Engine Rebuild Shop near Cobleskill, NY?

[DodgeDan]

Anyone know of a reputable shop near Cobleskill, NY that can pull and rebuild and reinstall the engine in my '39 Dodge? I'd like to have it done over the winter. So far I come up with nothing?

Dan

Edited October 24, 2012 by DodgeDan

[JerseyHarold]

Try asking the shop teachers at your local automotive high school. They might have a lead or two for you.

[greg g]

There is a shop on Rt20 west of SHaron Springs that always has a couple older cars sitting around it. If they cant do it,perhaps they can reccomend some one. Also on 145 south off Middleburg there is a place that appears to work on anything from atvs to tractors.

[wayfarer]

Check with George Asche, maybe he has someone in his list of whos who.

814-354-2621

[DodgeDan]

Folks,

I found a shop that can do the work. I am looking to have the engine pulled on my '39 Dodge sedan, rebuilt and reinstalled. Can anyone chime in with a reasonable rate would be for such a job? I just want to be sure that I do not overpay?

Dan

[greg g]

Its a time and materials deal. Completely dependent on what needs to be done and what needs to be replaced, and what machining either needs to be done or you want to be done. Do the cylinders need to be bored, does the head need to be milled, do the crank bearing journals need to be truned, need new pistons, need new timing chain and gears? You can look at Egge, Vintage power wagons, and other sites get the cost of parts, you and your machine shop should then have a conversation about what needs to be done, and also talk about what you want to be done, either to bring the engine back to operational, back to as good as new, or modified for a bit mor performance. About 8 years ago I had mine done for about 700 in parts and a like amount in labor, not including removing, building back the engine from an asembled short block and reinstalling it in the car. So the other unknown in your equation is how much work are you going to do withing the project.

[Don Coatney]

Folks,

I found a shop that can do the work. I am looking to have the engine pulled on my '39 Dodge sedan, rebuilt and reinstalled. Can anyone chime in with a reasonable rate would be for such a job? I just want to be sure that I do not overpay?

Dan

What shop did you find? How do you know they are a qualified to do your engine?

[desoto1939]

Since the egine and trans will be coming out think about these items also:

1. New Timing Chain and gears

2. New oil pump

3. New Water Distribition Tube

4. Mill the head

5. resurface Flywheel

6 New or rebuilt Presure Plate and clutch plate

7. New pilot bushing

8. New gaskets for the trans small repair kit

9.New Front Motor mount

10 New Rear upper and lower moto mounts

11. Reline the emgency brake band

12. HAve the radiator cleaned while this is out of the car

13 The engine block willbe cooked so make sure the rad is clean

14 New fuel pump

15. Rebuild the carb

16 Mill the intake/exhaust manifold, open the port for better performance

17 Replace the Heat riseor and or check it out and new bushings

18 Check the u joints on the drive shaft will the trans is out and rebuld with new kits and housing or get new drive shaft build with modern cross style ujoints.

19 Replace the brakelines and gas lines while the engine area is open and its a simple job.

20 Replace the vibration dampener

21 rebuld the starter/gen while they are off the car

22. check the dizzy for play and rebuld if necessary but replace the breaker plate assembly start fresh. New cap rotor and condensor.

23. New sparkplgs and wires and also possble vacuum advance.

24 have new oil filter line made and clean the oil filter housing and braket.

25. Consider installing an Alternator instead of the generator.

26 New Fan belt

27. New hoses and clamps

28 Shotoff values for the heater if you have one installed. Valve in the back of the block head and one on the bypass connetrer on the top of the waterpump.

29. Rewire the headlights since this now will also be exposed and also eaiser now whenthe engine is out

30 clean and degrease the engine engine compartment, clean and repaint the inner fenders.

31. Rebuild the MAster Cylinder

32 Look at the brake pedal and clutch pedal assembly check for binding and any end play.

Rich HArtung

Desoto1939@aol.com

And it can go on and on. Its according to how deep the pocketbook is and also what you are willing to try to fix yourself.

I also have a spare 39 Dodge hood if you ever need it and several NOS breaker plates for your dizzy if needed that are ready to drop in the unit.

[DodgeDan]

Thanks all for the info. The shop is quoting me $3500.00 - $5000.00 to have their machine shop rebuild the engine, depending on what they find out once it's all apart and what it ends up needing, plus another $2500.00 in labor to remove the engine and all the parts that go along with doing that and then reinstall everything. Is this pretty reasonable? I just am cautious as I do not want spend more than the car is actually worth. The shop appears to be very reputable and professional, it is Classic Restorations, I am going to visit the shop in person possibly next week to have a look at the facility and talk some details. I guess it all depends on what you yourself want and what it's worth to you yourself, and if you plan on keeping the car to enjoy for yourself or to sell.

Dan

[1940plymouth]

Sounds very expensive to me..................

[Frank Elder]

Thanks all for the info. I just am cautious as I do not want spend more than the car is actually worth. I guess it all depends on what you yourself want and what it's worth to you yourself, and if you plan on keeping the car to enjoy for yourself or to sell.

Dan

It is quite easy to get in a hole with any old car......and these do not have the resale value of gm or ford. If you are real worried about the money you should learn to do more of it yourself.......or pay to play. I wish you the best whatever your decision is.

[Young Ed]

Bring it to MN I'll get it rebuilt and put in for the 2500:) and have a good 750-1000 in my pocket. That 2500 in labor seems like quite a lot. If you use $100 an hour as just a guess thats 25hours? As far as the 3500-5000 if that includes all the external stuff like water pump carb clutch etc it might not be too bad. You'd have to find out where that will be included since they are doing the work.

[desoto1939]

SO if they charge 5000 then 2500 labor you will have $7500 in the engine and the car is a 4 doord sedan.

I would look for another engine builder. Stop into your local NAPA store to see if they can recommend a builder or machine shop.

Contact your local street rod guys to see who is doing the work for them. Any work of dissembly on your part will cut down the cost.

Sound as if you are taking to a restoration shop and not an engine guy. Keep looking.

Rich HArtung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[greg g]

Seems quite high. I would keep looking at options. Can you do any of the work yourself?? Like pulling the engine, removing the starter genny and other accesory hardware? Another suggestion would be to go over to the Cobleskill college campus and look up some professors or teaching assistance in the Agricultural Engineering program, they might be able to steer you to a shop that they are familiar with. There may be a shop that repairs ag powertrains and that suff hangs around for years, and much of it was mopar flathead powered. Also go to the parts websites and shop the parts yourself and see how much markup the shop is adding to the parts? What is their labor rate? Do they charge clock time or flat rate?

[Don Coatney]

I checked out the link to Classic Restorations. It appears that they build more high dollar V-8 street rods than anything else. The only 40's car they post is a Desoto hemi powered woody. Car looks great but it is most likely a 80-90 thousand dollar car. You have not stated what your goals are. If you want a high dollar show boat then go with them. If you want something else then look around a bit more. Linked below is a machine shop that I have done business with in the past located in West Falls, NY. They did quality work for me at a reasonable price in the early 1990's.

http://www.wfmachine.com/

[greg g]

Don, you might have forgotten how large NY state is. The shop you mentioned is 271 miles from our poster's location in or near Cobleskill, NY. I am sure if he looks around a bit more and a little further afield he will able to find a more reasonably priced alternative to a high dollar gold chainer shop.

[1940plymouth]

There is a good rebuilder located in the High Falls area. I have a good friend that used him to rebuild his engine out of a '35 Plymouth at far less than the price you were quoted up there. High Falls isn't all that far from Cobleskill.

PM me and I will give you his name and phone number if you are interested.

Bob

[DodgeDan]

Thanks again all. I too thought that was a bit high, that's why I asked. I'm not looking for a complete restoration, my car is all original right down to the paint, along with with 70 years of dents, dings and scratches, all of which have a story to tell I'm sure. It's a rolling time capsule and museum and I want to leave it that way, it has character. I just want the engine to run correct and be a dependable driver. My goal is to get it mechanically sound and dependable. Driving to and from local shows has always been an adventure, it's never left me stranded, but has been somewhat fussy at times, and felt like a B-17 limping back to England on one engine after a bombing run over Berlin, on a wing and a prayer. Ha!

Dan

[bamfordsgarage]

Dan, my final post on this thread should give you a fair idea of recent prices for engine rebuild parts and machine shop work:

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=30158&page=6&highlight=rebuild+thread

I commend you for wanting to keep the original paint, dents, dings, scratches and so on. I wish my heap still had the original paint, however the 1975 repaint looks almost like original now. If you really want to keep the time-capsule look, consider having the engine re-built but not detailed or painted — I took pains to make sure my machine and radiator shops did not tank or exterior-clean any of the components. With a few thousand miles now on the fresh engine it looks like it has never been apart. Photos below show the completed job and also the various steps required to correct the hideous appearance of new frost plugs.

I agree with the other posters about the price you were quoted — sounds 'way high, especially the remove and replace labour. Also fat chance a high-dollar rod shop would be sensitive to your time capsule dings and patina.

[Don Coatney]

Don, you might have forgotten how large NY state is. The shop you mentioned is 271 miles from our poster's location in or near Cobleskill, NY. I am sure if he looks around a bit more and a little further afield he will able to find a more reasonably priced alternative to a high dollar gold chainer shop.

You are correct Greg. But I was looking for price and quality. Not mileage.

[Bob D]

Dan, did you ever contact the shop in High Falls?