Raped by the machine shop?

[360glitch]

This afternoon I picked up my exhaust manifold after dropping it off at a recommended machine shop. All they did was resurface it so I wouldn't be leaking at the gasket anymore. They charged me $80 for that simple job. Is the job harder than it seems? I just can't imagine it was anywhere near $80 worth of work.

 

[njc1064]

Did you recieve a bill with an explanation of the charges? If not, you should request one. Machining is often expensive, so it would help to see a bill showing the time it took to do the job (which shouldnt have taken long) as well as the hourly labor rate.

 

[Flash]

What do you think would have been fair?

 

[Ravenous]

I've seen places that resurface heads for $30-$40, but machine work costs do vary from place to place. For something like a manifold you could of resurfaced it with a piece of glass with sand paper taped to the top... It would take some elbow grease but it does work.

 

[nytescion]

Depends might of only took 20 mins to do. But could have charged you a full hour of work. I know the machine shops around me do that.

 

[need2boostpsi]

also depends how far off from being straight it was, my have not looked all that bad but when your machining it, it could have taken several passes.

 

[T is for TURBO]

Were I work, we calculate machine work at $100-150 per hour, and that does not include engineering. That's another $85.00 per hour. Granted some of out machines are nearly the size of a small house, but it's only one person working the machine, and the machines are numericly controled, so there is very little interaction by the "machinist". Most of the money we charge goes straight back to the machine. You would be absolutly surprised at how much machine tools cost, repair, and maintain... The tooling alone is a small fortune.. Just take a look see Grainger Industrial Supply

 

[Jeff@Slowboy]

Agreed, our rate for machine work is $100+/hour depending on the job and its not cost effective to charge for anything less than 1/2 hour minimum. Time costs money.

Oliver
[email protected]

 

[pboglio]

Did they fly cut it or use a belt sander. I used to have this done and got sick of paying for it. I now use a long bastard file and level it myself. If I can get it within .003" from end to end flat then I call it good.

 

[squeak104]

It depends on the shop. The one I worked at we used a belt sander type machine to surface cylinder heads and manifolds because we were mostly a repair shop with a small amount of machine work (engine rebuilding, crank turning, flywheel resurface, hot tank, etc etc).

We charge around $40 per cylinder head and if I remember right about the same for an exhaust manifold. If your manifold was warped a bit then it might have taken a while to correct. If it was the belt sander type like we had then cast iron cuts takes longer than aluminum. Exhaust manifolds took even longer because when they would heat up it would take even longer. And even longer if the paper was dull.

 

[92awddsm]

If it was a belt sander, $30-50 is normal. If it was setup on a a resurfacer(segmented stone or carbide) expect anywhere from $60-100. Setup alone can take up to 20 minutes. Is the finish shiny with a top to bottom pattern or is it semi-dull with an end to end pattern?

 

[360glitch]

It has a pretty shiny finish, not sure what the pattern was. Like some of the guys said I must have been charged for the full hour of labor. Ah well, it's all good

 

[TurboAnything]

If they set it up on a a decking machine then that is the right price. You can tell is it was a decker or a stone surfacing machine by the marks if they seem arch shaped lines then its a decking machine.

 

[propeine]

Having worked in tool and die I'd like to add that setup time for an exhaust manifold is not exactly short. Not like its a rectangle and can just be thrown in a vice or a head which should be flat on on side and can be clamped down. I'm with the other guys if it was on a belt sander thats too much. If they actually surfaced it with a fly cutter or a slop grinder then thats not unreasonable at all.

 

[Sp1kE]

x2 ^^

I got a quote to machine my turbo flange to manifold and manifold to turbo.

Guy said 70-80 per surface.

I said WOAAH.

He said, ya it takes alot longer to setup the machine for things like this then it does to actually machine it.

So I put that money towards a new manifold/turbo

 

[MaNGiNa24]

$30 - $50 is the norm for around here, but that's assuming they are using a belt sander.

I had a manifold resurfaced using a resurfacer at the same shop for $80. It's a flatter surface, but there's a lot of prep time involved.

Get an invoice from them and figure out what they used