I'm in the middle of repowering my 1987 33' Cruisers Esprit with reman. 454 cu. in. engines to replace my original raw water cooled '87 454 Crusaders. The stbd. engine bought the farm at 1,100 hours--you guessed it, raw water in the cylinders and it wasn't from the exhaust. I decided to replace both engines while I was at it.
Here's a summary of where I'm at: I bought engines (remanufactured long blocks) and paid to have them "dyno" tested from Marine Engines Inc (Hollistan, MA) along with all exhaust parts (manifolds, risers, elbows and mounting kits) plus fresh water cooling kits to convert from raw water to fresh water cooled. The fwc kits are full system kits. [I talked to George about the exhaust parts and boatfix could not compete on price for those OSCO exhaust parts. I was hoping to go with boatfix (CoolCraft) on FWC kits @ $705 ea., but it turns out they were mounted on the front and there is a clearance problem so I had to go with Crusader fwc kits at $1,100ea. that mount on the rear.] So far, I'm $10k into the process with engines, exhaust parts, and FWC kits.
My question is about "labor costs". How much can I expect to pay in labor to have the old engines pulled from the boat, the new remans. converted with parts off of the old block, e.g., trany, carb, dist.,etc. and the rebuilt engines put back into the boat? The mechanic won't give me an estimate on labor and says "it all depends on what he runs into in the process". I've used this outfit for 2-3 seasons and talked with other boaters who have also used them and they all (and I) give them high marks for ability and honesty.
Also, I spent the good part of end of the last season to dissassemble the old Crusaders so that all they had to do was yank both engines out. They were able to pull both engines out in one day. Now the old engines are inside their shed along with the new engines and they have already started the process of moving parts to the new remans.
I've budgeted $4,000 for labor costs for this project, i.e., $50 per hour times an estimated 80 hours. Does this estimate seem reasonable??? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Here's a summary of where I'm at: I bought engines (remanufactured long blocks) and paid to have them "dyno" tested from Marine Engines Inc (Hollistan, MA) along with all exhaust parts (manifolds, risers, elbows and mounting kits) plus fresh water cooling kits to convert from raw water to fresh water cooled. The fwc kits are full system kits. [I talked to George about the exhaust parts and boatfix could not compete on price for those OSCO exhaust parts. I was hoping to go with boatfix (CoolCraft) on FWC kits @ $705 ea., but it turns out they were mounted on the front and there is a clearance problem so I had to go with Crusader fwc kits at $1,100ea. that mount on the rear.] So far, I'm $10k into the process with engines, exhaust parts, and FWC kits.
My question is about "labor costs". How much can I expect to pay in labor to have the old engines pulled from the boat, the new remans. converted with parts off of the old block, e.g., trany, carb, dist.,etc. and the rebuilt engines put back into the boat? The mechanic won't give me an estimate on labor and says "it all depends on what he runs into in the process". I've used this outfit for 2-3 seasons and talked with other boaters who have also used them and they all (and I) give them high marks for ability and honesty.
Also, I spent the good part of end of the last season to dissassemble the old Crusaders so that all they had to do was yank both engines out. They were able to pull both engines out in one day. Now the old engines are inside their shed along with the new engines and they have already started the process of moving parts to the new remans.
I've budgeted $4,000 for labor costs for this project, i.e., $50 per hour times an estimated 80 hours. Does this estimate seem reasonable??? Your thoughts would be appreciated.