About 3 months ago I agreed to rebuild an engine in a '93 F-250. Of course, 7.3L IDI with an automatic. No problem. In and out piece of cake right? .........
with dollar signs in my eyes.
Not so fast.....
I just got it running tonight; about 3 hours ago to be exact. As it turns out, I broke even. I spent COUNTLESS hours on it and I'm not getting any money for my labor. The original engine dropped an intake valve and needed a complete overhaul (cracked pistons and pre-chamber cups) along with new hardware in the heads.
I ended up getting a remanufactured 7.3L after the original sat at the machine shop for 2 months.
Why is it that someone who has done COUNTLESS engine replacements and rebuilds all of a sudden loses his shirt on a "simple" job.
Enter: Gale Banks Engineering Sidewinder Turbocharger
Don't EVER agree to replace an engine in one of these that has been equipped with a Banks turbocharger. It added about 8 hours worth of work by FIGHTING EVERYTHING I had to do to go in and out with this engine.
UGH. Now I have to add some transmission fluid but have to wait until tomorrow when I can borrow a funnel from work that's long enough to reach the dipstick tube (again, turbocharger interference
) and reinstall the hood.
All of this grief from something that adds a minimal amount of performance.
I just hope the guy doesn't flip when I give him his invoice for $5000 (which I initially told him it would cost) PLUS the $450 in labor.
I learned my lesson....no more big jobs at home. It's so flippin' hard to get the motivation to work on that garbage when I've been doing it all day at work.