What to charge for labor

[68Chevele]

I have a pretty decent guy who had some nice Chevelle's and a super clean 66 Caprice. He is asking what I would charge to swap out his 327 and put in a 6.0 I asked why he wanted do that, his answer was "everyone else is and the LS engines drive better" What??? I did tell him with a new FI injection setup as I will not mess with old GM wiring and pcm junk will cost the most and the carbureted will be less. He was thinking 5-700 bucks, LMFAO I told him that might get the tank and fuel lines in but that's about it. All said an done I think he looking at up to 3K for what he wants to do. Heck he spent $4500 to put in his BBC in the '71 Chevelle and the shop could not get it running right and I was the guy that fixed it. That car runs pretty good. So what's a fair charge to to something like this as I have never swapped an LS engine except for the factory ones I did at the stealerships I worked at.

 

[cage2592]

So what's a fair charge to to something like this as I have never swapped an LS engine except for the factory ones I did at the stealerships I worked at.

I guess it depends on what you consider fair price to you. My Mechanic friends all charge over $100hr. Most around $120hr

Having done this, and after an agreed on hourly wage, I would suggest sitting down with him and the car. Going over a detailed parts list of what he wants / expects to be done and end-state for the car. Then you running numbers and a parts list for a total. Check what parts are in stock or on hold. Many outstanding parts now for these swaps to make it simple. Add a 10-15% cost overage. Then come up with an agreed upon completion date. No one wants to hear next week every time they call and the hourly cost going up.

..."everyone else is and the LS engines drive better". Um, ok. Sure. Like we've all never heard that. I wonder how all those billions of cars were running prior to the LS engine. Mine drives just fine. Drove it the 30mi to on I-10 to work this morning cruising at 85mph. But A different story.

There are some ways around a lot of issues theses days. Since he is wanting the LS, most don't care about retaining stock which opens up a lot of options. There are ways around NOT changing out a tank for FI and using stock. You no longer need an electric pump to wire in.

Many options.

 

[Derek69SS]

It gets expensive fast if you want new high-quality parts... I have about $10k into the swap, not counting the engine, and I did most of the work myself.
I went overkill on a lot of things ($1500 radiator, $2000 gas tank w/ pump, etc...) but it's either buy stuff, or make stuff if you want a clean looking install... buying is probably cheaper when you're paying labor.

If it's just as a hobby, low-overhead, cash deal I'd probably go $40-50/hr.
Shops are a lot higher, but they have a lot more overhead.

 

[Nashville Cat]

I have a pretty decent guy who had some nice Chevelle's and a super clean 66 Caprice. He is asking what I would charge to swap out his 327 and put in a 6.0 I asked why he wanted do that, his answer was "everyone else is and the LS engines drive better" What??? I did tell him with a new FI injection setup as I will not mess with old GM wiring and pcm junk will cost the most and the carbureted will be less. He was thinking 5-700 bucks, LMFAO I told him that might get the tank and fuel lines in but that's about it. All said an done I think he looking at up to 3K for what he wants to do. Heck he spent $4500 to put in his BBC in the '71 Chevelle and the shop could not get it running right and I was the guy that fixed it. That car runs pretty good. So what's a fair charge to to something like this as I have never swapped an LS engine except for the factory ones I did at the stealerships I worked at.

I have a friend at Team Camaro that does LS3 swaps and he charges over 10k. But he does it all the time, is pretty fast and does excellent work.
LS swaps are very expensive. I'm almost done putting a LQ4 with LS3 heads in my Camaro.
Labor has to be somewhere close to $75/hr for him (totally guessing)

 

[cheveslakr]

I'd charge $70 cash and just give him an educated estimate on the hours. Get at least half down, the rest flows in stages of completion. The "LS" conversion has got to be the most aborted of all swaps. Love it when folks start this and all you see is the bare motor sitting in the frame with a for sale sign. Or guys with 0 skills talk about "LSing" an old chevy.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

I'd charge $70 cash and just give him an educated estimate on the hours. Get at least half down, the rest flows in stages of completion. The "LS" conversion has got to be the most aborted of all swaps. Love it when folks start this and all you see is the bare motor sitting in the frame with a for sale sign. Or guys with 0 skills talk about "LSing" an old chevy.

Never understood the LS Swap, my 50 year old 350 scoots down the road just fine.

 

[Derek69SS]

I'm a fan of the LS, and have one in my Chevelle... but most guys who haven't done it are delusional with their expectations.
You can get 500+hp
You can get 22mpg
You can get excellent reliability
You can throw one in really cheap
You can make it look nice and clean.

You can't do all those things together at the same time, cheaply.

 

[Shovelrick]

My next door neighbor where I keep our Chevelle is on his 3rd or 4th swap but trucks this one's a 6.0 going in a 79 Chevy LUV, but he's into strip mostly but also legally tagged, I'll ask him what he thinks time wise and cost on the swap

 

[kmakar]

My next door neighbor where I keep our Chevelle is on his 3rd or 4th swap but trucks this one's a 6.0 going in a 79 Chevy LUV, but he's into strip mostly but also legally tagged, I'll ask him what he thinks time wise and cost on the swap

Engine and trans are worth more than the truck.....

 

[Nashville Cat]

I'm a fan of the LS, and have one in my Chevelle... but most guys who haven't done it are delusional with their expectations.
You can get 500+hp
You can get 22mpg
You can get excellent reliability
You can throw one in really cheap
You can make it look nice and clean.

You can't do all those things together at the same time, cheaply.

To me the best part of an LS swap is how much power you can make with a small cam that idles good.
My cam is only 219/228 @ .525" lift, uses stock beehive springs and makes 480 hp.

 

[68Chevele]

I did tell the guy I get $85 hr. plus I also said a Peanut Port 461 low compression BBC would blow the 6.0 torque wise and be an easier swap and half the cost of the LS swap and run as good as any LS on the street. I have no doubt that the an LS cam make great power with a smallish cam, the great heads on those engines, But I proved in 2019 you can do that with a mild 400 and a set of Vortec heads running high 10's. Heck last year I ran 12.26@106mph with a dished piston 400 with a bone stock set of Vortec heads in my car. This guy promptly bought that 400. All it has is a 268H CC Performer RPM and 770 Holley. Building anything is all about getting the combination right, just getting the cam wrong can kill the engine IMO as most want the huge cam and this guy is no different. What is most surprising here is his '71 Chevelle Vert has a really nice BBC in it, he also has a street rod and I am not kidding about what I am going to say here. His Grandpa one this street rod and it has a SBC with a set of (Hemi" heads on it that were machined for a SBC. Not sure where the guy got them but I did indeed see the car with the heads and looked close to see if it was fake with other plug wires hiding someplace, I did not see any. When he takes the car out again I will snap some pictures of it. I think it a '39 Chevy.