C3vettes

What are the typical cost to rebuild a tranny and engine to original spec?


72 matching numbers car.... Can I increase HP and maintain original look as well? All help is greatly appreciated!

birdsmith

Costs tend to vary greatly depending upon a) just how much your engine/transmission needs in terms of parts, b) whatever the prevailing labor rates happen to be in your area, and c) how much of the work you are willing/ able to do yourself.

It's not all that difficult to increase hoprsepower in a '72. raise compression, better cam, and tuning the ignition curve can easily add 75 horsepower with no loss in driveability. Say, $500 in parts if you keep stock exhaust. Add another $400-$500 if you want to go with headers and a new exhaust system.

If you can limit the cost of farmed-out work to that of a machine shop, and your engine is standard bore and doesn't need new valve guides, you could conceivably rebuild it yourself for as little as $500, with $200-$300 in transmission parts. When you start paying others to do the engine/transmission removal/ disassembly/ machine work/ rebuild/ reassembly for you, the costs go up VERY rapidly. Something as simple-sounding as an "engine and transmission rebuild" could very easily exceeed $5000-$6000. Increasing horsepower will almost necessarily require new pistons as well, which will run minimum $200 for the pistons and around $400 these days to get the holes bored and honed properly.

Again, the amount of work that you can effectively and competently do yourself is what limits the damage...

C3vettes

Thanks...I'm still assessing the "damage" I would expect one of these to fail...but facing both at the same time is just crazy. After getting some estimates I will see how much I can tackle my self... Thanks again

birdsmith

What sort of troubleshooting have you done so far, or is the car just "old and tired feeling" so that you want to go through it?

C3vettes

The tranny is slipping....fluid is clean and clear. Carb was giving me trouble so (flooding) I replaced with a rebuild Rochester quadrajet and kept the old one. It still didn't run right so I turned it over to the best mechanic I know and trust and he has raised the above concerns. I'm trying to figure out how much the normal cost would be and if I should get some more horsepower out of the deal. The car has no power even if you floor it...he thinks it's a flat spot on the cam. Hes still looking at it to see if it could be something else. Thanks for your responses. The Car shows only 43k on the clock. From what I know this is correct...even the turn signal and ashtray etc. are tight and do not show much wear. ( not that that means anything but if it was 143k I would think much more wear and tear would be present)

birdsmith

So it sounds like you have what is a pretty decent car with some neglect-related mechanical issues. I didn't see from your avatar where you're located, but I have a reasonably solid TH400 that came out of my '70 six years ago...I might consider parting with it for a song.

Hopefully, your mechanic is honest and he'll give you good information, but there is a sequence of troubleshooting that ought to be followed if you're trying to diagnose exactly what your car's mechanical problems are.

I'm a little busy working right now, but I'll get back to you later today with some specifics so at least you will know exactly what to tell him to look for...others may chime in beforehand (hint/bump)...