my girlfriend just sold her 96 accord and now drives (not lately) a 88 civic hatch. it was having some cooling problems and whatnot, so i traced the problem to the radiator, so i threw in a new radiator, thermostat, still overheating, so i suggested a water pump, but she took it to a "real" mechanic, who then, along with her dad, decided to just throw in a new engine. ahhh, just what i was wanting to hear; time for the 'ol b16 - but no, she just wants another boring old d15b7. "no need to go any faster" she says, but what does she know anyway?
ok whatever. so the place tells me 600 for the engine. ok, sure sounds good, i was going to put it in, cause it would be easy and give me something to do. well, her dad decides he wants this place to put it in so that the work will be guaranteed or whatever. no problem. swap should be no problem either, right? since its just a straight over swap, it shouldnt be more than a day's worth of work, maybe two, especially when you have access to a full shop, tools, etc. ANYWAYS, to get to the point - they charged $1300 for labor - the total came to $1900. lucky for her, she just has to pay for the motor, her dad said he would pay for the labor, well, he is in canada right now, and hasnt seen the bill for 1300 dollars in labor. i think he will shit a brick, cause i almost did. im pretty sure that is a ridiculous amount to pay to do a straight over swap like that. well, sorry for the longass story, but thats the only way i can tell it. let me know what you guys think about that amount for the labor. im sure the shop will have their way of justifying it, but we havent been able to get a hold of them for the past few days. thanks for any opinions/replies.