Repower & upgrade cost

[ChalkOutline]

For those who work in the industry, (and anyone who wants to chime in) could you estimate for me a ballpark figure for a job? Don't worry, no-one will be held to the numbers they toss out. I know a few of you work in the custom-fab area, and others who have been in the auto industry for a long time, as well as the guys who have done similar fabs.

The task...

Take a stock M715, upgrade to a 4bt or Cummins QSB4.5, Auto trany w/OD,
add 4 wheel Disc Brakes, and regear to 4.11's.

The question...

What would it cost to have it done?

I posed this question to a known entity and got a reply, let's say it was not really what I expected.

Thanks,
Jeff

[gimpyrobb]

As someone that got a motor for basicly free, ALOT. Even getting my motor for free, I will have over $800 into getting it in. I had to figure out a clutch release system, still need a radiator, adapters, machine work, lots of stuff I forgot. It is NOT a cheap endevor. Going with a sought after motor and trans cost alot. Add in the discs and regear, I would think 2-3 times what your truck initially cost.

[ChalkOutline]

I agree with the "a lot".
I paid $2500 for mine, now that I have been "around" I think I overpaid by about $750-$1000. OUCHIE!!!
So your guess would be $5000-$7500? Based on the $2500 x 2 or 3.
Thank you for your input.

Who's next?

[gimpyrobb]

Believe it or not, mine ran me MORE than what you paid(before even getting the brakes to work). I do not regret what I spent at all. I have ENOURMOUS fun with it and have met some of the finest people I know because of it.

[Snuffy]

Don't ask. I've been throwing away reciepts for 2 years so I don't cry.

[poolmike]

Don't ask. I've been throwing away reciepts for 2 years so I don't cry.

hahaha, same here.


And to think that I did a complete build on a 6.2 before installing the 4bt....I think I heated my house for an entire week when I burned the receipts for this build. It is a poor investment to some people, but for me it brings a smile to my face every time I start the engine.

[ryanroo]

i toss out receipts too. but all that said, i have spent just a little over 4K on my truck. including the purchase price and all of my parts. now if you take into consideration my time i would have WAY more into it. i would guess, and that may be way off, but with my time at shop rate i would have over 15K and most likely over 20K in it.

now for my recomendation.

find all of the big parts first, so you don't have to pay a shop to find them and whatever mark up they will have.

swap the entire axle assemblies. unless there is a kit for the rear to get disk brakes as well. if there is no kit for the rear disk brakes the R&D and fab time on that will hurt bad.

a 4BT and tranny swap into an M715 would be fairly easy. the little things like drivelines and wiring/plumbing eat you up.

i am not into pricing and estimates for where i work, but i kind of have an idea as to what it would take. fab time on the engine and tranny, 40-60 hours. that may be a little high or low, i am not sure.

drivelines are parts and 2 hours a peice to build.

disk brake fab time if there is no kit for the rear, 10-15 hours or more. with kits front and rear, i would say 8 hours to install maybe less.

now add it all of the little nusances and parts. that could make it go up ALOT more than you think it would. i can't account for that stuff untill we are doing the work.

i can say it would be 15k without much doubt, and as little as half that if things went smoothly. also my rule has always bee get a price in your head, then triple it. get a timeline in your head and double it. that rule may get you close.

proffesional fab work isn't cheap, and depending on the shop you go to, it seem like it should be. i know my shop, and i know you get quality work there, and we set down with our billing gal and go over each little bit to make shure we weren't actually doing something else while clocked to your job. so we get an accurate bill to the customer
Ryan

[glenn]

It always cost more than you figure it will. There are lots of little pieces and un-expected things that will really add up quickly. I don't keep track of exactly how much I spend on mine because I have a wife that might find out if I did, but I know its a lot. It will help if you can do some of the work yourself so you don't have to pay a shop to do it all. If you supply your own parts the shop won't give you a warantee on them but you won't be paying their mark up either. It could help if you did split the project up into sections, like getting the brakes done and driving it a little and then doing another part of the project. This can help too if you have a wife who thinks you are spending too much $$$$ and time on your 715, you do a little bit at a time and then let her ride in it and pretty soon she is hooked too on fixing it up.

[randyscycle]

$15-20K wouldn't be out of line if you dropped it off, handed them the truck and said find the parts and build it. If you get really elaborate, $30K could easily be reached as well.

Let's just say it ain't cheap. The major factor will be labor. Labor to build, labor to locate parts, labor to get said parts to work together, etc, etc, etc.

[fisherman]

If you already have the 4bt and auto trans, the cost would be for installation of such and the fabrication involved to do it correctly. Add the cost of any rebuilds of engine and or trans prior to installation. The disc. brake stuff for stock axles is a little spendy but well worth it if your going to keep the stock axles. The installation of the disc. brake stuff is straight forward. Now on the the reagearing to 4.10, that may be difficult finding the correct stuff. Now a regear to 4.56 is much easier and would probably be better IMO if your running larger than stock tires. I would say around 10 grand or so for installation and fab work should cover it. Rebuilding, disc. brake parts, new gears will add to that cost. Oh yes do you want everything degreased, cleaned and painted to look new prior to installation? You will then add a bunch more. To do a nice clean and proper installation I'd guess on the low side for parts and labor about $15,000.00 if your paying someone. That price will most likely go up a bunch for adding in painting, electrical and anything else you would want. My out of pocket costs are around $12 to 15 grand. I did most all the work myself. There were a few involved helping on things I didn't have all the knowledge to do myself. These were rebuilding the heads, transmission and transfer case rebuilding, and electrical. Everything else I managed myself with a hand or two along the way. Boy what fun. Drop it off here with a blank check and a laundry list so I can get started.