Where To Rebuild Dauntless Engine In Colorado?

Does anyone have any experience with a shop in Colorado along the front range that does a good job rebuilding the dauntless engine? Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

 

I can't help with the CO front range request, but will offer another solution...
I bought my remanufactured Dauntless engine from S&J in Spokane WA. Their warranty is exceptional. They had a fast turnaround with the core exchange. I highly recommend them!
Quality Remanufactured Engines - Better Than Rebuilt - Since 1975 (sandjengines.com)
I'm going on 5 years with the new engine and it runs great!
I know a couple other guys who have used their service and they are each satisfied.

 

Thank you for the feedback! I called Spitfire and they said the rebuild would be at least $5K, and they said parts may be difficult to find. I called S&J and they were much more reasonable. But, they need to see if they have a core they can rebuild and will get back to me. Is rebuilding the Dauntless something that any competent automotive mechanic should be able to do? Or, should I stick with someone who has experience rebuilding the Dauntless?

 

X2 on S&J. Fantastic work and warranty

 

A Dauntless IMHO is no harder to build than any other engine of that period. Any competent mechanic should be able to do it, or do it yourself. Very straight forward and a lot of info on how to do it here.

 

Personally 5k is really high. Parts aren't that scarce. I've had 2 Buick 231 / 3.8 rebuilt in the last few years. Bored over, new pistons and pins, balanced, heads done. Both came in around 3.5k long blocks out the door. Machine shop charges close to $100/hr around here.

 

Wow, the dollar figures being tossed about in this thread are shocking!
This is a little bit of an apples/oranges comparison, but we spent about $1600 at a local machine shop last year to rebuild my son's 302 Ford.
New rings, bearings, pistons, oil pump, timing chain, cam & lifters, pushrods, rocker arms. Block bored, decked & hot tanked, and heads rebuilt.
They supplied parts & did machine work & my son & I did final assembly.

 

If you want to save $ the only way to do that is rebuild it yourself, and if you decide to do that start a build thread on this forum and ask for help when you get stuck.

To give an idea of how much it costs to DIY here is what I found last Spring.

I had a 225 V6 out of a 1967 CJ5 that came to me completely disassembled. I took the block, crankshaft, heads and connecting rods / pistons to the machine shop I have used for 40 years.

The block was bored .40 over, new camshaft bearings, and other peripherals installed, the crank turned .30 under, the heads were rebuilt and resurfaced plus a few other things. This machine shop work cost about $750.

Machine shop work needed will depend on the condition of the core engine, and can vary a lot. The engine I had had a good block with no cracks or other damage, just some wear. I would consider what it needed to be the minimal amount of work, so the cost could end up more, maybe a lot more, on an engine in worse shape.

I found several good rebuild kits out there which included new pistons, cam shaft, rod and main bearings, lifters and everything else with prices around $400 for the kit.

So, less than $1500 for machine work and parts to build the engine. You will also have to rebuild or replace the carburetor, fuel pump, ignition, and other components, so you could round it all up to about $2000 cost for the overall engine job.

When you hire a shop to do the rebuild you are paying for skilled labor, and I think a price for a good rebuild in the $4000 range is reasonable, 5K or over sounds steep.

Another option is a good used engine. Buick bought back their V6 tooling from Jeep after AMC took over, and produced a lot of cars with them. The later version is a 3.8L even fire, and those are plentiful in the salvage yards, just need one from a rear wheel drive car, as they also used a version of the engine in their front wheel drive cars and those won't work very well as a swap.

 

I’ve used Ridge Reamer in Arvada with success on my Buick 215. Pete, the owner is honest and professional, been in business a long time. Save some big money and build it back yourself, lots of information on the process. Good Luck

 

Re the $5K quote, they probably don't want the work. As mentioned above, any shop that is capable of rebuilding a 350 Buick V8 could rebuild a 225. 100% conventional for the era.

If you are thinking about doing the assembly work yourself, this book https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Builders-Handbook-Tom-Monroe/dp/1557882452/ref=asc_df_1557882452 is a good introduction to what's involved. You can have your shop do the machining and buy the parts, then you can assemble the engine. If you don't want to do that much, I think a short block or long block from S&J would be the next best alternative. Or, you could check with your local Napa and see how much a short or long block would cost from them.

 

Thank you for the great advice! I am interested in building it myself. I just need to decide if I have the time to do it before it is used in my daughter’s wedding next June.

 

Next June? Sounds like plenty of time to me.