Need advice about what high $$ bill from shop - Honda Prelude Forum

madpriest · 10-13-2006, 05:16 PM

Car is '93 Si (was H23/H22 hybrid)

Basically I had a H23 with a VTEC head..etc..and my timing belt broke on me while driving, bent some valves so I decided just to switch back to a full H23/Si.
Theres a loonnngg ordeal about all this but just to keep it really simple:

I bought the Si Head, Headers and Intake Manifold.
As far as I know this is what all they have done is:

-Change Timing belt and waterpump, various seals I'm sure.
-Removed old VTEC head and put Si head on
-Removed old Intake Manifold and put new one on
-Removed old headers and put new si one on
-Replaced some sort of pipe with the block (other didn't match up?)
-Various figuring out things, getting wrong parts, sending parts back and getting correct parts/hoses who knows what else
-I'm Paying them for water pump, timing belt, seals, hoses..etc..

Now ages later, they are supposedly going to be done Monday or Tuesday and he told me over phone they figured it to be around $2000 with labor..etc... which is way higher than I expected. I'm sure it is a lot of work but not sure how much, putting manifold, headers and head on doesn't sound really that complicated and time consuming to me but maybe it all is.
So before I cause any problems and say anything about it I'd like to get more info. I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this $2000 price tag to get my car back.

thepreludedude · 10-13-2006, 05:42 PM

was this a dealer? when i had the water pump/tensioner/timing belt/other belts done (partly) under extended warranty from the dealer the total was around $1300.

SNsLude · 10-13-2006, 07:05 PM

damn that is quite a bit. I was charged around $800 for swapping an h23 > jdm h22, h23 conversion for dizzy, h23 manual tensioner conversion, put on hondata gasket, replace all seals and replace timing belt + water pump, full inspection of the tranny that came with the motor, and change out passenger side axel. Motor was around 2k... so $2800 total for all that labor plus the motor itself to give you an idea what I was charged.

Artifex · 10-14-2006, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madpriest

Now ages later, they are supposedly going to be done Monday or Tuesday and he told me over phone they figured it to be around $2000 with labor..etc... which is way higher than I expected. I'm sure it is a lot of work but not sure how much, putting manifold, headers and head on doesn't sound really that complicated and time consuming to me but maybe it all is.
So before I cause any problems and say anything about it I'd like to get more info. I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this $2000 price tag to get my car back.

The problem here is the shop hourly rate. Mechanics are going to charge you a fixed hourly rate for labor. If they screw up and it takes them an extra 20 hours, they will charge you for it (even though it's their incompetence). Make sure you find out how many actual hours they spent on the job. However, it sounds like you are going to get left holding the bag on this one.

This is why engine swaps should never be done by a shop. They will always overcharge you, and many times they suck as swaps to begin with.

sean1121 · 10-14-2006, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artifex

This is why engine swaps should never be done by a shop. They will always overcharge you, and many times they suck as swaps to begin with.

Couldn't agree more. That, and when you do it yourself you know whats been done. When someone else does it you have no idea if they halfassed it or not.

marcucci · 10-15-2006, 08:47 PM

That is a VERY reasonable price for the work done. Keep in mind that you brought a complete bastard of a vehicle that they may not have had a lot of experience with, and asked them to bastardize it (or un-bastardize it?) further. This was by no means a standard job for them, I'm sure.