings in his own parts and drops them off, you don't really know all that might need to be done in order to be assembled correctly with the right clearances, etc. to find that out, the "assembler/ machinist" will need to spend some time measuring and mocking up those parts first. time is money.
if you have two different rates for engine assembly and engine machining, i would only ask why? basically your saying your time is worth either more, or less, depending on the job your doing. both are very detail oriented jobs when done properly and both take time. most machine shops know how much per billable hour they need to charge in order to be profitable. of course if the "assembler" is just farming out the machine work, rather than doing it in house, that's another story altogether since he'll be doing other work in his shop while someone down the road does the machining.
i do agree that communication is the key to success. without that, your customer can feel isolated, confused, irritated, etc. etc. when all is said and done.
the reality is that most parts out of the box simply don't fit the way they were intended to and require extra work.
all i can tell you is this, in my shop, if we supply the parts generally very little if any extra work is needed. if a customer buys/ supplies a bunch of low end budget parts, alll bets are off.
Bob, i know you've seen that type of stuff first hand and know just how bad some parts can be.

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Dan,
Your right when it comes to a customer bringing parts especially if he has purchased them from different sources and even after someone else may have butchered them.That's when it's is most important to set down and explain to the customer the issues and the cost to correct everything.I've seen a lot of stuff purchased from E-bay and Racingjunk that is garbage to work with and a lot of wrong combo of parts that just won't work.

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You had a full meltdown explosion on here a few years back over engine labor costs. It was pretty funny.

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you obviously have me mixed up with somebody else.
do a search and find it...

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You used to go by "Dram", correct?

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what a way to muck up a thread.
yes, i went by dram until this site got hacked some time ago. i'm waiting to see the "full meltdown explosion " your referring to.

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Well, it's already starting again. Thanks for the bench racing fodder. We already got a good laugh out of you last time. The only thing mucking anything up is you and your attitude.

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That has to be the stupidest comment I have ever read "Doc". Try running a business sometime. You haven't a clue...

Pat

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You-dirty-Pat ! .... WHO RATtled your cage? And how many businesses have you run? ... I ran a fiberglass business - quite successfully I might add .. for well over 20 years. And I have been involved with several in a VC way.

How about YOU ? .... flip burgers much ?