Got a quote from a shop (need some help in the NOVA area)
 

I went to AMS in Maryland (very good shop, my freinds are very happy with the work there) and I asked for a quote on my miata for motor rebuild and turbo reuild. it includes pistons, rods, arp hardware, gasket kit, engine bearing, and machine work for the block as for the turbo it would be rebuild and balance. This includes a clutch and tuning of my megasquirt, all this came out to $5578.70. i was wondering if anyone in the area would know of another shop that could give me a better quote.

what pistons and rods? what clutch?

I'd send the turbo out to Blaast or something on it's own.

The price isn't horrible, but that depends if this is just a refresh or if there is machine work involved.

the quote didn't include what brand parts as a matter of fact i don't think it includes a clutch in there here's the break down

engine rebuilt (22 hours) 1870
pistons, rods, arp hardware, gaskit kit 1825
rebuilt turbo and balance 700
test and tune 350
block has machine work 400
engine bearings 200

http://flyinmiata.com/index.php?dept...umber=04-01000

you can always use that as your baseline. probably wont find better quality but you also shouldn't pay more than that. And I doubt they're doing all the performance upgrades FM would be doing standard.

The rebuilt turbo shouldn't be 700. You can get a new turbo for that.

You can rebuild your own turbo in less than an hour or two if you have no idea what you're doing. Kits are less than $100 and there are how-to's on the forum. You can then send it out to be balanced if you wanted.

NV, you're not including any specifics man. How about telling us what brand names and model numbers of the parts you're buying. New genreic Topline pistons are about $40 each... while new Wiseco's can be $140 each. What kind of turbo is it? Specifically what ARP hardware? Does that also include any work done to the head?

$700 is absolutely absurd for a turbo rebuild/balance... even for a BB turbo. You can buy a brand new T3 for that.

At face value, it seems like way too much unless every single part is completely top-of-the-line and you're taking it to some famous guy who charges a shit-ton of money for his famous name.

Here's what I discovered a couple months ago when I priced a mild build:
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15045

Your guy wants $1870 for what my guy wanted $400 for.
I simply can't believe it would take a pro 22hrs to assemble a 4cyl motor.
Post #53 should peak your interest.

thanks for the information i'll take a look at it today or tomorrow (it's a long thread). as far as what kind of parts will be used, the guy was not specific at all about what kind of parts just said "good parts". thanks again for the information will run VERY USEFUL.

That price is reasonable for labor.... the hardware prices are a bit obscene though. Buy the hardware yourself, and rebuild the turbo for much cheaper.

Your shopping list should look like this:

Wiseco (or supertech I guess) Pistons (Raceeng.com) 430.00
ARP Studs - 80-100
Cat Rods (if they are even made anymore) 350
Head Gasket (95.00)

Can also talk to RP Performance @ summit point. Good work, but shit it takes a long time :)

exactly, wisecos and etdracing.com rods comes out to something like $830. hell, even Pauter rods would be a $1109 combo, Carrillo H-beams $1299.

I promise, no gasket kit and ARP studs costs $1000.

I'm sure they are getting OEM parts from the dealer plus making money off the parts.

$1800 in labor on that motor is fucking ridiculous. I paid $1100 for labor on my machine work and assembly with extra shit like tapping the pan twice, cleaning up the casting in the head, and a extra low balance.

Prices on hardware are fucking absurd too. $200 for bearings is equally stupid (I paid $80 for Mahle bearings for the complete motor, through the machinist).

I say find a less expensive shop.

Ding.. 700 dollars.. wiseco pistons and k1 rods (look like Catco/ETD)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...spagenameZWDVW

I can do it for $5564.40. It's probably not worth the $14.30 savings to drag your stuff up to NJ.

Sounds like a shop that really doesn't want to do it, but decided if the price is right they will. So they throw out a steep price and figure they'll either scare you away or make a mint.

Frank

thanks for everyone's input. i think i'm going to buy parts individually one by one until i have everything to put together. I just would like to know of another shop that could give me a better quote and list of the parts that would be used to see what i'm getting.

The only machine shop i can recommend is Fairfax Auto Parts on Lee highway in Fairfax. Or RP Performance in WV, they dont do their own machining, so it would be the best place to drop the car off with all your parts and have them do the grunt work.

The turbo I'd do myself or send to a turbo specific shop like Blaast.

tuning, I do it myself. But I'm not sure what shops are fluent in MS around here....not like it's terribly different from any other software.

I was reading your thread and i noticed "head gasket failure. typical cause: incorrect hardware torque or overheat" and i believe the reason my miata is crapping out is because it begins to heat up more normal especially on the highway. my solution for that is most likely to get a radiator.

I'm going to start looking for these parts so i can buy them one by one. Anything else i should be looking for?

the shop i went to maryland said they can work on MS.

i'm going to start looking for kits. i'll do some research on how to do it myself but you run across it please post it. thanks

Quick question, maybe off topic:

Typically for block work, do you have the machining done first, then order pistons/rings according to the machine shop specs, or do you order the parts first and have the block machined to the parts specs?

hardware first. The only thing that changes is going to be bearings and shims for valves.

Thanks!