A friend of a friend has an LS/VTEC that has blown a rod (forged rod at that). He removed the head and had it refinished/redone. He delivered the car with the old busted block and tranny still installed, head from the machine shop dissassembled, new JDM head and block and then all necessary parts to do the swap (head gasket kit, water pump, timing belt, etc.)

I've just finished the job and the car is running good. He's picking it up in a few days for his appointment to get it retuned.

My question is what should a fair labor charge be? Here's a list of what I've done.
1. pulled old block and tranny
2. pulled jdm head of block
3. installed reconditioned head on JDM block (Cams, vtec solenoid and what ever else could be removed)
4. reinstalled all parts removed from the head (even the intake studs where removed) using all new gaskets/seals
5. swapped clutch and flywheel
6. reinstalled complete motor
7. fixed leaking injector and leaking fuel line on rear of car

There's more I had to deal with which I'm forgetting but they are minor issues typical with a swap. A big headache was that the head was removed and there was a few nuts and other things missing and of course unfamiliarity of the custom wiring (would have helped if I was there when it was removed).

So basically, how much should a friend of a friend charge on this job that was delivered in pieces?

Now understand I probably won't get what the job was worth and I don't really expect to. Just wondering what would be considered fair...


Modified by Daily Interlude at 9:31 PM 8/14/2005

 

id say like $400+

just to pull a motor down here in ca and put a diff. in is like $300

 

$800

 

Any other opinions out there?